As students continue their educational growth, they sometimes have to rely on seeking scholarships to support their cost of tuition. These students hope for a world of well-wishers and individuals who are only interested in seeing them achieve success in life. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous individuals lurking in the dark to fleece money from unsuspecting students through various scholarship scam offers. These scholarship scammers utilize various mechanisms that sometimes seem authentic to attract students and leave them holding the bag. Statistics show that every year thousands of students are scammed by scholarship fraud, with one estimate going as high as $100 million.

Common Student Scholarship Scams

Students and parents must keep their eyes peeled and ears to the ground to learn about scam scholarship services. Some of the more popular student scholarship scams are:

• Money-Back Guarantee Scholarship Search: In this scam, scholarship hunters promise unsuspecting students guarantees of getting student scholarships for a fee ranging between $10 and $500. After some period of what they call processing time, they simply send you a list of scholarships that are available free on the internet. When you complain about this, they tell you that their money back contract states that you have to be rejected by the scholarship donor before you can be considered for refund. As a result, the frustrated student then drops the claim against them.
• You are a Finalist!: In this scam, you get a correspondence that you have won a competition or some finalist in a scholarship program. They then request you supply them with a either a bank account or credit card number or cash for processing or to hold on to the scholarship on your behalf. Shortly after, you will notice unauthorized transactions on your student credit card or you may not hear from them again after they have received the cash. Students should remember you cannot win what you did not apply for.
• Scholarship Matching Services: This scam works on the same principle of speed dating. These companies promise matching you to a scholarship for a fee starting at $49.95 based on how soon you expect a reply. They inflate their database and customer comments to convince students that they are a legitimate business. Reports from the Better Business Bureau show that most of these matching agencies advertise outdated and inaccurate information during their advertising campaigns. Moreover, you can forget about their money back guarantee and claim as they have more hurdles than the Olympics.
• Telemarketers: The Department of Education has reported increases in the amount of telemarketing fraud since the financial meltdown. These telemarketers pose as representatives of the Department of Education who are offering students scholarships for a $249 processing fee. Either your credit card or bank account number must accompany this fee.

Getting a scholarship is the best thing that can happen to any student. However, students and parents must be vigilant and look out for the tell tale signs of a scam company. This can be done through various companies authenticating websites, the Department of Education or the Better Business Bureau.