COLUMBUS, Ohio — After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's student loan relief program, an increase in scams could be on the way for those who are paying off student loans.
"In that case the student or even parent might receive an email or a phone call or text saying they qualify for lower payments through a debt relief program. They will say there from a government agency or even a private company,” said Judy Dollison, the president of BBB central Ohio.
The scammers could offer you a few different methods to pay off your debt.
“Being able to reduce your loan debt or to get you a better interest rate or to get you a shorter length of your loan. Those are the common phrases among the student loan forgiveness,” Dollison said.
Dollison said there are a few red flags that will let you know right away that it could be a scam.
“The tone is very urgent. They will say you have to take advantage of it right away or the program will expire. The other big red flag is that they will say you have to pay an upfront processing fee,” said Dollison.
Dollison said they will also ask for things like your personal information or your federal student load ID information. She recommends everyone to revisit the terms of their loan before making any decisions about helping pay for it.
“The department of education does work with many companies. They will work with lenders for example so its important to know what those other agencies provide,” said Dollison.
So, just how common are these scams? The Federal Trade Commission said recently they sent payments totaling more than 3.3 million dollars to people who were scammed. The total number of scammers? 37,800. If you are scammed, report to the FTC.
“If they have fallen victim to a scam then we want to post it on the scam tracker to notify others. But, we also can help them process (the scam) by finding the right connections,” she said.
You can contact the BBB at 614-486-6336.