Scammers Targeting Those Seeking Student Loan Forgiveness

Fraudsters are contacting people through email, text, phone, and online claiming to be administrators for the Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Program in an effort to steal personally identifiable information, the FBI warned this week.

In late August, the Biden Administration announced that the US Department of Education would cancel up to $20,000 in student loans per borrower.

The FBI says anyone contacted by someone purporting to be working for the federal student loan forgiveness program should not provide any sensitive personal data, particularly any payment information.

"Cybercriminals and fraudsters use their schemes to receive payment for services they will not provide or collect victim information they can then use to facilitate a variety of other crimes," the FBI announcement said. "Entrance into or assistance with any federal student aid program through the Department of Education or their trusted partners never requires payment."