How is a student debt relief outfit allegedly misleading consumers? Let us count the ways.

Meet smiling social worker Ana Rojas. According to social media posts by USA Student Debt Relief, the company was able to reduce payments on her $200,000 student loans from $1300 a month for 28 years to just $417 a month for eight years. Posts featuring attorney Jorge Florez touted similar successful results by working with USA Student Debt Relief. But according to an FTC complaint filed in federal court in Florida, “Ana” and “Jorge” aren’t real customers of the company – their smiling faces are stock photos – and the repayment scenarios the posts describe aren’t attainable. What’s more, the FTC says those alleged untruths are just the tip of USA Student Debt Relief’s iceberg of deceptive practices.

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According to the complaint, the defendants target people struggling with student loan debt – often Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico – by making misleading promises of loan forgiveness. The FTC says the defendants have taken in millions of dollars from consumers, but haven’t lived up to their debt relief claims.

You’ll want to read the complaint for details about the multiple misleading tactics the FTC says the defendants use to further their scheme. For example, in addition to online ads featuring non-existent consumer endorsers, the FTC alleges the defendants and their associates have posted fake positive reviews on the company’s website, as well as on third-party sites like the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot. The defendants reach other consumers via telemarketing, including what the FTC says are illegal calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Furthermore, the defendants allegedly burnish their eye-catching debt relief representations by falsely claiming to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education or with consumers’ Department of Education-contracted loan servicers.

The complaint alleges the defendants trick consumers into turning over the PIN to their StudentAid.gov accounts, change consumers’ passwords, and access their personal information. The defendants then tell people they qualify for federal programs that offer low, fixed monthly loan payments followed by lump-sum loan forgiveness. But to take advantage of these programs, the defendants allegedly claim that consumers must pay a hefty upfront fee. In certain instances, the FTC says the defendants instruct consumers to disregard communications from their loan servicers.

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So what’s the straight story about student loan debt relief? The FTC says that although the Department of Education offers several income-driven repayment and loan forgiveness programs, not all consumers will qualify for loan forgiveness and none of the programs guarantee the low, permanently fixed monthly payment structure the defendants advertise. And what about the payments that cash-strapped consumers shell out in the hope of getting debt relief? USA Student Debt Relief allegedly leads many people to believe the money is going toward their monthly loan payments. But according to the complaint, in many cases, the payments go no further than the defendants’ pockets.

USA Student Debt Relief’s practices have triggered numerous consumer complaints and have resulted in law enforcement actions in California and Minnesota. But according to the FTC, the defendants’ illegal conduct continues undeterred. The lawsuit – which names Start Connecting LLC and Start Connecting SAS doing business as USA Student Debt Relief and corporate officers Douglas R. Goodman, Doris E. Gallon-Goodman, and Juan S. Rojas – alleges the defendants’ misleading debt relief claims, bogus testimonials, and deceptive claims of a government affiliation violate the FTC Act. The complaint further alleges that in many instances, the defendants provide Spanish-speaking consumers with contracts in English even though the company’s sales pitch and email messages are in Spanish – a practice the FTC challenges as unfair.

In addition, the FTC says the defendants have violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by calling numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, charging advance fees for purported debt relief services, and misrepresenting key information during telemarketing calls.

The complaint also alleges the defendants use false statements to get customer information of a financial institution, in violation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

At the FTC’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted the operation and frozen its assets. Even at this early stage, the litigation sends two important messages. First, the FTC has brought multiple cases against companies that exploit people struggling to pay their student loans and will continue to challenge conduct alleged to be illegal. Second, the FTC has consumers’ backs when it comes to taking action against outfits that use false promises and underhanded tactics to peddle student loan debt “relief.” For free help managing federal loans, visit StudentAid.gov/repay. For private loans, contact your loan servicer directly.