“Enroll now and get your student loans forgiven!”
“We can reduce your student loan payments!”
“Don’t wait. Obama student loan forgiveness ends soon!”
If you’re one of the 43 million people with student loan debt, you’ve likely received emails or seen ads online with those claims. As the student loan relief measures that were instituted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act come to an end on January 31, 2022, you’ll likely see them even more frequently.
Whether they make false promises about loan forgiveness or charge exorbitant fees to do tasks you could do yourself, student loan scammers prey on borrowers struggling to navigate a complicated and frequently-changing system. The key to avoiding student loan scams is understanding how they work, recognizing the warning signs, and knowing what legitimate resources are available.
Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself.
How Student Loans Work
College is expensive — averaging $30,030 for a bachelor’s degree from a public university — and most college students use student loans to pay for some or all of their education costs. Of college seniors that graduated in 2019, 62% had student loan debt, according to a…
