SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The federal student loan pause is over and repayments started back up just this month. Several government agencies say scammers have stolen millions of dollars from student loan borrowers.
With the three-year pause on federal student loan payments now over, scams promising debt relief are surging.
“Cybersecurity, I think is becoming increasingly a challenge,” said Sanjay Varshney, with Goldenstone Wealth Management.
The Federal Trade Commission [FTC] warns scammers are calling, texting and emailing borrowers, falsely claiming their student loan debt can be reduced or canceled altogether for a fee.
“They'll tell you they can get forgiveness in a shorter amount of time than might be available, that your payments are going toward your student loans," said Katherine Aizpuru, with the FTC. "They might claim to be part of the Department of Education.”
“Technology can be a great thing and technology can also be a bad thing," said Varshney. "I think people need to be extra cautious and be less gullible."
Some red flags could be scammers asking you to pay for their debt relief services upfront. or unknown calls and texts seeking your personal information -- like your federal student aid, or FSA, login.
“You want to treat your FSA ID like your social security number," said Aizpuru. "You want to keep that to yourself. You don't want to give that out.”
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
“Our world definitely does not revolve around great deals,” said Varshney.
The FTC says if you do have questions about your loan payments, your best bet is to reach out directly to your servicer. If you don’t know who your servicer is, you can find that information free on studentaid.gov.
Also, if you do get one of those spam calls, hang up before giving away any of your personal information or don’t answer at all.
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