How to Avoid Coronavirus-related Student Loan Scams

Coronavirus and Student Loan Scammers

How to Avoid Coronavirus Student Loan Scammers

In this Guide, I’ll explain how to protect yourself from the many student loan scams that have become popular thanks tot he COVID-19 crisis, then I’ll explain the legitimate benefits programs on offer so that you can utilize those programs to help get real relief from your student debt!

First, I want to point out that student loans are being heavily impacted by the Coronavirus public health emergency, and yes, there are all sorts of brand new benefits programs on offer.

But any time that there’s a major change to Federal student loan benefits, or some sort of scary disaster unfolding, scammers appear and start trying to fleece money from people.

Right now, it’s especially important to keep your wits about you and avoid any potential student loan scams, because scammers are coming out of the woodwork trying to trick people into paying for services that they simply don’t need!

But Before I Explain How To Avoid These Scams…

Let me first give you a quick piece of advice – I’ve been writing about student loans for 10 years, and my best advice is to pay an expert for help with your loans.

If you're truly struggling with student debt, then you should also consider paying a Student Loan Debt Relief Agency for help. Why? Because the people working at these companies deal with student loans all day, every day, and they're your best chance at figuring out how to get your loans back under control.

I've interviewed all sorts of debt relief agencies over the past 10 years, talking to all sorts of so-called "experts", and I can tell you that in all honesty I've only found two companies I trust to offer actual financial relief to people struggling with student loans.

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 1-888-906-3065. They will review your case, evaluate your options for switching repayment plans, consolidating your loans, or pursuing forgiveness benefits, then set you up to get rid of the debt as quickly as possible.

For help with PRIVATE Student Loans: Call McCarthy Law PLC at 1-877-317-0455. They will negotiate with your lender to settle your private loans for much less than you owe, then get you a new loan for the much lower, settled amount. NOTE: McCarthy Law can ONLY help with Private student loans.

If you do decide to call one of these companies and you have a bad experience with either of them, PLEASE make sure to come back and let me know about it in the Comments!

What’s the Most Common Coronavirus Student Loan Scam?

The big scam going around right now is the phone call or email from someone claiming that they can help PAUSE your student loan payments FOR A FEE.

The reason this is a scam is that you can do this yourself, for free.

In fact, you don’t even need to do anything at all to pause your Federal student loan payments until September 30th, 2020, because that’s automatically being done on your behalf thanks to the new Coronavirus CARES Act.

That’s right – ALL Federally-owned student loans are being paused, completely, until September 30th, 2020, meaning that you don’t need to make payments, you won’t accumulate interest, and you won’t even be pursued via any sort of collections activity until this time period ends.

Essentially, Federal student loans are completely paused until October 2020.

What Legitimate Coronavirus Assistance Programs Should I Review?

The coroanvirus pandemic is having a huge impact on student loans, especially Federal student loans.

In fact, I’ve never seen so many super-powerful, incredibly useful student loan relief programs introduced so quickly as during this crisis.

For details on the legitimate Federal assistance programs on offer thanks to the covid-19 crisis, please see my Guides on:

You’re almost certain to find some kind of benefits program that you can take advantage of thanks to the coronavirus crisis.

You may have to read all of my Guides linked above to get there, but trust me, it’ll be worth your time.

Should I Pay ANYONE for Help With My Loans? Ever?

As I mentioned earlier, I do suggest paying experts to help get your loans under control, but ONLY IF you can’t figure out how to take care of them on your own.

I’ve spent 10 years writing about student loan debt, covering Federal loans, Private loans, and every relief, forgiveness, debt discharge and other assistance program out there, so I know what I’m talking about.

And for maybe 20-30% of the people that I talk to via this website or Social Media, some of you just simply aren’t going to figure out how to deal with your debt on your own.

Those are the people that I suggest pay for an expert’s assistance.

For the rest of you, spent the next hour reading my guides on how to deal with your student debt, and you’ll be able to figure out what to do you on your own, entirely for free.

What Federal Student Loan Relief Programs Should I Consider?

Even if you aren’t going to make student loan payments for the next six months, and you shouldn’t, I still recommend figuring out what to do with your loans now so that you can start taking steps to get them under control when the coronavirus crisis ends.

To get an idea of what options you have with Federal loans, look at my Guides to Getting Help With Federal Student Debt, including:

What Private Student Loan Relief Programs Should I Consider?

And if you have private student loans, then you should review my Guides on Getting Help With Private Student Debt, here:

If you have any other questions about student loans, please feel free post them in the Comments section below.

I’ll do my best to get you a response within 24 hours!

Finally, Please Help Me Out!

Managing this website takes about as much time as working a second full-time job, and I can only keep dedicating the several hours per day that requires if you do your part to help me out in return!

If you found this article useful, then PLEASE consider helping me out by sharing it on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter or wherever you communicate online.

The more people who visit FSLD, the more time I can dedicate to writing up Guides like this one and helping borrowers like you.

Thank you for visiting, and thank you so much for your support!

Disclaimer:Information obtained from Forget Student Loan Debt is for educational purposes only. You should consult a licensed financial professional before making any financial decisions. This site receives some compensation through affiliate relationships. This site is not endorsed or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.

By: Tim Marshall

Tim's experience struggling with crushing student loan debt led him to create the website Forget Student Loan Debt in 2011, where he offers advice, tips and tricks for paying off student loans as quickly and affordably as possible.

Avoiding Common Student Loan Scams During the Coronavirus