Here’s how to protect yourself from student loan scams, and what to keep an eye out for so you don’t become a victim.
If you’ve been getting emails, phone messages, or texts about how to qualify for student loan forgiveness, you’ve likely been the target of a scam. No, these scams aren’t new, but they’ve picked up steam during the Department of Education’s Covid-relief pause on student loan interest and payments. Right now, repayment is set to begin on May 1, 2022, and we don’t expect that deadline to be extended.
In the interim, scammers have ramped up their efforts to target and take advantage of borrowers, and phishing scams are likely to pick up even more as May 1 approaches, says Leslie Tayne, a financial attorney with Tayne Law Group and student loan expert.
If you don’t have student loans, these calls, emails or texts are easy enough to ignore, but if you do have them, you might be wondering if you could be missing a legitimately important call, or a chance to save money. (After all, there have been so many changes in recent years, it seems like nothing at this point would be a surprise.) But watch out. Anyone doing outreach to you about your loans is almost never ever legitimate. Here’s what you should know.
The US Department of Education Will Never Hound You About Forgiveness Programs
Borrowers must reach out to their loan servicer to inquire about forgiveness — it’s only available to a…
