Security News > 2022 > October > FBI: Scammers likely to target US Student Loan Debt Relief applicants
The FBI has released a warning that scammers may be targeting individuals seeking to enroll in the Federal Student Aid program to steal their personal information, payment details, and money.
Federal Student Aid is a debt relief program announced in August 2022 that opened for applications yesterday.
Its goal is to help student loan recipients manage their debt by wiping between $10,000 and $20,000 from the credit, depending on whether they are Pell Grant recipients.
"Cybercriminals and fraudsters may purport to offer entrance into the Federal Student Loan Forgiveness program, contacting potential victims via phone, email, mail, text, websites, or other online chat services" - the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Applying for the real federal student aid program is free of charge, so potential targets should pay attention to any requests to pay for enrolling in the program or for processing the application.
The only official way to apply for the debt relief program is to visit studentaid.