GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – It’s not just your parents, relatives, and friends that are excited you graduated college and got that well-earned degree.
Scammers have been waiting for this moment as well.
“This is a very vulnerable time, they’re moving to a new city, they’re finding new jobs, new places to live, and graduation also means new financial responsibilities,” said Lisa Schiller who is a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau.
Schiller said that fake student loan opportunities are one of scammers’ favorite tricks. If you get a call, text, or an email out of the blue, or if a student loan forgiveness opportunity seems too good to be true it’s probably a scam.
Knowing the ins and outs of how your student loans work will also protect you from scams because you’ll be able to see holes in a scammer’s claims more easily.
“When you actually get that message, it can seem very real, scammers are really good at what they do because they seem very legitimate in their messaging and it can be a little bit scary,” said Schiller.
Scammers also try to get college graduates on things like housing or employment opportunities.
“Basically, the scammers will offer you high pay, easy entry-level jobs, work from home is very common, they’ll sound way too good to be true. They will have all the elements that you’re looking for,” said Schiller.
If you come across a housing offer where the price of rent is significantly lower than all the other apartments around it, that’s a sign of a scam.
If you’re contacted by someone, do your research on that person or organization making the offer.
Another common scam is calls or emails claiming that the graduate has unpaid tuition and must make those payments or face the possibility of not graduating. The Better Business Bureau said to contact your institution’s bursar office immediately.
Most institutions will contact you by mail first if you do have unpaid tuition. Scammers often ask you to make payments immediately claiming something bad will happen if you don’t. This is a tactic to try to force you to make a bad decision without thinking it through first.
