If you have a student loan, brace yourself. The pause on federal student loan payments is set to expire August 31, 2022. The pause was put in place in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
The national outstanding student loan debt is now $1.7 TRILLION and, as of the writing of this column, the Biden administration is still deciding on whether to extend the pause past the August date.
The reason you should brace yourself is the likelihood the fast-approaching expiration date will spur a dramatic increase in fraudsters trying to take advantage of people desperate to grab a chance to alleviate the burden of their student loans.
While there are legitimate companies and organizations that now provide help to those looking for loan relief, the student loan debt relief industry isn’t highly regulated.
The size of the student loan debt, coupled with huge demand for relief plus loose regulation, opens a wide door for scammers to access those affected. When the Biden administration reinstates an actual date for repayment of student loans, it is expected scams will increase exponentially.
As I mentioned above, there are legitimate services offering help navigating student loans, but most of those advertised services are things available to you for free and aren’t as difficult as you may think.
If you are contacted by an unknown or unsolicited organization offering loan management or cancellation services, here are some red flags to look out for:
• Almost any email, text or voicemail…
