Scams have, unfortunately, become an innate part of our online lives. Ranging from “Nigerian princes” to “long-distance romance” and everything in between. Now, we have a fresh scam in the form of scammers targeting individuals applying for debt relief programs, warned the FBI.
Diving into details
It is estimated that the U.S. has 45 million student loan borrowers, collectively owing $1.6 trillion.
- The FBI warned that scammers could target students aiming to enroll in the Federal Student Aid program, to steal their money, payment information, and personal information.
- Through this debt relief program, cybercriminals are taking the opportunity to set up fake websites mimicking the application form, send benefit eligibility phishing messages, and try several fraud channels.
How to spot the scam?
- Applying for the federal aid program is free of cost and individuals should pay attention to any requests asking for payment.
- Moreover, the actual application process doesn’t necessitate users to log in to any account or upload any kind of document.
Similar warning by FTC
- A similar warning was issued by the FTC regarding the concerns posed forth by the FBI.
- In the first nine months of the year, the agency received 57,000 complaints involving student loans, two-thirds of which involved student loan debt relief.
- Most scams witnessed by the FTC include fraudulent student loan assistance, companies pretending to be the federal government, and using student loan relief as bait to steal personal and payment information.
The bottom line
First off, independent verification should be the norm, especially for individuals who are dealing with debt relief programs. As far as scams are concerned, one should prepare for them as much as possible and be cautious of anything that doesn’t come from official channels.
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