“Expert” quoted in personal finance stories doesn’t exist

An expert in student loan refinancing quoted in the past year by CNBC and Washington Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary is a creation of a student loan refinancing company and doesn’t exist, report Dan Bauman and Chris Quintana of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Bauman and Quintana report, “Drew Cloud’s story was simple: He founded the website, an ‘independent, authoritative news outlet’ covering all things student loans, ‘after he had difficulty finding the most recent student loan news and information all in one place.’

“He became ubiquitous on that topic. But he’s a fiction, the invention of a student-loan refinancing company.

“After The Chronicle spent more than a week trying to verify Cloud’s existence, the company that owns The Student Loan Report confirmed that Cloud was fake. ‘Drew Cloud is a pseudonym that a diverse group of authors at Student Loan Report, LLC use to share experiences and information related to the challenges college students face with funding their education,’ wrote Nate Matherson, CEO of LendEDU.

“Before that admission, however, Cloud had corresponded at length with many journalists, pitching them stories and offering email interviews, many of which were published. When The Chronicle attempted to contact him through the address last week, Cloud said he was traveling and had limited access to his account. He didn’t respond to additional inquiries.”

Read more here.