Scammers follow the news about student loan forgiveness (2024)

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David

April 18, 2024

studentaid.gov actually helps the scammers with this, since it's easy for them to verify if your email address is registered with studentaid.gov. The site should state that it's going to send a password reset IF the email is on file but provide no indication if the email is registered or not. This makes it harder for the scammer to determine the legitimacy of the email.

The email sends a PIN to unlock and access the account. Scammers will ask for the PIN (they start a password lost action), and if that's provided, gives them access to the studentaid.gov account. They tell you it's for verification that you are you, and don't tell you that they are going to log into your account as you.

Sending a PIN to the account probably isn't a good idea, since if you give that PIN to a scammer, they can get into your account. A password reset link would be better, since you would have to have access to the email, and that's not something you could give to a scammer.

Simple changes could help reduce the impact of this scam.

FAQs

Did people actually get student loan forgiveness? ›

Today's announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $153 billion for nearly 4.3 million Americans. Thanks to this Administration's efforts one out of every 10 Federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some debt relief.

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Why are people so upset about student loan forgiveness? ›

"The fact that most Americans don't have a college degree may also mean that many resist loan forgiveness because student debt is not their problem and so forgiveness does not appear to directly benefit them," said Singh, whose work has included explorations of the intersection of religion with politics and with ...

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How many people regret taking out student loans? ›

College students are regretting taking out student loans before they even leave school, a new report from WalletHub revealed on Tuesday. Roughly 61 percent of college students said they regretted how much they borrowed with student loans, according to the report.

Why did I get an email saying my student loans are forgiven? ›

If you receive a questionable message promising student loan forgiveness and aren't sure what to make of it, keep an eye out for any unusual capitalization, improper grammar, or incomplete sentences. These sorts of errors indicate a potential scam in action.

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Is the student loan forgiveness going to be approved? ›

Today's announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $168.5 billion for 4.76 million Americans, which includes $69.2 billion for 946,000 borrowers through PSLF. Before President Biden took office, only 7,000 public servants had received debt relief through PSLF.

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Has anyone received student loan forgiveness money yet? ›

Today's announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $167 billion for 4.75 million Americans. Thanks to this Administration's efforts more than one out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some debt relief.

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How many people don't pay back student loans? ›

16% of Americans with student loans are behind on their payments

Education	Percent behind on payments
Some college or technical degree	28%
Associate's degree	22%
Bachelor's degree	7%
Graduate degree	7%

Sep 3, 2024

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Are student loans ruining the economy? ›

Student loan debt can lead to the delaying of milestones, such as buying a home and starting a family, that generally require expenditures. The absence of these expenditures limits the economic growth of businesses that would have profited from them.

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How many people have had their student loans cancelled? ›

The Biden-Harris Administration has now approved nearly $138 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 3.9 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions.

How will I know if my student loan will be forgiven? ›

If you have loans that have been in repayment for more than 20 or 25 years, those loans may immediately qualify for forgiveness. Borrowers who have reached 20 or 25 years (240 or 300 months) worth of eligible payments for IDR forgiveness will see their loans forgiven as they reach these milestones.

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How can I tell if the email is legit from student loan? ›

Here's one way to tell the difference: legitimate emails from the Department of Education will only come from one of these three email addresses:

Aug 20, 2024

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How long does it take for loan forgiveness to be approved? ›

The PSLF application process can take a few months. It may take longer if you haven't been submitting regular PSLF Forms, or shorter. During the wait, you have the option of continuing to make payments or putting your loans into forbearance.

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How many people were approved for student loan forgiveness? ›

Borrowers Identified for Early SAVE Forgiveness by Location
State	Borrower Count	Amount Forgiven (in millions)
Arizona	3,990	$33.0
Arkansas	1,190	$8.7
California	13,580	$114.8

53 more rows

Feb 23, 2024

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Is there really a government debt relief program? ›

There aren't any free government debt relief programs for credit card or personal loan debt other than bankruptcy. Many types of government debt relief exist in the form of grants and low-interest loans for specific purposes.

Does debt forgiveness really work? ›

With debt forgiveness, creditors pardon some or all of your debt. Various types of debt may qualify for forgiveness. Debt forgiveness can offer relief from overwhelming financial burdens, but it does have downsides. Debt forgiveness is only one option for managing difficulties with repayment.