Don’t Be Fooled By Phony Scholarship Offers
If you’re a college student in need of financial aid, it may be important for you to be aware of scammers offering false scholarships. With the economy still recovering from recession, scholarship competition is very fierce, and scammers all over the world are taking advantage of the present situation. Due to this, the U.S. Department of Education is doing its part to protect students from fraud. Here are our own tips for students who wish to avoid getting scammed by a bogus scholarship.
Tip number one – there is no such thing as a guaranteed scholarship. To put it bluntly – if you believe in guaranteed scholarships, you believe in the Tooth Fairy. Now what does exist is merit aid – a form of financial assistance given by colleges to certain types of students, but it is the college, and not anybody else, who offers this. Don’t be misled by people saying they can guarantee you a scholarship, for this might open up a can of worms. There are many fraudsters pretending to be scholarship providers – don’t believe their hype as the final decision still lies in the hands of scholarship committees.
Keep your bank account number and credit card information private. If you give out this information, or if someone gets it, this could lead to illegal cash advances from your bank account or unauthorized charges to your credit card. You’ll know it’s a real scholarship provider if they write you a check, and not ask for any sensitive financial details. Any sensible person knows that credit card and bank info is confidential, and would not ask it from a student in exchange for a scholarship.
You don’t have to pay anything to attend special seminars. This would defeat the fact that scholarships shouldn’t cost a thing. There are so-called “seminars” that charge a nominal fee in exchange for instructions on how to win a scholarship – be wary of these fraudulent activities as well.
A scholarship is not a loan – you don’t need to pay it back. That’s because scholarships are free, have always been free, and will always be free if offered legitimately. Instead of trusting these scammers, check online or with your guidance counselor for the best scholarship opportunities available.
Some scammers think out of the box and send spam emails telling the recipient that they won a scholarship. Don’t click links leading you to a “form” containing scholarship application details, or reply to emails claiming you have just earned a scholarship. These emails and links often lead to computer viruses, which could cost you money instead of saving you money. Spyware is the domain of “phishers”, or online identity thieves, who use their nasty programs to infect computers and gain access to the financial and personal information of the computer’s owner – don’t be fooled by their pretenses of belonging to a national organization!
We hope this article served you well in spotting the bad apples in the bunch – the fraudulent scholarship providers who can fool you into thinking you can get to college for free, only to cause potential financial troubles.
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