KGNS On Your Side: Avoiding student loan scams

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - Starting September first student loan interest will resume after roughly three years of being suspended.

While payments are not due until October, scammers are ramping up efforts to find their next target.

Student loan borrowers have until the month of September to start preparing for the restart of payments.

During that time, expect more texts, e-mails, phone calls, and social media ads from fraudsters offering up deals that sound too good to be true.

Once September comes, the U.S. Department of Education encourages borrowers to update their contact information with the assigned loan servicer, explore affordable repayment options, enroll or re-enroll in autopayments, check to see if you qualify for any type of loan forgiveness and be aware of scams.

According to the Better Business Bureau, scammers have been targeting borrowers all summer long.

“People reporting incidents losing money trying to get money trying to unlock money,” said Jason Meza, the Senior Regional Director for the Better Business Bureau.

Meza said these con artists pose as companies claiming they can help get loans forgiven or offer debt relief for a fee.

“It is illegal for a loan provider or a company to charge you before they can help you so it’s very important that people don’t pay right off the bat to unlock free money if it’s truly free it’s in the form of a grant or they need to start with the official source which is the studentaid.gov,” said Meza.

Meza encourages borrowers to also be wary of companies asking for a federal student ID.

“Any request for your federal FASFA ID should be treated with caution that should be your first warning sign,” butted “Because the company would already have that on file so just be careful with that,” said Meza.

Additionally, if you feel that you have fallen victim to a student loan scam, Meza encourages you to file a complaint with the B.B.B. and they will share that information with the Federal Trade Commission or FTC.

Borrowers are advised to start your process of preparing for student loan repayments by visiting studentaid.gov.

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