College Guidance Resources - Third Party Student Loan Modification and Forgiveness Scam

Alert number: CA057805_7/24

The State of Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has received a complaint from a Washington consumer against College Guidance Resources. The consumer reported that College Guidance Resources offered to complete a loan modification on the consumer's student education loans. After the consumer made several payments to College Guidance Resources, they learned that their student education loan servicer did not receive any of the funds.

College Guidance Resources has been associated with the following contact information:

7960 Rafael Rivera Way Suite 1783
Las Vegas NV 89113

Tel: 800*773*7944

Email: [email protected]
Website: https://collegeguidanceresources.org/

Legitimate options for federal student forgiveness:

Loan forgiveness is not available for all student loan borrowers at this time. However, there are programs to forgive federal student loans for specific borrowers, such as public service employees. There are also instances where borrowers may be eligible for student loan discharge.

Federal student loan servicers cannot charge you to apply for loan forgiveness, income-driven repayment (IDR), deferment, or forbearance, or to file any other paperwork. Federal loan servicers do not charge any application or processing fees to consolidate your federal loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Red Flags for Student Loan Forgiveness Scams:

• Charging upfront fees for free programs
  Scammers often attempt to charge for programs that all borrowers can access for free, including preparing the paperwork. Loan forgiveness or discharge (to the extent those programs are available to you), loan consolidation, student loan forbearance and deferment are all free programs provided by your servicer. If a company is asking you to pay large amounts of money upfront, it is likely a scam and should be reported.
• Pressure to decide quickly
  Scammers might tell you that you only have 24 hours to take advantage of an offer or program. This is a red flag. Most government-offered programs do not require this sense of urgency. Confirm whether this is a legitimate company before you take any additional steps.
• Encouraging you to cut off communications with your loan servicer
  This is warning sign that this company is not working in your best interest. As a student loan borrower, it is important for you to maintain communication with your servicer. If someone urges you to make payments to their company instead of your loan servicer or to stop communicating with your loan servicer, do not give them any information. Do not stop making payments to your servicer.
• Claiming to be affiliated with your loan servicer or Department of Education
  Scammers might name drop organizations that you have a loan account with. Be careful of statements like "we work with Department of Education" or "we're partnered with your loan servicer."
• Asking for personal information via email or over the phone
  Scammers often ask for personal information like your full Social Security number, bank account number, FSA ID or studentaid.gov password. Do not give any personal information to an unverified company over the phone. If you suspect the caller may be a scammer, hang up and contact your servicer directly to determine if there are any actions required for your loan.

Report Unlicensed Lending Activity or Fraud

Washington State residents only: If you suspect unlicensed activity by a party offering to assist with a loan modification, please contact the Department at 1-877-RING-DFI (746-4334), or online at www.dfi.wa.gov. Even if you activity involves loan modification services you obtained over the internet, a license is still required.

If you feel you have been the victim of a scam you can contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) or online at www.ftc.gov; or contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (855) 411-CFPB (2372) or online at www.consumerfinance.gov.

If the scammers already have your bank account information, social security number, or other nonpublic information, you may be a victim of identity theft and you can take appropriate precautions. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has information for victims of identity theft available online at www.ftc.gov.

If you feel you have been the victim of a scam involving the internet you can also contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center online at www.ic3.gov.

If you feel you have been the victim of a financial scam and are concerned about your personal financial information, you can contact your banking institution and the three major credit bureaus. Procedures for contacting the credit bureaus are available on the FTC's website at www.ftc.gov.

If you live in another state, find the regulator in your home state.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.