Protect Yourself From Scholarship Scams
Unfortunately, many scholarship scams look and sound like legitimate scholarship
opportunities at first glance. Individuals and organizations suspected of perpetuating
scholarship scams are held accountable under
the Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 and convictions carry stiff financial
penalties as well as jail time.
Even though scholarship scams are illegal, they are still very common. Scholarship
scams are so widespread that the Federal trade Commission’s website includes a page
dedicated specifically on how to spot and report them
www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams.
To protect yourself, it is important to know how legitimate scholarship programs
work. You will never have to pay a fee to apply for a legitimate scholarship, nor
will a legitimate scholarship program request money to cover processing. There are
no circumstances under which a scholarship provider will need your credit card or
bank account information. Legitimate scholarship search services help you find scholarships
for which you are eligible, but they cannot take care of completing applications
for you.
Warning Signs of Scholarship Scams:
- An organization guarantees you will win an award as a result of paying a fee
- An organization that “sounds like” a non-profit, but has no traceable history
- A company that claims it will “handle all your scholarship applications” for you
- Requests for banking or credit card information to “process your application”
- So-called scholarship programs that require an entrance fee