Scammers take advantage of borrowers’ confusion and fear. The latest scam is especially dangerous because it references actual events in the news.
Congress passed multiple stimulus relief packages. The legislation included many forms of help for struggling Americans. Additionally, there has been extensive discussion about student loan forgiveness or cancellation.
Enter the scammer trying to take advantage of complicated events in the news and student loan desperation…
Sherpa Tip: I’m especially worried about this particular scam because it sounds like an actual government program recently announced by the Department of Education.
The Scam Email: Act Now for Student Loan Forgiveness from Stimulus Relief Legislation
A reader recently forwarded the following email. Fortunately, she didn’t fall for this scam. However, she thought it might be helpful to alert others who receive a similar email. Rather than including the entire email, I’ll quote a few relevant sections.
It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation, however, your application does need to be completed. This applies to all loan statuses, including those loans in default and garnishment.
After mentioning this “new legislation,” the email creates some urgency:
We can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though.
The email ends with contact info for the scammers and a strange note:
If you don’t have student debt please ignore this message.
The scammers also had the first and last name of the reader and included her name in the subject of the email. They also added a verification code, agent id, and physical address in Nevada. These items are nonsense but give an appearance of legitimacy.
The Red Flags in this Email
This particular email contains numerous red flags that should help borrowers avoid the scam.
Student Loan Stimulus Legislation
Many student loan borrowers think student loan stimulus legislation should exist. Unfortunately, it does not. If this legislation actually happened, it would be headline news and easy to verify in many different ways.
First Come First Serve Benefit
Scammers often try to create urgency. If you are told to “act now,” it should be a huge red flag. The only temporary student loan program with limited funding is the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This particular program has been around for years.
Please Ignore This If You Don’t Have Student Debt
This particular scammer just knew names and email addresses. They targeted student loan borrowers because so many people are impacted by student debt. This is a common practice. If someone knows your name and knows that you have student loans, it does not indicate legitimacy.
A Hotmail Account Instead of a Federal Student Loan Servicer
If such a program existed, notification would almost certainly come from the Department of Education or a federal student loan servicer. A random Hotmail account means it is undoubtedly a scam.
Calling Out Scammers by Name: In the early days of this website, I identified scams by the name of the company to help borrowers. I wish I could still do this, but it just isn’t possible at this time.
Legitimate Government Stimulus and Forgiveness
This particular scam email is especially troubling because it sounds similar to an existing government program.
Last October, the Department of Education announced a Limited Waiver on Public Service Loan Forgiveness. One of the Covid-19 relief bills authorized this temporary program, but it expires on October 31, 2022. The limited waiver helps borrowers who were on the wrong repayment plan or who had ineligible loans.
If you are trying to decide whether you are looking at a scam email or an actual government program, check out the studentaid.gov detailed explanation on the limited waiver. Contact your federal loan servicer if you think you might benefit.
If you suspect you are being scammed, try to fix things right away.
Avoiding this Scam and Others Like It
Although it made it through Gmail’s spam filters, formatting issues made this email appear to be spam. Hopefully, this makes it an easy one for most people to ignore.
However, sometimes the scammers are more convincing. This particular scammer knew the name associated with the email address. Given the number of database hacks we read about in the news, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that scammers can get this information. If this scam was a little more convincing, it might have been very effective. People are desperate for student loan help, and many will act if there is even a chance it is legitimate.
For this reason, borrowers need to be on high alert for the many student loan scams out there. If you think you have been scammed, there are steps you can take to address the situation immediately.
Why didn’t you tell us what the scam is? How do they scam people? Do they get their student loan information? What can they do if they get their student loan information. If you don’t know what they do to scam people, then how do you know if it’s really a scam? How come no one goes after the scammers? It’s like they let the scammers get away with whatever they do and nothing ever happens to them. They can track them down and prosecute them. Why don’t they. I know they have all kinds of excuses, but they can do it.
These questions are all justified Paul. In the past, I’ve named names on scammers, but I’m unable to do that anymore.
If you are struggling to identify if a student loan offer is a scam, I’ve put together this collection of tips and guidance for evaluating a potential student loan scam.
As for government officials, I think they have actually gotten much better at shutting down student loan scams. Ten years ago when I started this site, there were more scams out there and the FTC and other agencies were very slow to respond. That said, they don’t — and can’t — move as fast a scammers do. When a new “company” pops up, they can’t immediately shut it down even if it looks like a scam. Tracking them down and prosecuting takes time.
If you have a question about a specific company or offer, feel free to reach out via email, and I’m happy to share my 2 cents.
We tried to reach you at your residence but did not receive a response. Your Student-Loan may be eligible for the recently passed stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act). However, you will need to complete your application. This applies to all loan statuses, including those in default or garnishment. Please give our dedicated eligibility line a call to have your application processed immediately. Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm PST. Thank You.
I got the same email:
Hello my name is Raimondo Truss, We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your Student-Loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-752-0883 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #10642. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Raimondo Truss
Glad i checked it out, similar email has been sent to me to day (14th/02/2022). Students Loans only contact me through the post and emails do not come from a hotmail account. I thought that was abit strange so i googled it.
hopefully there has been any victims…
Scammers may you rot in hell
I received the same email as everyone else. I do have student loans but mine are not in default and I have been making my payments throughout the pandemic. My loan servicer email is not even a hotmail address. This needs to be stopped so other people don’t fall for this scam and end up getting hurt by the scam
Thank you so much for your post. I had to check since I also rcvd the email and I do have a student loan.
I’m curious how I’m also getting phone calls about this! I don’t have a student loan even…. Lol
I’m not surprised to hear that. So many people have student loans that they just call and email every number and address that they have.
Thanks for posting this, it’s very kind and I didn’t fall in to it.
I thought it sounded too good to be true. It is so tempting. Thank you for telling us what to look for & where to go for actual help.
Hello my name is Aridatha Gruber, We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-733-1298 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #08610. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Aridatha Gruber
If you do not have student loans, please ignore this message. Distributed by...Marketing Services, PO Box 249 # 57223, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103 ..……. we do not provide any other service except for advertising. If you have a concern regarding a product or service please contact that company directly ..… to be removed from future advertisements type in ‘no-more-ads.com’ in your browser and enter your email address ‘xxxxx@xxxxx.com’…………......…..…........ bHNhcmFzaXRoQG91dGxvb2suY29t
This was my exact email too…Here is the majority of the email copy and pasted below.. total scam!
” Hello my name is Aurthur Midhet, We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your Student-Loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 888.344.4771 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #25073. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Aurthur Midhet”
I also got one. My student loan was over 20 years old. Started checking it out and figured it was a scam. Also the email address is one I no longer use.
Hello my name is Jimmie Trainor, agent id number: 55814. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 209-332-8256 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #45529. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Jimmie Trainor
If you do not have student loans, please ignore this message. Distributed by…Marketing Services, 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #3215, Henderson NV 89014 ….. we do not provide any other service except for advertising. if you have a concern regarding a product or service please contact that company directly …...... to be removed from future advertisements type in ’no-more-ads.com’ in your browser and enter your email address
From: Tucker Bridges
Date: January 6, 2022 at 11:08:21 PM AKST
Hello my name is Tucker Bridges, agent id number: 37307. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-733-1298 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #60917. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Tucker Bridges
If you do not have student loans, please ignore this message. Distributed by…Marketing Services, 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #3215, Henderson NV 89014 .. we do not provide any other service except for advertising. if you have a concern regarding a product or service please contact that company directly ..…..…… to be removed from future advertisements type in ‘take-me-off.net’ in your browser and enter your email address
Just got this emailed forwarded to me from my estranged dad, lovely to see his name in my inbox and spam to go with it!
Hello my name is Kaspar Breckner, agent id number: 63999. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-506-3904 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #30537. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Kaspar Breckner
If you do not have student loans, please ignore this message. Distributed by…Marketing Services, 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #3215, Henderson NV 89014 ….….. we do not provide any other service except for advertising. if you have a concern regarding a product or service please contact that company directly
Still being sent out, just got this one.
Hello my name is Floria Fick, agent id number: 41579. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-943-0042 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #73744. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Floria Fick
these mails are still being sent.
The email is still being sent out! I received it today!
Hello my name is Raimund Hollern, agent id number: 36707. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-752-0883 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #26850. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Raimund Hollern
This email is still being sent, because I just received it from an outlook email and I have hotmail. This is what was sent to me:
Hello my name is Maddi Azeri, agent id number: 44075. We tried to contact you at your home and did not hear back. It looks like your student loan may be eligible for the recent stimulus forgiveness and relief legislation (Cares Act), however your application does need to be completed by January 31st of 2022, as that is when the Cares act is set to end. This applies to all loan statuses including those loans in default and garnishment. If you could please give your dedicated eligibility line a call at: 855-709-1673 and we can have this applied immediately. Please be aware that these benefits come on a first come first serve basis though. Please make sure to provide your personal validation code #81202. Our office hours are 8am-5pm (PST) Monday-Friday. Thank You, Maddi Azeri
If you do not have student loans, please ignore this message. Distributed by...Marketing Services, 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #3215, Henderson NV 89014 ..…... to be removed from future advertisements type in ’take-me-off.net’ in your browser and enter your email address
I received the same email. I have called but sounded that is a legit business it tells you to call within business hours, I am not calling them they are fake.
I called and gave fake info. She looked me up and said I didnt have a loan but she would open a file for me…WHAT…I then proceeded to tell her about the scam and she hung up on me.
THEY TRIED TO SCAM ME
Just like how I scammed your attention with this big headline
I received a e-mail with the phone number about Cares Act student loan forgiveness and relief legislation … Call this number and apply immediatetly!! I Looked it up and found it to be a Scam.
I just received the same email. I found it odd that it doesn’t actually list a company or organization anywhere the email. The email address is just a bunch of letters put together.
This is the person’s name and email address and address at the bottom of the email. I hope this information is helpful. When I called the number because I was curious. I said if you have a debt of $10,000 or more press this number.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience. It is very strange that they don’t list a company name.
Just as a heads up, I have deleted the contact info from your comment. I know you shared it to help people, and it is almost certainly a fake name and scam info, but I remove names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses of all individuals. There is a tiny chance that the person listed in the email is actually a real person who isn’t involved with this scam and possibly another victim in some way. Just to be safe, I’ve removed it.
so the email included a phone #…who do i send it to to ask that that phone # be canceled so no one can call it…and the owner get investigated?
Great question. I’d suggest reaching out to the Attorney General of your state and the FTC (federal trade commission). Both have resources for reporting scams and starting an investigation. More info is available here.