What to know about student loan scams as payments resume

Due dates aren't the only thing you should watch out for

Illustration of phishing scam
Borrowers should be on high alert
(Image credit: Sesame / Getty Images)

As student loan borrowers readjust to making payments after a more than three-year pause, they should stay aware of more than just their payment due dates — they should also be on high alert for potential scams. Before student loan payments even resumed in October, over 350,000 student loan-related robocalls were placed within the first two weeks of September, "roughly as many as in the nine prior weeks," CBS MoneyWatch reported, citing information from Transaction Network Services. 

Further, given the length of the pause and the changes it brought to the student loan landscape, it is likely easier than ever to get confused as to what's what. As Yahoo Finance noted, "During the pandemic, some servicers stopped dealing with student loans or ended their contracts, which means many borrowers are likely to restart their payments with companies they may not be familiar with." Meanwhile, other borrowers are making their payments for the first time ever.

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.