I received an urgent phone call while I was driving. An individual, purportedly named 'Jeffrey', stated he was with the United States Federal Loan Consolidation Center. He went over the terms involved with the consolidation of my student loans. He stated I'd pay $99 per month for the first 6 payments, after which the payments would be only $39 per month. 'Jeffrey' also explained that if I'd work in public service, a majority of my loans would be eliminated. 'Jeffrey' managed to identify my Social Security number as well as my address. He also wanted me to email my credit card number, expiration date, and CVV # for my debit card (or major credit card if I had one). 'Jeffrey' mentioned both the usflcc.org URL as well as the 'agency' phone number (1-855-647-9494) as evidence of this agency's authenticity. He also mentioned Buffalo, NY and the State of Maryland during the course of conversation to suggest additional authenticity.
Additionally, I researched the BBB standing of USFLCC and they have not been rated by the BBB. I would not and did not comply with their demands. I've received several scam attempts on my phone and was very suspicious of the legitimacy of this group/ organization. End of report
I've gotten calls from scammers before, these guys are good.
An Indian man named "Riley" called me. I knew something was off when it wasn't an actual phone number that showed on caller ID. Next, huge claim that all my student loan debt could be approved for complete forgiveness...GREAT, tell me more! So he started by asking some harmless questions: size of household, annual income, nothing too revealing. Then he wanted me to log in and create a FSA ID and give him that info. UH, NO! So I lied and I told him I didn't have access to the internet at the time, that my phone is my internet and I can't talk and be on the web at the same time. He asked me to feed him my personal info to create a federal ID. I THINK NOT! So he conceded to send me a link in an email to the webpage to create the ID and he would call me in 30 minutes to continue the process.
During that 30 minutes, I created my ID (but not from his link-just in case) since I will need that when I complete my next FAFSA. I also googled the usflcc.org email address he sent the email from. Their webpage LOOKS GREAT! Only the reviews are way off. The language screams translation app. A little more looking finds a disclaimer on their webpage that states they are NOT affiliated with the US department of Education. They are not BBB rated. On their website a heading actually states "What Customers Are Saying About Customer Name" like they forgot to enter USFLCC in the template when building their website. One of the "off" reviews: "Thanks again for helping us through another complex series of transactions. This one, while complicated, was at least far less stressful. We appreciate your responsive." - Paula Frady Geibel Student"
Too many things off. So I waited for "Riley" to call back to see what info he required to tell me what forgiveness programs I qualify for. So he immediately wanted the username and password I created. I told him that per the recommendation of the Department of Ed website I just used to create my ID, I wasn't going to provide him with my info. So he said he would send me another email that would contain a code. That I should check my email and give him the code. (By this time, I had my laptop in front of me) The email was from [email protected]. It was a standard "Request for Username" email. Had I given him the code he would have entered it and had COMPLETE access to my FSA ID. I told him I was not giving him that info. He insisted he needed to enter it into their system that is "directly linked to the federal loan office to see how much of my student loan they can erase."
I told him he isn't an DoED employee and I am not giving him access to my ID which has the power to be my legal signature. At this point he agreed that there was nothing more he could do for me and bid me goodnight.
These guys are good. They say all the right trigger words, and they want you to complete the process while they are are the phone with you so you don't have time to check the validity of the situation.
USFLCC Reviews
I received an urgent phone call while I was driving. An individual, purportedly named 'Jeffrey', stated he was with the United States Federal Loan Consolidation Center. He went over the terms involved with the consolidation of my student loans. He stated I'd pay $99 per month for the first 6 payments, after which the payments would be only $39 per month. 'Jeffrey' also explained that if I'd work in public service, a majority of my loans would be eliminated. 'Jeffrey' managed to identify my Social Security number as well as my address. He also wanted me to email my credit card number, expiration date, and CVV # for my debit card (or major credit card if I had one). 'Jeffrey' mentioned both the usflcc.org URL as well as the 'agency' phone number (1-855-647-9494) as evidence of this agency's authenticity. He also mentioned Buffalo, NY and the State of Maryland during the course of conversation to suggest additional authenticity.
Additionally, I researched the BBB standing of USFLCC and they have not been rated by the BBB. I would not and did not comply with their demands. I've received several scam attempts on my phone and was very suspicious of the legitimacy of this group/ organization. End of report
Smells Fishy
I've gotten calls from scammers before, these guys are good.
An Indian man named "Riley" called me. I knew something was off when it wasn't an actual phone number that showed on caller ID. Next, huge claim that all my student loan debt could be approved for complete forgiveness...GREAT, tell me more! So he started by asking some harmless questions: size of household, annual income, nothing too revealing. Then he wanted me to log in and create a FSA ID and give him that info. UH, NO! So I lied and I told him I didn't have access to the internet at the time, that my phone is my internet and I can't talk and be on the web at the same time. He asked me to feed him my personal info to create a federal ID. I THINK NOT! So he conceded to send me a link in an email to the webpage to create the ID and he would call me in 30 minutes to continue the process.
During that 30 minutes, I created my ID (but not from his link-just in case) since I will need that when I complete my next FAFSA. I also googled the usflcc.org email address he sent the email from. Their webpage LOOKS GREAT! Only the reviews are way off. The language screams translation app. A little more looking finds a disclaimer on their webpage that states they are NOT affiliated with the US department of Education. They are not BBB rated. On their website a heading actually states "What Customers Are Saying About Customer Name" like they forgot to enter USFLCC in the template when building their website. One of the "off" reviews: "Thanks again for helping us through another complex series of transactions. This one, while complicated, was at least far less stressful. We appreciate your responsive." - Paula Frady Geibel Student"
Too many things off. So I waited for "Riley" to call back to see what info he required to tell me what forgiveness programs I qualify for. So he immediately wanted the username and password I created. I told him that per the recommendation of the Department of Ed website I just used to create my ID, I wasn't going to provide him with my info. So he said he would send me another email that would contain a code. That I should check my email and give him the code. (By this time, I had my laptop in front of me) The email was from [email protected]. It was a standard "Request for Username" email. Had I given him the code he would have entered it and had COMPLETE access to my FSA ID. I told him I was not giving him that info. He insisted he needed to enter it into their system that is "directly linked to the federal loan office to see how much of my student loan they can erase."
I told him he isn't an DoED employee and I am not giving him access to my ID which has the power to be my legal signature. At this point he agreed that there was nothing more he could do for me and bid me goodnight.
These guys are good. They say all the right trigger words, and they want you to complete the process while they are are the phone with you so you don't have time to check the validity of the situation.