Is Your College Scholarship a Scam?

College is expensive, but don’t get drawn into any scams. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. If you thought the Nigerian scams were bad, college scholarship scammers convince innocent families that they have billions of dollars of private funding — but they do not. Before you proceed handing over your financial information, make sure to check the authenticity of these scholarship foundations to see if they’re indeed reputable.

Here are some telltale signs that your scholarship may be fraudulent:

• Is the scholarship funding guaranteed — or your money back?
• Is the scholarship one of a kind? Are there other programs like it around? If it offers a unique selling proposition, it could be dangerous.
• Are you required to do anything besides paperwork? If they promise to do all the work, it may be sketchy.
• Is it free? Scholarships shouldn’t cost you anything.
• Are they asking for personal information? If you’re being asked for your checking account or credit card number, this is a sign of trouble. Don’t give in!

If in doubt, don’t proceed. Call the National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060. For more information, check out the FinAid list on how to identify scholarship scams. Keep in mind their very first sentence: if you have to pay money to get money, it’s probably a scam.