[BHS etree] College Advisor: Scam alert for college students

[bhs at idiom.com]

contact: Ilene Abrams iabrams at berkeley.k12.ca.us


Dear Berkeley High families,

The following letter is from the U.S. Department of Education regarding a
scam on students who have taken out student loans in college.  Please read
carefully and forward it to others who might find it useful.

If you have any questions, please check the web sites listed in the letter
or e-mail me at iabrams at berkeley.k12.ca.us.

Thanks

Ilene Abrams
College Advisor
iabrams at berkeley.k12.ca.us


Dear partners in education,

It was brought to our attention recently that someone claiming to be a
representative of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is calling students,
offering them grants, and asking for their bank account numbers so a
processing fee can be charged. Specifically, the caller tells the student he
understands the student has federal student loans and offers to replace the
loans with an $8,000 grant. The caller explains that a processing fee must
be charged and obtains the student’s checking account information.

We urge you to remind your students that there is no ED program to replace
loans with grants and that there is no processing fee to obtain Title IV
grants from ED. Furthermore, students should never provide their bank
account or credit card information over the phone unless they initiated the
call and trust the company they are calling.

We recommend that you immediately e-mail or otherwise contact your current
and incoming students to warn them about this scam. A student who is a
victim of this or a similar scam should take the following steps:

  1.. Immediately contact his or her bank, explain the situation, and
request that the bank monitor or close the compromised account.
  2.. Report the fraud to ED’s Office of Inspector General hotline at
1-800-MIS-USED (1-800-647-8733) or oig.hotline at ed.gov. Special agents in the
Office of Inspector General investigate fraud involving federal education
dollars.
  3.. Report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC has an
online complaint form at www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams and a hotline at
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357; teletype for the hearing impaired:
1-866-653-4261). The FTC will investigate if the fraud is deemed widespread;
therefore, it is important that every student contacted by the person or
people in question lodge a complaint so the FTC has an accurate idea of how
many incidents have occurred.
  4.. Notify the police about the incident. Impersonating a federal officer
is a crime, as is identity theft.

When filing complaints, the student should provide detailed information
about the incident, including what was said, the name of the person who
called, and from what number the call originated (if the student was able to
obtain it via Caller ID).  Additionally, if unauthorized debits have already
appeared against the student’s bank account, the student should mention this
fact in his or her complaint. Records of such debits could be useful in
locating the wrongdoer.

For information about identity theft prevention, you and your students may
visit <www.ed.gov/misused>. For information about preventing financial aid
scams, visit <www.studentaid.ed.gov/lsa>.

Cindy Forbes Cameron
Student Aid Awareness
U.S. Dept of Education
www.studentaid.ed.gov
1-800-4-FED-AID

______________________________
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