Student Loan Forgiveness Scams: Seeing a lot of coverage in the media concerning federal student loan forgiveness scams? You are not by yourself; con artists are as well. Someone claiming they are connected to the Department of Education or Federal Student Aid (FSA) may call you. Neither are they.)
They may even know details about your debt, such as the sum or account number, and will claim to be checking up on your eligibility for a new loan forgiveness program. They will attempt to pressure you into acting by saying the program is only available for a short while. All of this, though, is a fraud. What more knowledge is required to identify con artists such as these?
Help managing your federal student loans can only be obtained at StudentAid.gov. While the FSA and your federal loan servicer would never force you to sign up for anything, a con artist will. Furthermore, occasionally learning to identify what is fake makes it easier to identify what is true.
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Because student loan debt relief is so ill-defined, it’s simple to misidentify a phoney communication for an official one. Here’s how to identify debt relief scammers quickly if you have student loans and what to do if you think you were conned.
- Call regarding debt relief: Receiving a call for student loan forgiveness from the federal government is hardly often, but it is conceivable. If your loan servicer calls you, hang up and give them a call back on their official number if you believe it to be a scam. Thus, the likelihood is that any contact you get requesting payment, sharing your financial information, or taking action for debt relief is a scam.
- Email scams: Although it can be more difficult to detect email scams, con artists typically offer hints. It can be difficult to identify scam emails, especially if you check your email on your phone frequently. Kantrowitz said, “Most cases involving broad student loan forgiveness will come from a.gov email address.” But con artists have noticed and have moved to employ “official” stationery and connections to the Department of Education’s official website to give their emails a more official appearance. It will take discernment to sort out phoney emails.
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Don’t trust government seals or logos. To look more legit, scammers use official-looking names, seals, and logos.
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Don’t buy special access promises. There are no special repayment plans or loan forgiveness programs. Nobody can get you into loan forgiveness programs you don’t qualify for. Check out your FSA dashboard to see what programs you might qualify for.
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Never pay upfront. Companies can’t charge you before helping you pay off your student loans. You might not get any help if you have to pay upfront. You can get free help managing your federal loans at StudentAid.gov/repay. Get help from your loan servicer if you have private loans.
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Don’t share your FSA ID login info. Scammers say they need it to help you. You could be cut off from your loan servicer or even have your identity stolen if a scammer gets your FSA ID.
- Alert yourself to links received by SMS: The Department of Education will only accept texts with these two numbers: 227722 or 51592. Watch out if a different number texts you.
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What to do if you think you’ve been scammed
Get in touch with your federal loan servicer right away if you think you may have already been a victim of a student loan scam to make sure no recent changes were made to your loan account. In such a case, discuss with them how to fix any mistakes. If the con artist charged you, get in touch with your credit card or bank to cancel the transaction.
The Federal Trade Commission should then receive your online report filing. Reports should also be sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
You run the danger of more fraud depending on the information you have provided, so if you’re concerned that con artists may register accounts in your name, freeze your credit and keep an eye on your credit report. To further safeguard your data, you might register for identity theft protection.
