College Students Often Targeted by Scholarship Scams
(U-WIRE) FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -Scholarships are a good way to finance a college education, but they are not always easy to find. People who recognize students' needs may try to take advantage. There are many fraudulent scholarship services that students should beware of before investing money in finding a scholarship, experts say.
Legitimate companies rarely charge students for a list of scholarships and never guarantee students the scholarship or grant, Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery said.
Free scholarship databases, such as FastWeb.com, are available for students to use. These are the same databases companies use when they charge students to find scholarships, said Ed Schroeder, director of the Financial Aid Office at University of Arkansas.
"The biggest tip I can give anybody is if it costs money it's most likely a scam," Schroeder said.
How College Students Can Spot Scholarship Fraud:
There are six signs a company is running a scholarship scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission:
- "The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back."
Companies cannot guarantee scholarships, and refunds often have conditions that make the money impossible to get back.
- "You can't get this information anywhere else."
Most university scholarship offices have a list of available scholarships.
- "May I have your credit card number to hold the scholarship?"
Sometimes companies charge credit card or bank numbers without permission of the account holder.
- "We do all the work."
Scholarship applications contain information to which only the person applying should have access. Students must apply for their own scholarships.
- "The scholarship will cost money."
Students should not pay companies that claim to hold a scholarship. Free money doesn't cost anything.
- "You've been selected by a national foundation."
This almost always is a gimmick. Advertisements that claim students have won contests are gimmicks, too, especially when the student never entered a contest.
"Scams are usually played on high school juniors and seniors, when they can get all the information from the scholarship office," Schroeder said.
Copyright ©2003 Arkansas Traveler via U-Wire
