How To Spot A Scholarship Scam | READ FULL DETAILS
Scholarships are a great way for international students to obtain financial aid that is, essentially free, as you would never need to pay a scholarship back. For this reason scholarships are very popular, and there are some companies/ individuals that will prey on students eagerness to obtain a scholarship to scam them out of money.
The best way to guard yourself from a scholarship scam is to know what the main scams are and how they work.
To protect yourself there are many things you can look out for that should send alarm bells ringing when looking for a scholarship.They include:
Money up front/ Application Fee:
Whenever you are applying for a scholarship never send money up front or pay an application fee, you should not have to send money to an organisation to get a scholarship. These organisations will most likely just pocket the money and you will never hear from them again.
Loan Fees;
You should be careful of companies that ask for a loan fee before they will disburse and money to you. Real loan companies will add fees to your loan balance which you repay over time and will never make you pay a fee upfront.
Guaranteed Scholarships:
Never trust a company that advertises that they will guarantee to get you a scholarship. These companies will ask for a fee and may even offer a money back guarantee but will never get you a scholarship. Legitimate services will never say they guarantee to get your scholarship.
Company/ Scholarship Names:
If you see a scholarship service or company that is using words like “official”, “national”, “government” or other governmental or official sounding names be careful. They are most probably trying to sound official to cover up the scam.
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