The U.S. government is sending checks to more than 37,000 people it says were scammed by an Orange County company.
The Federal Trade Commission says that a company called Arete Financial Group tricked people looking for student loan debt relief into making illegal upfront payments.
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The company allegedly never provided help to those seeking debt relief, and pretended to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.
The federal government is now distributing more than $3 million in payments to those impacted.