Earlier this month, the White House announced plans to protect US student loan borrowers from scammers expected to try to exploit the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
“One of the most critical ways to prevent scams and protect borrowers from being taken advantage of is developing a clear, simple, and secure site for borrowers to apply for debt relief and have the most up to date information from trusted sources,” a White House briefing reads.
“Over the course of the last 18 months, the FTC has reached nearly $30 million in settlements that included refunds for tens of thousands of student borrowers who were illegally charged up front fees and falsely promised reduced or eliminated student loan payments.”
Up to 8 million individuals could receive automatic debt relief of up to $20,000 according to the White House, and while applications for borrowers are not available yet, opportunistic scammers are bound to jump in to rip off unwary student loan borrowers.
As such, the government is attempting to bolster scam prevention through multiple awareness programs and inter-state cooperation, including:
Here are some key practices when applying for student loan debt relief:
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Alina is a history buff passionate about cybersecurity and anything sci-fi, advocating Bitdefender technologies and solutions. She spends most of her time between her two feline friends and traveling.
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