BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As the student debt relief application window is set to open later this month, the U.S. Department of Education is warning borrowers to protect themselves from potential scammers.
The department released a list of do's and don'ts in order to prevent borrowers from falling victim to scammers who are trying to take advantage of student loan borrowers:
DON'T:
DON'T pay anyone who contacts you with promises of debt relief or loan forgiveness. You will not need to pay anyone to obtain debt relief. The application is free and easy to use.
DON'T reveal your FSA ID or account information or password to anyone who contacts you. The Department of Education and your federal student loan servicer will never call or email you asking for this information.
DON'T ever give personal or financial information to an unfamiliar caller. When in doubt, hang up and call your student loan servicer directly. You can find your federal student loan servicer's contact, here.
DON'T refinance your federal student loans unless you know the risks. If you refinance federal student loans eligible for debt relief into a private loan, you will lose out on important benefits like one-time debt relief and flexible payment plans for federal loans.
DO:
DO create an FSA ID, here. You will not need it for the debt relief application but having an FSA ID can allow you to easily access accurate information on your loan and make sure FSA can contact you directly, helping you equip yourself against scammers trying to contact you. Log in to your current account on StudentAid.gov and keep your contact info up to date. If you need help logging in, use these tips to access your account.
DO make sure your loan servicer has your most current contact information. If you don't know who your servicer is, you can log into StudentAid.gov and see your servicer in your account.
DO report scammers to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting reportfraud.ftc.gov
For more information, you can visit the above links or visit the Biden-Harris' administration fact sheet on protecting student loan borrowers from scammers
