Extortion is a serious crime and there are other unlawful acts that are very similar to it. Trying to force an individual into giving money, property, or any other service by threatening them in any way is considered to be extortion.
However, other crimes, though not the same, do have similar characteristics as the crime of extortion. These three crimes are coercion, loan sharking and price gouging.
While extortion is used mostly as a way of getting material things or money out of someone, coercion has more to do with getting someone to do a particular thing. These things may not always be unlawful, but the act of coercing someone into doing something can be unlawful. To coerce someone, an individual might use a number of tactics.
These tactics often include the threat of some form of physical harm if the individual does not go along with the plan. An individual can coerce someone into doing something or acting a certain way. Someone can be coerced into doing something that is not unlawful. However, it is more likely that the activity will be unlawful due to the fact that the person had to be actually forced to go along with it.
The crime of loan sharking is of a different nature. While extortion is a form of blackmail and coercion is a means of trying to force someone to do something, loan sharking involves lending money to individuals and charging an incredibly high interest rate in return. The reason that the interest rate is so high is because the loans are unsecured loans. These loans are unlawful and if one does not pay the loan back, it is likely that they will be violently attacked.
Loan sharking is not legal. Eventually, the loan shark may try to confiscate other things from the individual who owes money, like some type of property. Loan sharks often set up their unlawful operations in poor communities where property values are low. People with low incomes are almost never approved for a personal loan from a banks.
Price gouging is a more complicated issue to deal with. There are some laws against price gouging. Price gouging is driving up the prices of things until the average consumer feels that the price is unfair. While it is unlawful to price gouge when an area is in a state of emergency, price gouging is actually common in other cases. Most countries have made it unlawful to price gouge when supplies are low due to a disaster. There are also actions people can take to report alleged price gouging in their area.
Most unlawful acts are somehow tied to money, property, or violence. While extortion is not the same as the other three crimes, it does bring up the issue of obtaining money or property in a way that could bring violence or serious problems to individuals.
