Beware Of Student Debt Scams

2023 was overall a good year for student debtors, even with some legislative reversals.

However, borrowers are still receiving phone calls, emails, letters, and/or texts offering them relief from their federal student loans, or warning them that student loan forgiveness programs would end soon. 

Usually, the so-called student loan debt relief companies offering these types of services don’t offer any relief at all. Often they’re just fraudsters who are after your money.

Here are some examples of the false claims made in these communications:

• “Act immediately to qualify for student loan forgiveness before the program is discontinued.”
• “You are now eligible to receive benefits from a recent law that has passed regarding federal student loans, including total forgiveness in some circumstances. Federal student loan programs may change. Please call within 30 days of receiving this notice.”
• “Your student loans may qualify for complete discharge. Enrollments are first come, first served.”
• “Student alerts: Your student loan is flagged for forgiveness pending verification. Call now!”

Communications using this type of aggressive advertising to lure borrowers are NOT coming from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) or its partners.

Here are some signs to help you identify a scam by a student loan debt relief company:

• They require you to pay up-front or monthly fees for help. If a company requires a fee before they actually do anything, that’s a huge red flag—especially if they try to get your credit card number or bank account information. In some cases, they may even step in and ask you to pay them directly, promising to pay your servicer each month when your bill comes due.  
•  They promise immediate and total loan forgiveness or cancellation. Most government forgiveness programs require many years of qualifying payments and/or employment in certain fields before your loans can be forgiven. Also, student loan debt relief companies do not have the ability to negotiate with your federal loan servicer for a “special deal” under the federal student loan programs.  
• They ask for your FSA ID username and password. ED or its partners will never ask you for your FSA ID password. Your FSA ID is used to sign legally binding documents.  
• They claim that their offer is limited and encourage you to act immediately. Student loan debt relief companies often try to instill a sense of urgency by citing “new laws”.
• Their communications contain spelling and grammatical errors. While many of the communications sent out by these companies look very formal (for example, fold-and-tear letters with safety patterns), they often contain spelling and grammatical errors. If you notice unusual capitalization, improper grammar, or incomplete sentences in the communication you receive, that’s likely a red flag that the company is not affiliated with ED.

 Many of these fraudulent debt relief companies operate under many different names and use many different phone numbers to avoid detection. Some even go as far as to reopen under different names after being sued or shut down.