SEO Headline (Max 60 characters)
CFPB Letter on Student Debt Relief Scams
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Monday wrote to three web search engines -- Google, Bing and Yahoo -- to ask the companies to work with federal and state authorities to prevent "student debt relief scammers" from targeting distressed borrowers.
"The CFPB has seen an increase in the number of companies and websites requiring large up-front fees to help borrowers enroll in a plan that can be done for free," according to the CFPB. "While we have warned consumers about these scams, we are concerned that unscrupulous companies may be using aggressive advertising through search products to lure distressed borrowers."
State and federal agencies have pursued several of the debt relief outfits for allegedly illegal and harmful actions, the letter said. And the CFPB said some of those companies may be violating the search engine hosts' policies against misrepresentation in advertisements.
Trending Stories
THE Campus
Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education.
- Five things I learned from my trip to Parliament as an early career researcher
- Business school recruitment: disrupt to diversify
- Diagnostic, formative or summative? A guide to assessing your class
- My teacher’s a robot: beating negative perceptions when teaching online
- Embrace the unpredictability of teaching in community colleges
Most Shared Stories
- The research university needs professionalization (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
- Hundreds of WVU faculty oppose changes to evaluation, tenure
- Academic experts offer advice on ChatGPT
- Seven professor actions that contribute to student well-being (infographic)
- The role of the liberal arts in an era of skills-based hiring
Disgraced Ex-Presidents?