Excerpt: “The operators of an alleged transnational student loan debt relief scam have agreed to be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and to turn over more than $1 million in assets to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that the operation bilked millions out of struggling student loan borrowers. … In July 2024, the FTC alleged that two companies, Florida-based Start Connecting LLC and Colombia-based Start Connecting SAS (doing business as USA Student Debt Relief (USASDR), and their owners and operators Douglas Goodman, Doris Gallon-Goodman, and Juan Rojas:
- pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education and its loan servicers to lure student loan borrowers seeking debt relief;
- made false promises of low, permanently fixed monthly payments and complete loan forgiveness;
- illegally called tens of thousands of consumers on the Do Not Call Registry;
- extracted more than $7.3 million in illegal advance fees and payments for nonexistent debt relief services; and
- promoted fake consumer reviews and testimonials on social media and their website.
The defendants falsely promised to apply consumers’ monthly payments to their loan balances, but in reality, they pocketed borrowers’ hard-earned money and sent much of the funds to their call center in Colombia.”
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