The Biden administration is taking new steps to help protect borrowers from scams in the days before Americans can begin to apply for student loan forgiveness.
Officials announced “ongoing and expanded efforts across the administration to combat scams and misinformation” on Wednesday, including “educating borrowers about how to protect themselves against scams and accelerating efforts to share scam complaints with states.”
In August, President Joe Biden announced his decision to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year or as much as $20,000 for eligible borrowers who are also Pell Grant recipients. The application process is set to kick off on a to-be-announced date this month, and officials promised that more information on when the application will roll out will be available “shortly.”
When the process does begin, a senior administration official told reporters, borrowers “will be able to apply without having to upload any documents or inputting their FSA ID” through the application portal.
But any program like this, however simple, can be vulnerable to scams, so there will be efforts in place to warn borrowers about bad actors.
The administration is releasing a “student debt relief do’s and don’ts” document with guidance.
Among the don’ts, the senior official said: “Don’t pay anyone who contacts…
