How to identify scams like "This Concerns Your Student Loan"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "This Concerns Your Student Loan"?
Our team has reviewed this email and found it to be a fraudulent attempt to deceive recipients into believing that they have received an urgent letter regarding their student loan. Typically, such emails are employed to extract sensitive information or money from recipients. Whoever receives such an email should not respond to it.
More about the "This Concerns Your Student Loan" scam email
The deceptive email is disguised as a letter from Noah Kummer regarding the recipient's student loan. It states that previous attempts to contact the recipient were unsuccessful and follows up on their eligibility for an income-driven payment reduction and forgiveness program.
The email suggests that the recipient might have an incomplete application that needs submission and mentions that all loan statuses qualify, including those in default or garnishment. It instructs the recipient to call a dedicated eligibility counselor at (855-894-8632) on Wednesday to complete their application and enrollment.
The email also asks the recipient to provide an approval code (#59511) during the call to expedite the process. It seems that scammers behind this email aim to trick recipients into calling the provided number or responding directly via email.
Usually, emails of this type are attempts by scammers to extract money from recipients by tricking them into paying fake fees or for services or disclosing personal information (e.g., ID card information, credit card details, social security numbers). Also, scammers behind such emails, when contacted, may try to lure recipients into downloading malware.
Individuals should be careful when receiving such emails to avoid consequences like identity theft, monetary loss, computer infections, or other issues.
| Name | This Concerns Your Student Loan Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The recipient might have an incomplete application for a student loan |
| Disguise | Letter from Noah Kummer |
| Symptoms | Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Similar scam emails in general
Emails of this kind often use urgent language and personal information to create a sense of immediacy, prompting recipients to act quickly. It is crucial to verify the legitimacy of such messages through official channels before providing any personal information or making contact.
Some examples of similar emails are: "Rothschild Foundation Email Scam", "Is Visiting A More Convenient Way To Reach Email Scam", and "Join Our Great Illuminati Email Scam". It is important to be aware that fraudulent emails can be employed to trick users into infecting their computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cybercriminals distribute malware via email by including infected attachments like MS Office documents, PDFs, ISO files, executables, scripts, archives, or other types of files. Their goal is to deceive recipients into activating the malware by enabling macros in malicious documents, running malicious executables, or performing other actions.
Additionally, emails used to deploy malware can include links that lead to harmful websites, tricking users into downloading and executing malware. Sometimes, these links can direct users to sites that automatically start downloading malicious software.
How to avoid installation of malware?
To avoid malware infiltration, do not interact with ads, pop-ups, or buttons on websites that seem suspicious. Be especially careful with attachments and links in unexpected emails from unknown addresses. Download software and files from reputable sources, such as official websites and recognized app stores.
Do not use pirated software, cracking tools, and unofficial key generators. Ensure that your operating system, software, and antivirus programs are always up to date. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "This Concerns Your Student Loan" email letter:
Hi this is Noah Kummer. This is important and concerns your student loan. We tried to contact you at your home but could not reach you. I'm following up regarding your eligibility for the income driven payment reduction and forgiveness program. You may have an incomplete application that needs to be submitted. As a reminder all loan statuses qualify even those in default and garnishment. If you could please call a dedicated eligibility counselor on Wednesday at: (855-894-8632 to complete your application, and finalize your enrollment as soon as possible. pl ease be sure to provide your approval code: #59511; when spe aking to your counselor to expedite your call. Thank you, - N oah Kummer
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Quick menu:
- What is This Concerns Your Student Loan phishing email?
- Types of malicious emails.
- How to spot a malicious email?
- What to do if you fell for an email scam?
Types of malicious emails:
Phishing Emails
Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.
Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.
After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.
Emails with Malicious Attachments
Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.
If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.
While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.
Sextortion Emails
This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.
To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.
How to spot a malicious email?
While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:
- Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
- Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
- Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
- Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.
To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
Example of a spam email:
What to do if you fell for an email scam?
- If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
- If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
- If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
- If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
- Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did I receive this email?
Scammers send identical spam emails to thousands of people, hoping that a few will be tricked into responding (or taking other actions). These emails are generic and not personalized.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have shared any account credentials (e.g., usernames and passwords), change all your passwords right away. If you've given out other personal details, like credit card numbers or ID information, contact the relevant authorities immediately.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to this email, is my computer infected?
If the file was an executable, there is a high chance your system has been infected. If it was a document (like a .pdf or .doc), you might have avoided malware infiltration. Usually, opening documents without enabling macros commands does not trigger malware.
I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in such email, can I get my money back?
These transactions are nearly impossible to trace, making it very unlikely that you will be able to recover the funds.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, simply opening an email is not harmful. It is clicking on links or opening attachments within the email that can lead to system infections.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware. However, advanced malware often hides deeply within the system. For this reason, it is advisable to perform a full system scan to ensure detection and removal.
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