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Secretary of Education Linda McMahon hailed as ‘anti-fraud warrior’
The Trump administration has flagged $150 million in student loans as being potentially fraudulent as part of its efforts against “ghost students,” meaning scammers who enroll in online classes to collect federal loans without being real students.
“We have turned education in this country into a piggy bank for the worst people you can imagine, and the Biden administration did nothing about this,” Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson told Fox News recently. He is also the vice-chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. He did not specifically say if all the $150 million was due to ghost students or involved other types of fraud as well.
He praised Secretary of Education Linda McMahon for being an “anti-fraud warrior.”
“Just in the last couple of months [the Department of Education] already blocked $150 million in fraudulent loans from going out the door,” Ferguson said.
Trump Education Dept. blocks $150 MILLION in fraudulent student loans amid California 'ghost student' scam:
"We have turned education in this country into a piggy bank for the worst people you can imagine, and the Biden administration did nothing about this!" pic.twitter.com/lAqkTHfgcN
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 20, 2026
The $150 million blocked adds to the Department of Education’s previous anti-fraud efforts. It announced that officials had blocked more than $1 billion in fraudulent student loans in 2025.
Ghost students have plagued at least some campuses in high numbers, according to past reporting by The College Fix.
In April, officials rolled out new measures to root out another $1 billion in student loan aid.
The issue has been particularly pronounced in California community colleges, but Minnesota universities have also grappled with the issue.
“High-risk applicants” will now be asked “to provide government-issued identification before accessing federal student aid, including Pell Grants and loans,” when applying through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid portal, Fox News reported.
FAFSA is the primary tool used to determine eligibility for financial aid.
“The Education Department estimates its efforts to identify and deny aid to fraudulent students will save taxpayers over $1 billion during this year’s FAFSA cycle, with the tool already screening 50,000 applications as of Monday afternoon,” Fox News reported.
Congressman Burgess Owens of Utah also has introduced legislation “to require the use of fraud detection systems in FAFSA applications to spot and block the approval of fraudulent applications,” as The Fix previously reported.
