Can I take out a personal loan for someone else?

Legal responsibility: The person who signs the loan agreement is the legally responsible borrower. Lenders don't care what you do with the funds - they only care that you repay them. If you give loan proceeds to a family member or friend who doesn't repay you, you still owe the full loan balance.

Better alternatives: If you want to help someone financially, a co-signed loan or joint loan application (where both parties sign) makes both legally responsible and may offer better terms than a standalone loan. Alternatively, gifting money (with no expectation of repayment) eliminates the ambiguity of an informal arrangement.

Gift vs. loan arrangement: If you borrow money and give it to someone with the expectation they'll repay you informally, document this arrangement clearly in writing (a simple promissory note). Without documentation, an informal repayment expectation is unenforceable.

Red flags: Third-party requests for personal loans are a common scam pattern. If someone is asking you to take out a loan and give them the money, especially if you met online or recently, treat this with extreme caution. The 'romance scam' and 'advance fee' scam both frequently involve asking victims to borrow money and send it to the fraudster.