The Biden Administration recently announced that the federal government will cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loans per person. Millions of Americans will be recipients of student loan debt relief. Unfortunately, this creates an excellent opportunity for scammers. In fact, a BBB employee received a call about a student loan forgiveness opportunity just one day after the announcement was made, yet she doesn’t have a loan.
BBB has been anticipating these calls, texts, emails since students were told that their student loan debt was being placed on hold during COVID. As student loan holders navigate the new forgiveness program, we know con artists will be there to take advantage of any confusion. It has happened with all big government initiatives, including the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, eviction moratorium and pandemic relief programs.
BBB offers the following tips to help individuals avoid student loan forgiveness scams:
› Get to know the terms of your student loan and the relief program before acting. Always do your research before sharing personal information. Be sure you’re aware of which loan servicer currently owns your loan, which could have been sold more than once since you first secured it. Use contact information you know to be valid for your loan servicer to reach out and learn more.
You’ll also want to be sure to understand the ins and outs of your specific loan, as well as how student loan relief impacts you. You can use official…
