Kokua Line: Are cybercriminals stealing college aid?

Question : I got an email supposedly from the U.S. Department of Education to “alert me ” that my FSA ID is locked and telling me to click on a link to unlock it. I think this is a phishing scam because I didn’t apply for financial aid this year—my daughter already graduated from college. I deleted the email without clicking. Have others reported this ?

Answer : Yes, cybercriminals are at work, but likely not in the way you think ; more likely someone was trying to log into your idle Federal Student Aid account and failed to guess your password so the system locked them out after three attempts. The lockout would generate an email from “donotreply @studentaid.gov ” to the address on file for the account.

Although it’s never wise to click on a link in an unsolicited email, you do need to secure your FSA ID. Go to and try to log in. If your account is locked, “you’ll need to use your verified mobile phone number or verified email address, an authenticator app, or your challenge questions to unlock it, ” the website says. Follow the instructions to reset your password and take other recommended security steps.

You can’t delete your FSA ID, even though your daughter has finished college, and the website’s instructions to disable an account no longer seem to work—these are problems for law-abiding students and parents amid identity theft so rampant that officials said it imperils the federal student aid program for college students.

In June, Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, announced new rules to combat the fraud, in which criminals use stolen FSA IDs or other credentials to obtain grants and loans and then enroll chatbots in online classes. Artificial intelligence and remote learning fuel these schemes. Victims whose identities were stolen must deal with the aftermath, trying to prove they never sought or received a student loan, for example.

“Recent data from Federal Student Aid, States, and financial aid administrators at a wide range of institutions of higher education has made it clear that the rate of fraud through stolen identities has reached a level that imperils the federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. As such, the Department and its institutional partners must act to protect the integrity of federal student aid programs funded by taxpayers. This is especially acute for the Pell Grant program, which is already facing a budgetary shortfall and has been targeted by technologically advanced fraud rings, ” FSA said in its June announcement, which you can read at.

Q : Can that life insurance finder be used for people who aren’t dead ? We have a situation with dementia and missing records.

A : No, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life Insurance Policy Locator, a free online service, helps beneficiaries track down life insurance policies and annuity contracts held by people who have died, and only after the tool’s user has made a “diligent search ” for the deceased person’s records on their own. The service “is not to be used to try to locate potential benefits from life insurance policies and annuity contracts on living persons, ” according to its website, .

Although the online tool is not for people in your situation, with relatives who can’t recall where important records are kept, the NAIC and other insurance sites do offer tips that might help. They suggest that a person’s authorized representative could :—Contact the person’s employer or former employer (s ) to ask whether they are entitled to group life insurance benefits. Likewise, if the person is or was in a labor union, ask the union.—Review the person’s bank statements and canceled checks, if available, for payments to a life insurance company.—Ask other family members if they know of any insurance policies or annuity contracts, and if they know of any safety deposit boxes or other locations where records may be kept.—Check with the company or companies that insures or insured the person’s car or house, as they may also have sold the person life insurance. Likewise, if the person is or was a member of a group such as AARP or AAA, check for life insurance purchased through the group.—Search for unclaimed property via, which may include contents of safe deposit boxes, deposits held by utility companies, dormant savings and checking accounts, insurance and medical refunds, shares of stocks, uncashed travelers checks, money orders, dividend checks and payroll checks, according to Hawaii’s Department of Budget and Finance. The search page also includes instructions for filing a claim if property is found.————Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email kokualine @staradvertiser.com.————

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