The UCF Information Security Office (InfoSec) warns students of potential student loan and work from home scams being delivered by email or voicemail. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the current environment to prey upon those seeking financial relief.
1. According to the U.S. Department of Education, an unsolicited contact regarding loans may be a scam if:
- they require you to pay up-front or monthly fees for help;
- they promise immediate and total loan forgiveness or cancellation;
- they ask for your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID username and password;
- they ask you to sign and submit a third-party authorization form or a power of attorney;
- they claim that their offer is limited and encourage you to act immediately.
2. An unsolicited work from home offer may be a scam if:
- they ask you to accept or send money right away;
- they require you to deposit checks and send back a portion of the amount;
- they offer large income for minimal work.
3. To avoid scams and protect your information, remember:
- refer to official government websites (such as https://studentaid.gov) for information regarding student loans;
- never provide sensitive information such as your Social Security Number, FSA ID, or financial account information unless you made the contact;
- regard any unsolicited work from home offers as suspicious;
- set a unique password for your FSA account and change it if it’s been shared;
- do an online search to learn more about the company before accepting any work from home offers.
For more information about student loan scams, please see https://studentaid.gov/resources/scams. To learn more about work from home scams, please visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0175-work-home-businesses#commonscams.
To learn about more steps you can take to protect your accounts, please see https://infosec.ucf.edu/awareness/student-security-guidelines/.
As always, immediately report any suspicious emails received on your Knights email to the Security Incident Response Team at SIRT@ucf.edu.