MABS are reminding people to contact them if they are struggling with issues such as personal debt or mortgage arrears.
The advice service has five offices in Cork City and County and can be contacted by phone, email and social media.
Illegal money lenders charge very large amounts of interest on small loans.
Speaking to RedFM News, Ursula Collins from MABS, has this advice for anyone considering borrowing money:
"Come and talk to us, we can look at your income. If you're on a low income, if you're on benefits, we can look at how we can maximise that. And hopefully you'd avoid getting into, certainly, using illegal money lending, which you know the rates are would be astronomic, so yeah I think the main message is come to MABS- it's free, confidential and non-judgmental."
For more information log on to mabs.ie
