The Biden administration is increasing its efforts to fight scams aimed at taking advantage of borrowers applying for its expansive student loan forgiveness plan, senior administration officials announced Wednesday.
The administration’s forgiveness program will cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households. The plan, which is projected to cost $400 billion, could benefit as many as 40 million Americans.
Since the relief was announced in August, the administration has released very little concrete information about what the application will look like or when it will be released. That vacuum has created an opportunity for scammers: As NPR reported last month, some borrowers have already encountered student loan relief scams and misinformation in text messages, phone calls and emails, and experts say it’s getting worse.
“This Biden forgiveness thing is Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July all rolled into one for the scammers,” says Betsy Mayotte, the president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit that offers free counseling to borrowers. “I saw scam activity as early as the afternoon of the day they made the announcement.”
In order to hold scammers accountable, the administration plans to increase collaboration between the Department of Education and other federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer…
