How to Avoid Scholarship Scams

Are you planning to attend college but are worried that you might not afford the cost of education? There is no denying that colleges and universities these days are quite expensive. While there are a lot of credible scholarships out there to help you afford high education, there are a lot of not-so credible ones as well. This is why you have to be careful in making your options as to what scholarship you would apply for.

Nowadays, people are making every possible way to get that money- the easy way. Unfortunately, when you begin your lookout for a scholarship, you may be required to fill out certain papers that are designed to get some essential information from you. Unknowingly, people behind the scams are fishing out on you so as to steal your personal information to their benefit. To avoid getting scammed, you have to be well versed in all your options so that you can decide which legitimate program is best for you.

Scholarship search services typically offer college scholarship and financial aid resources to help students find the best program for them. The services offer students the ability to pay someone else for a fee to search for scholarship programs on their behalf. This can be a good idea especially if you don’t want to deal with the hassles of finding one for yourself. However, this is also a venue for most scammers in order to steal some essential information from student applicants like you.

The best way to avoid search service scam is to remember the old adage: if it seems to be too good to be true, it runs the other way. To determine the difference between a scam and a legitimate service, you have to closely examine each of the service’s guarantee result. As you are paying someone to look for scholarships for you, you have to make sure that there is a money back guarantee in failure to do so. If there is none, be sure to read and understand the fine print to determine how you should act if problems exist.
In a book called Scholarships, Grants and Prizes by Peterson you can be properly guided when you are looking for scholarships so as to fund your education. You may also need to talk to the school guidance counselor, or perhaps search the internet to get some vital scholarship information. Again, avoid a service making irrational claims.

Moreover, if the search service asks too much information from you, particularly your credit card details, and claims that you have to pay a certain amount in order to receive the scholarship then run the other way. This is a scam!

Remember, paying for the search service is fine, but paying for the scholarship itself is not. To verify the legality of the company or program, you can check with the Federal Trade Commission before they empty your pocket.