Tips For Spotting College Scholarship Scams
Scammers are working overtime to fool students using offers of free money for college to lure them in. This always happens when money is tight and education costs are almost beyond reach. The good news is that most of the scams can be avoided simply by knowing the basic facts and using your head. Here are some evidences that most likely point to a scholarship scam.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR
Guaranteed Scholarships
College scholarship scammers will often promise to award a guaranteed college scholarship if you sign a contract with them. This means that you generally will pay a fee in order to win this guaranteed scholarship. It’s just a ruse. The award might be as much as $1,000.
The truth is, of course, that there really is no actual scholarship other than their gift – if they actually pay anything. Any guarantees of free money for schools should not be taken seriously.
Up-front Fees
This is another ploy of the scammers. When a real agency offers a college scholarship, they know that they are often offering it to people that have little money. There should be no up-front fees, except in a few rare occasions. If you pay a fee, most likely you will not see your money again.
Scholarship Seminars
A scholarship seminar is often a ploy to get a lot of people together to collect fees en masse. This works out well for the scammers because they can get a lot of money at one time from people who desperately need financial aid for college and will try anything to get it. There may be different ways to get the people to turn loose of their hard-earned cash – but you can be sure that they will try. There will be a lot of sweet promises and you can be rather sure that one of the other types of scams listed here will be used.
Investment Products
This one adds an air of legitimacy because it appears that there is a solid return for the investment. Some type of instrument will be offered that you will need to invest in before you can apply for the scholarship. This could be a mutual fund, an annuity, or similar type of investment instrument. There never is any such instrument of course, and you will not see either a return of your money – or a college scholarship.
Need ID Verification
Some scholarship and college loan scams will claim to help find a scholarship or loan for you. They will charge an up-front fee for their services. You will be required to fill out a FAFSA in order to qualify for their special services. What really happens is that by helping them fill out the FAFSA for you, you actually are giving them your personal financial data. Or, if other ID is needed, such as a bank account #, etc., then there’s little doubt you’ll end up broke.
Scholarship Sweepstakes
Criminals are tricky. They send out emails, or letters, and it says that you have just won a scholarship. The trouble is that you never even applied for it. This should be a big warning sign that it is not real. Real agencies do not use such tactics where they have to try and drum up business. They generally have more applicants than they have scholarship money. These same marketing materials will also state that you must pay some kind of advance fee to reserve the funds.
Turn scammers in to the Better Business Bureau. Others need to know to beware of such activities and your reporting them will help shut them down.
Use the Internet wisely and you’ll be able to find plenty of reputable sources of scholarships. Also, try your high school or college counselor, financial aid office, a public library, and books that are available in bookstores. Most information on college scholarships is available free online and each of them will require some work on the student’s part, as well as the parents, when you fill out the application.