the loan sharks spray painted the walls outside her home and threatened her neighbours. "They told my neighbours that I said they'd be my guarantor," she said. "About 50 per cent of them knew about it."

The loan sharks also sent unsolicited fruit baskets, McDonald's and Pizza Hut meals to her home. And they called up her employers and shouted at her colleagues

She estimates that she's paid around S$400,000 in total, with S$150,000 to go.

"The money came fast," she admitted. Cash was transferred to her via iBanking within days. It started with S$20,000, then the amount "snowballed" into the hundreds of thousands.

When Madam Tan couldn't pay off one of her loans due to the exorbitant interest rates and ever-changing terms, she borrowed money from another loan shark to settle it. It became a vicious cycle.

"At first, it could be monthly payments, but next week they would say: 'Hey your payment is up'," she said. When she told the moneylender of the original terms, the usual reply would be that the guy who gave it had gotten into an accident.

Madam Tan's mobile number was also circulated as quickly as the money. Soon, she found herself in debt with more than 50 different moneylenders.

She borrowed from friends and colleagues and worked three jobs to try and pay off her debts. "It was quite a substantial amount," she said.

THE ADVICE

In light of her "painful" and "traumatising" ordeal, Madam Tan advised the public never to borrow from loan sharks. 

"I urge anyone who really needs financial help to seek the correct agency or welfare institution," she said. "Because the agony I went through - at the start you may not feel it, but the moment you're out of help, that’s when the worst will come.

"Everybody will know and I don’t know how to lift up my head."