Rumblings and proposals of student loan forgiveness and debt relief have been cycling through the news for a couple years now. It can be hard to keep up with all the latest developments. Unfortunately, scammers are taking advantage of this confusion by targeting people who have student loans. On this Fraud Friday, we’ll teach you how to stay safe from Federal Student Loan Scams.
Targeting student loans has been a trending scam lately. If you have federal student loans, you likely received an email recently from Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. The sender’s address is “noreply@studentaid.gov.” That email was legitimate and contained important information regarding loan forgiveness. However, fraudsters jumped on this opportunity and have been bombarding people with related scams. They do this by spreading false information about student loans with the goal of stealing your money or personal details.
To help you spot the difference, remember that official emails from the Department of Education will only come from one of these three addresses:
● “noreply@studentaid.gov”
● “noreply@debtrelief.studentaid.gov”
● “ed.gov@public.govdelivery.com”
A sneaky tactic scammers tend to use is slightly tweaking an email address. For instance, they may swap out the letter O for the number 0, or they add an extra period or other character in between words. Be extra diligent when reviewing a sender’s email address. When it comes to fraudulent emails, an eagle eye keeps the wolves away. If you’re unsure whether an email is real, you can confirm it by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.
Unfortunately, emails aren’t the only way student loan scammers are trying to target you. Here are a few other red flags to watch out for.
● Don’t trust communications based solely on names, seals, and logos. Scammers can easily replicate these on materials and they often look extremely convincing. To get reliable help with your federal loans, always work with a contracted federal student loan servicer listed on the U.S. Department of Education’s website.
● Is someone requesting your Federal Student Aid account credentials? Big red flag. Never share your account username or password. If a scammer gains access, they can block you from your loan servicer or even steal your identity.
● Legitimate Federal Student Loan officials won’t charge you money. Charging for student loan assistance is a dead giveaway that you’re interacting with a scammer. Free federal student loan assistance is always available at StudentAid.gov/repay. For private loans, contact your loan servicer directly.
At Guthrie County State Bank, our #1 priority is to keep your money safe. Stay vigilant out there against scammers! If you suspect a student loan scam, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.