HOUSTON – A Houston woman who graduated from college four years ago says she recently logged into her federal student aid account and discovered something she never expected: a new FAFSA application had been submitted in her name.
“I saw that giant banner that said, ‘Congratulations, your 2026-2027 FAFSA application was approved,’” Melanie Marti recalled. “I was like, wait a second, that’s not me.”
Marti graduated from the University of Houston in 2022 and said she had no reason to apply for federal student aid this year.
Marti believes someone stole her identity and used it to pose as a college applicant — a type of fraud federal authorities have warned can involve so-called “ghost students.”
Locked out of her own StudentAid.gov account
Marti said she discovered the suspicious activity after receiving an email about changes to her student loan payments.
When she attempted to log into StudentAid.gov to review her options, she couldn’t access her account.
Marti said recovering it required her to submit her passport and complete a facial scan.
Once inside, she found the unexpected 2026-27 FAFSA.
“My account had been breached,” Marti said.
She said Federal Student Aid customer service told her the email address and phone number associated with her account had been changed.
Marti said she never received a notification alerting her to those changes.
“They knew my email to send me my upcoming change in my student loan payments, but nothing about me applying or anything,” she said.
Records reviewed by KPRC 2 show a 2026-27 FAFSA in Marti’s name was initially submitted Sept. 1. The records also show subsequent corrections, including one processed Sept. 21.
Marti said the person behind the activity also applied to another college she had never attended.
“The person had applied to a college in Pennsylvania — I’ve never been to Pennsylvania — and a college in Dallas,” she said.
Her college transcripts were also obtained
The situation extended beyond her federal student aid account.
Marti said the colleges alerted her that someone had obtained transcripts from schools she had actually attended, including the University of Houston, Blinn College and Houston Community College.
“They were able to get my U of H transcript, my Blinn transcript, and a singular class I took at HCC,” Marti said. “They were able to get that one that I even forgot about that I took.”
Marti said the transcripts were obtained through Parchment, an online service used to request academic records.
She said she already had her own Parchment account but found no suspicious orders in its history, leading her to believe someone created a separate account using her information.
What is a ‘ghost student’?
Federal authorities have been sounding the alarm about fraud schemes involving fake students and stolen identities.
A July alert from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, issued in consultation with the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General and FBI, warned that fraud rings are using stolen or fraudulent identities to enroll at colleges and unlawfully obtain federal student aid.
The alert defines “ghost students” as stolen identities used to enroll at educational institutions.
In some cases, authorities say fraudsters use a real person’s personally identifiable information to impersonate that victim, enroll in classes and attempt to obtain financial aid refunds. Fraudsters may also use artificial intelligence, synthetic identities, chatbots or accomplices to overcome identity checks or complete enough coursework to maintain the appearance of a legitimate student.
Federal aid is generally sent first to the school, which applies the money toward tuition and other eligible charges. If aid exceeds those costs, the remaining balance may be refunded to the student — creating an opportunity for fraudsters to try to divert that money.
Department of Education says it has stopped more than $1 billion in fraud
The scale of the problem extends far beyond Marti’s case.
The U.S. Department of Education said its nationwide anti-fraud effort prevented more than $1 billion in federal student aid fraud in 2025. Texas accounted for more than $76 million in prevented fraud, according to the department.
The department has since introduced additional safeguards.
Federal Student Aid implemented real-time identity fraud detection within the FAFSA process on April 26, 2026. According to FSA, every FAFSA is assessed for fraud risk as it is completed, and applicants deemed higher risk can be required to take additional steps to verify their identities.
FSA said in May that a review of previously submitted 2026-27 FAFSAs resulted in approximately 300,000 applications being selected for additional verification based on indicators associated with suspected fraud risk.
Federal guidance updated Sept. 21 says all students are evaluated for fraud when they initially submit a FAFSA. Beginning Sept. 20, some corrections or subsequent FAFSA forms can also trigger another fraud evaluation depending on fraud signals and how much time has passed since the previous evaluation.
Congress considers ‘No Aid for Ghost Students Act’
The issue has also drawn attention on Capitol Hill.
The U.S. House passed the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026 on June 10 in a 249-172 vote. Thirty-six Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the legislation.
Under the House-passed legislation, the Department of Education would be required to use an identity fraud detection system to review every FAFSA submitted on or after Oct. 1, 2026.
If an application raises a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, the department would notify the applicant and the colleges listed on the application. A college would then be prohibited from releasing federal student aid until the applicant’s identity is verified.
A Senate version, S. 4428, was scheduled for consideration by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Sept. 24. The committee postponed a final vote, with a new date still to be determined.
The legislation would build on fraud screening the Department of Education says it is already conducting.
What should you do if you suspect student aid identity theft?
Marti said she had no idea “ghost student” fraud was a widespread problem before discovering the activity associated with her identity.
“Had I known, I probably would have done things differently,” she said. “I put my student loan payments on AutoPay and never looked back.”
Federal authorities recommend people who believe their personal information was used to apply for federal student aid act quickly. The FinCEN alert advises victims to contact Federal Student Aid and their loan servicer, contact the major credit reporting agencies and freeze their credit, and report suspected education-related fraud to the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General.
Marti has another piece of advice for anyone who has a StudentAid.gov account — even if they graduated years ago.
“Just log in, make sure that you have your two-step authenticator on,” she said. “Don’t think you’re protected with just Experian and all of these websites that will check your credit.”
Marti said she has changed her passwords and reported the suspected identity theft as she works to determine how much of her personal information may have been compromised.
“I just, I feel like a fool, honestly,” Marti said.
But her experience has left her hoping other former students will check accounts they may not have thought about in years.
