Tbh, my experience wasn't as bad as yours, so I can't really say it's the same. To keep it brief, I borrowed $400, with daily payments of $40. On the fifth day, I couldn't take it anymore and asked for an account to pay everything in one go. The loan shark then told me it was cleared. On day one, I started ignoring their calls but didn't block the number. I let them continue to text, but I didn’t respond. On day two, they messaged me again, asking why I hadn't replied and even tried to make a WhatsApp call, but I didn't pick up. After that, I started getting a lot of calls from unknown numbers, but I didn't answer. They didn’t send any threatening messages, so I wasn’t too worried, though I knew they had my personal details. On that first day of deciding to cut contact, I immediately made a police report and informed my family. They were upset but understood.
I felt really down and couldn't focus at work. I panicked when I received unknown calls, but I stayed calm and ignored them. This went on for about a week until I started feeling a bit better and got my focus back. The random calls continued for over a month plus until they finally stopped. Even today, I received another random call, but I didn’t pick it up.
From what I've read from other victims, some have had much worse experiences than you. But generally, loan sharks tend to harass those who don’t want to settle their debt. Please don't blame yourself or feel responsible for repaying them. We were all once in a desperate situation, just trying to survive and find a way to live. Take this as a lesson learned and vow never to go down that path again.
So, just be prepared and brace yourself for it.
One more thing: You can also look up how to stop your phone from receiving WhatsApp or direct calls. On iPhone, there's an option to block unknown callers, and WhatsApp has a similar feature. Also, I wanted to check if you’ve unchecked the read receipts—make sure they can’t see if you’ve read their messages.