Student loan identity theft is a student loan that someone opened, or co-signed, in your name without your permission. It can surface as a servicer’s bill, an unfamiliar loan on your credit report, or a credit denial. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lets you have the loan blocked from your credit report within four business days and puts duties on the lender or servicer. If the loan is federal, the Department of Education can also discharge it.
The steps below cover both routes.
What student loan identity theft looks like
- A federal loan you never applied for. Federal agencies have described fraud rings that use stolen identities to enroll in schools and collect federal student aid. A 2026 FinCEN alert calls those identities “ghost students” and says victims may face student loan debt taken out in their names.
- A co-signature you never gave. A lender can report a co-signed loan to the credit bureaus as the co-signer’s debt. If someone listed you as a co-signer on a private student loan without your knowledge, the loan can appear on your report as yours.
Rule out two ordinary explanations first. A loan you did sign can be handled by a servicer whose name you do not recognize, since the servicer is often a different company from the lender; see my list of student loan servicers. If the loan is yours but the balance or payment history is wrong, see student loan errors on your credit report.
Step 1: Find out whether the loan is federal or private
You can check your credit report from each of the three nationwide bureaus once a week, free, at AnnualCreditReport.com. Then:
- Federal loans. Log in to StudentAid.gov, the Department of Education’s site. The CFPB points borrowers there for information about federal student loans, and the My Aid section shows your loan servicer.
- Private loans. The CFPB says no single website has information on all private student loans; it suggests checking your credit report to identify the servicer.
Step 2: Report it and get an identity theft report
Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov, which produces an identity theft report and a recovery plan. If a federal loan is involved, the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General also tells victims to contact the loan servicer, freeze their credit and report to the OIG Hotline.
Step 3: Ask each credit bureau to block the loan
Send each bureau that shows the loan your identity theft report, proof of your identity, and a letter identifying the loan as not yours. The bureau must block the loan within four business days of receiving those, and it must notify the company that reported the loan. A bureau can refuse or reverse a block only on limited grounds.
Once that company has the bureau’s notice, it may not sell the debt, transfer it or place it for collection. If a bureau does not block the loan, dispute it with that bureau in writing: the bureau must reinvestigate at no charge, generally within 30 days, and delete information that is inaccurate or cannot be verified. Keep a copy of everything you send and proof of the date the bureau received it.
Step 4: Write to the lender or servicer
Send the lender’s or servicer’s fraud department your identity theft report and say the loan resulted from identity theft. Two FCRA rules then apply.
- Reporting has to stop. A company that receives your identity theft report at the address it designates for those reports may not report the loan to a credit bureau, unless it subsequently knows, or you tell it, that the information is correct.
- For a private loan, the lender has to give you its records. On a written request, a business that made a loan to someone using your identity must give you the application and transaction records, free, within 30 days. It can first require proof of your identity, a police report and an affidavit.
Step 5: If the loan is federal, apply for the identity theft discharge
The Department of Education discharges a Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan that was falsely certified, in the words of StudentAid.gov, “as a result of the crime of identity theft committed against you.” Private student loans are outside both programs; for those, Steps 3 and 4 are the route.
You apply on the Department’s form, Loan Discharge Application: False Certification (Identity Theft), linked from the False Certification Discharge page on StudentAid.gov, and you sign it under penalty of perjury.
- What you state. The regulation requires you to certify that you did not sign the promissory note, or that your identifying information was used without your authorization, and that you did not receive or benefit from the loan money knowing the loan was unauthorized.
- What you attach. The regulation and the form list four kinds of evidence: a court’s determination of identity theft, an FTC identity theft affidavit, a police report alleging the identity theft, and documentation that you disputed the loan as identity theft with three major consumer reporting agencies. Both allow other evidence as well. The form tells you to attach a copy of each kind you check.
Return the form and your evidence to the address printed on it or, if none is shown, to your loan holder.
If the discharge is approved, you do not have to repay the remaining balance, payments made on the loan are refunded, and the discharge is reported to the consumer reporting agencies so that adverse credit history on the loan is removed. If it is denied and you have additional evidence, StudentAid.gov says you may ask for a review, and the Direct Loan regulation allows a new application.
When the loan stays on your credit report
These are the facts I look for when deciding whether there is a claim:
- A bureau did not block the loan within four business days of a complete request, or put it back.
- A disputed loan came back “verified” despite your identity theft report.
- The lender, servicer or a collector kept reporting the loan after the bureau’s notice.
When a bureau forwards your dispute, the lender or servicer must investigate and correct or delete information that is inaccurate or cannot be verified, normally within 30 days. That duty, the one a consumer can enforce in court, begins with the bureau’s notice, so send your dispute to the bureaus and not only to the lender or servicer.
In Tran v. College Avenue Student Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 4:24-cv-04709 (S.D. Tex.), a Texas consumer alleged that an impostor co-signed two student loans in his name and that College Ave verified them to the credit bureaus after his disputes. Those are allegations only; the claims settled in 2025 with no ruling on the merits, and my page on College Ave credit report errors describes the case.
What a claim can recover, and the deadline
The FCRA allows actual damages for a negligent violation. For a willful violation it allows actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, and punitive damages as the court allows. Either way, a consumer who wins can recover attorney’s fees and costs. No result is guaranteed.
A claim must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and within five years after it occurred, whichever comes first; see the FCRA statute of limitations.
If a student loan you never took out or co-signed is still on your credit report after you sent the bureau your identity theft report, I review the file at no cost and tell you whether there is a claim. You pay nothing unless we win. The identity theft credit report lawyer page explains how those cases work, and you can contact us to send what you have.
Admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; available to appear pro hac vice in other federal courts.
Common questions
Can a federal student loan be discharged because of identity theft?
Yes. The Department of Education discharges Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans that were falsely certified as a result of identity theft. You apply on the Department’s identity theft discharge form, signed under penalty of perjury, with supporting evidence, and return it as the form directs.
Does the federal discharge cover a private student loan?
No. The discharge applies to Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans. For a private loan, the routes are the credit bureau block, an identity theft report sent to the lender, and a written request for the lender’s application and transaction records.
Do I need a court ruling or a police report for the discharge?
The regulation says supporting evidence “may include” a court’s determination of identity theft, an FTC identity theft affidavit, a police report, or documentation of disputes filed with three major consumer reporting agencies. The form says to check all that apply. The Department decides whether the evidence is sufficient.
How do I find out whether someone took out a student loan in my name?
Check your credit report from each of the three nationwide bureaus, which you can do once a week, free, at AnnualCreditReport.com. For federal loans, log in to StudentAid.gov; the CFPB points borrowers there for information about their federal student loans.
Sources: 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681c-2, 1681g(e), 1681i, 1681m(f), 1681n, 1681o, 1681p and 1681s-2; 20 U.S.C. § 1087(c); 34 C.F.R. §§ 685.215 and 682.402(e); U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, False Certification Discharge, Who’s My Student Loan Servicer? and Loan Discharge Application: False Certification (Identity Theft) (OMB No. 1845-0058); U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, Identity Theft; Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN Alert on Fraud Schemes Targeting Federal Student Aid (July 24, 2026); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What do I do if I am a victim of identity theft?, How do I get a free copy of my credit reports?, How do I find out information about my student loans?, What is a student loan servicer? and Tips for student loan co-signers; Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Reports: What Information Furnishers Need to Know, Businesses Must Provide Victims and Law Enforcement with Transaction Records Relating to Identity Theft, Free Credit Reports and Cosigning a Loan FAQs; Tran v. College Avenue Student Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 4:24-cv-04709 (S.D. Tex.), complaint and docket.
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