How to Avoid Scholarship Fraud Scams Getting an education costs a lot of money especially when you decide to send your kids to private school or to college. Sadly, there are individuals out there who are taking advantage of people so here are a few things to help you avoid becoming the next victim of scholarship fraud scams. There are two ways to get a scholarship. First, is with the help of a search company. You can surely find a few while looking through the phone book but your chances of finding one will be much faster if you search through the web. Some will require you to pay a very small fee which is normal. They should already tell you beforehand if you will be able to get a refund in the event that scholarship application was disapproved. The legitimate ones should be able to explain to you how the process goes and how much it costs. If the search company guarantees that your application will be approved, look for another one because no search company can promise that given that they are not the ones that approve the application. If you are having a hard time looking for a search company, as a student, check with your guidance counselor or the school you have been accepted to if you can use a scholarship. As a parent, ask your friends and family if they have used their services before and are satisfied with what they have done. For those who don't want to get the help of a search company and want to try their luck with a scholarship sponsor, don't make any transactions with those that ask for a fee because you are not required to pay anything. If you are told that you can use an award of some sort, you should not spend more than a postage stamp to get this information. You shouldn't talk with those that ask you to give personal information like your credit card numbers, social security number or bank account number because this could be used for identity theft. The ideal scholarship sponsor must have an office address and phone number so you can visit them or call for inquiries. If it doesn't, this is probably a scam. Is it possible to get scholarship assistance by email? If the one who forwarded the email is someone you know, yes but if this is from an unknown source, no because chances are the attachment contains a virus.
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