Black woman worried reading bad news on internet
The Federal Communication Commission has told Urth Access LLC, a major provider of robocall services used to power many student loan scams, that it must stop providing robocall software to groups running scams. This action might be enough to shut down over half of the current scams targeted at student loan borrowers.
Student loan scams are nothing new but have proliferated in the wake of President Biden’s student debt relief announcement in August. With millions of borrowers eligible for relief, there are a lot of potential targets for scammers. Borrowers, especially those struggling to pay their debts, are often desperate for help, making them easy targets for scammers who promise to help get rid of loans for a fee. Scammers not only take money from vulnerable borrowers, they often discourage those same borrowers from applying for the relief they are eligible for, compounding the harm they cause.
Why Is This FCC Action Important?
Robocalls are a primary tool for scammers. Scammers can call tens or even hundreds of thousands of federal student loan borrowers for relatively low costs. Scammers know that a tiny fraction of borrowers will respond or fall for whatever they are peddling, but when dealing with millions of borrowers looking for help, getting a response from a tiny fraction of borrowers can make scammers a lot of money.
In the press release announcing the action, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said:…
