Posted on Sep 19, 2022
Waiting for loan forgiveness, borrowers are targets for scammers
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https://www.npr.org/2022/09/19/ [login to see] /waiting-for-loan-forgiveness-borrowers-are-targets-for-scammers
After President Biden announced his sweeping student loan forgiveness plan in August, borrowers flooded the studentaid.gov website for information on what to do next. For a lot of them, the answers weren't particularly satisfying: sign up for an email alert and wait for the application to be released in early October.
Carolina Rodriguez says she's already getting emails from anxious clients worried about getting their debts forgiven before student loan payments resume in January. She's director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York.
"The stress is about to hit. As the weeks go by, the stress is going to be real," she says.
And that stress has left an opening for scammers to step into.
"It's a ripe environment for scammers to really prey on that kind of desperation," says Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, or TTP, a nonprofit organization that monitors tech companies.
After President Biden announced his sweeping student loan forgiveness plan in August, borrowers flooded the studentaid.gov website for information on what to do next. For a lot of them, the answers weren't particularly satisfying: sign up for an email alert and wait for the application to be released in early October.
Carolina Rodriguez says she's already getting emails from anxious clients worried about getting their debts forgiven before student loan payments resume in January. She's director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York.
"The stress is about to hit. As the weeks go by, the stress is going to be real," she says.
And that stress has left an opening for scammers to step into.
"It's a ripe environment for scammers to really prey on that kind of desperation," says Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, or TTP, a nonprofit organization that monitors tech companies.
Waiting for loan forgiveness, borrowers are targets for scammers
Posted from npr.org
Loans
Fraud
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Inviting borrowers to webinars, promising to get their loans forgiven if they use their service – Rodriguez says these are the hallmarks of companies that profit off of the student loan industry. They are legitimate because they do provide a service, but it's one that borrowers, in most cases, do not need.
Rodriguez reminds her clients that when the application for loan forgiveness does come out, there will be no need to have a company fill it out.
Secretary Cardona agrees. He says the department is going to make the process simple and quick, "we recognize the user experience matters."
The application should be the easy part; the hard part is the waiting game."
..."Inviting borrowers to webinars, promising to get their loans forgiven if they use their service – Rodriguez says these are the hallmarks of companies that profit off of the student loan industry. They are legitimate because they do provide a service, but it's one that borrowers, in most cases, do not need.
Rodriguez reminds her clients that when the application for loan forgiveness does come out, there will be no need to have a company fill it out.
Secretary Cardona agrees. He says the department is going to make the process simple and quick, "we recognize the user experience matters."
The application should be the easy part; the hard part is the waiting game."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good morning Brother William, solid-read/share. Thanks for sharing good buddy, keep'em coming like the mighty Niagra Falls, Waterfalls Brother!!!
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