US gov't to pay more than $3M to thousands scammed by OC student loan debt relief fraud scheme

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.

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.