How to Identify and Avoid Loan Forgiveness Scams
Large loans make the borrower feel trapped. With this trapped feeling brings desperation to find any route of escape. Loan forgiveness scams prey on this desperate, “trapped” feeling. This is especially true for student loans. Student loans create the perfect dynamic for loan forgiveness scams. A loan forgiveness scam claims that you will be able to have your loans forgiven if you offer them payments or personal information. To protect yourself, you must be able to quickly identify and avoid loan forgiveness scams.
How to Identify a Loan Forgiveness Scam: Know How Scammers Operate
The signs of a loan forgiveness scammer easily identifiable. You just need to know the way they operate. Below are a few common signs that you are dealing with a loan forgiveness scam.
Scammers Want Personal Information
Loan forgiveness scams focus on collecting personal information. The person on the other side of the phone may sound convincing. They will ask for your personal information such as your social security number, date of birth, or even bank account information.
You should never give anybody this information over the phone if at all possible. This especially applies when someone you cannot identify initiates the contact with you over the phone. If they are offering to enter you into a “loan forgiveness” program after you give them your personal information, then you are likely falling victim to a loan forgiveness scam.
Scammers Need Payments
Loan forgiveness scams will attempt to set up either a single payment or a series of future payments over the phone. The scammer will claim that the payment(s) will qualify you for debt forgiveness of the entire loan. Any attempt from an outside caller to collect payments over the phone should immediately serve as a warning sign. Never give payments over the phone unless you initiate the call. The tell-tale sign of a scam artist is a request for payments over the phone.
Scammers Will “Promise the World”
If it sounds “too good to be true,” then you are probably dealing with a scammer. Loan forgiveness scams sound convincing. Many times there is even a fake application process that allows you to build your comfort level with the caller. Make sure to analyze the entire situation. By the end, they will promise an unbelievable benefit by your participation. If what they promise is disproportionate to regular reality in some way, you are probably being scammed.
Scammers use Former President Obama’s and other Politicians’ Names
Scammers will frequently use Obama or other politicians’ names in order to make their claim of loan forgiveness more believable. It is all part of the “act.” The scammers will use well known names, cite legal programs, or use official-sounding language. It is all part of the scam to make it sound more appealing and believable. Do not be fooled. Learn how to identify scammers. Get them off your phone or email feed as quickly as possible.
