GREENSBORO, N.C. — Student loan debt relief. It’s what everyone is talking about.
The pause on payments is set to expire on August 31, 2022, but it seems we're hearing about what could happen. Let me tell you what is happening, scam calls.
“They're also spoofing real lenders' names and 800 numbers so you think it's them, a real lender name will pop up, and if you're not really sure who your lender is. That could cause you a problem because you'll actually think you're speaking with your lender and then you're not,” said Mary Jo Terry, Managing Partner at Yrefy.
Who is on the other side of the phone? There's only one way to find out if a call from a "lender" is real or not. You need to know who holds your loan.
Chances are one lender has bought out another. Either find your old paperwork and go from there or go to the website StudentAid.gov. Student loan experts say this is a completely secure website where you can see who your loan servicer is and you can update your information.
By the way, updating your info, that's one of the three top scam calls.
“With all the talk of debt relief, there's a big solicitation for information that you probably haven’t updated, then there's let's update your banking information which is scarier than the first one and last but not least, you can't make your payment right now, so why don't you pay me to fill out your federal forms,” said Terry.
Let me be very clear, you don't need to pay anyone to fill out federal forms for your student loan, for scholarships--- for really...anything.
Filling out federal forms is free and there are resources to help you.