Renee Stone
August 4, 2021
Due to the recent resurge of COVID-19, President Biden has extended the federal student loan payment pause to 9/30/2021. U.S. Congress is also considering another extension after the current pause expires. Scammers see the commotion around the program as an opportunity to inject themselves in the conversation by pretending to represent a government agency or legitimate company that provides student debt services, such as debt consolidation or relief. Scammers will try to bait you into contacting them by offering fake debt forgiveness, or even by falsely stating that payment pauses are ending soon. When you do engage, scammers will often attempt to steal your information and subsequently change your mailing and email addresses with your loan servicer so that your student debt account information is redirected to them. By redirecting your account documents and statements to themselves, the scammers can force you to contact them for information about your debt and/or hide from you that payments are not being made.
If you are suspicious about a message that you have received regarding student loans/debt, you should verify the legitimacy of the message by contacting your federal loan servicer using a trusted source, such as their official website or a preexisting business card from your personal records. Some government websites, like studentaid.gov, list contact information and procedures for various loan servicers and relevant agencies. As always, practice safe browsing and beware social engineering attempts by following some of our other tips on how to identify phishing.
If you suspect you have already fallen victim to a student loan repayment scam, stop communication with the scammer immediately. Additionally, check your student loan account information to make sure all correspondence is routed to you, and not any scammers or unexpected third parties. It is important to cut off the scammer’s access to your resources as soon as possible. Do not delete any emails, messages, or voicemails right away, as all of this can be used as evidence to help find the attacker and/or mitigate your losses. While it might be uncomfortable admitting to falling victim to one of these scams, getting your loan provider and authorities involved is the best way to recuperate from these scams. Report the scam to the studentaid.gov feedback center and your local law enforcement agencies. These agencies will provide you with guidance and may make further recommendations, such as possibly “freezing your credit.”
For additional information or resources, check out these similar articles at studentaid.gov and consumer.ftc.gov.