Greg's Corner

Student debt scammers already have your info

By Greg Collier

Ever since the White House announced their plan to forgive a large amount of student debt, there have been numerous warnings about student debt forgiveness scammers. Everyone from the Better Business Bureau to the Federal Trade Commission and even the Office of the President have issued these warnings. Unfortunately, these warnings have not stopped the scammers. They’re still out there in full force, and now seemed to be armed with even more information about you than before.

According to a report from the BBB, student debt scammers have more of your personal information than ever. The scammers are using this information about their victims to make their scam seem more legitimate. In many scams, the scammers will call people at random and hope they’re a fit for their scheme. But now, the scammers are specifically targeting people they know have student loan debt.

Potential victims have been receiving calls where the scammers know their email addresses, the schools they attended, and the last four digits of their Social security number. In some instances, the scammers even knew the victim’s Federal Student Aid account information. It’s unknown where the scammers are getting this information, but typically, this information is gained when some service the victim has used has had a data breach.

In this latest incarnation of the scam, scammers are promising they can relieve more debt than the government program is promising. Victims will be asked for payment by the scammers to supposedly start the forgiveness process, but in reality, they’re just after the victim’s money. Some victims have been asked to pay in multiple monthly payments.

Again, the best way to prevent yourself from falling victim to this scam is to remember that the government is not going to call you to start the debt forgiveness process. You have to reach out to them. Also, you do not have to pay any money to initiate the process. No one can get you more debt forgiven for more money.

If you have more concerns or questions, you can read more about student debt forgiveness scams at the Federal Student Aid website.