Avoiding the Scholarship Con Artists
submitted: Jul 29th 2008 |
by: DanielZ.Kane |
Total views: 1 |
Word Count: 404 |
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It happens every year. High school seniors and their parents are defrauded by scholarship scammers; people who promise to help them land scholarships and financial aid they wouldn't otherwise receive.
One financial aid organization believes these scammers defraud families out of more than $100 million dollars a year.
They do it by preying on families worried about the cost of college; families who know little or nothing about scholarships and financial aid; families who are often easy targets.
The first contact between the scammers and their potential victims is a letter offering expert advice and assistance.
The letters look good. The letterhead design, the font style, and other elements are calculated to give the appearance of an established, legitimate organization. And, that can be all it takes to fool families...to get them to take the next step on the path to being scammed.
The letters almost always begin by frightening families about the high cost of college.
After a few sentences of doom and gloom about the high cost higher education, the sales message begins. We can help you get more in scholarships and financial aid, they say. We can tell you what colleges don't want you to know, they say. Work with us, they tpromise, and you won't have to be concerned about college costs.
What all the letters have in common is that they invite families to a free seminar, often at a local hotel. Because the letter offers the hope of extra financial aid, and because the evening is free, many families accept the invitation. Thats mistake number two.
The meetings are run by well- practiced pitchmen who tell families they have the special knowledge and experience required to shake the most money off of the financial aid and scholarship trees. In reality, they want to sell you services and help which are readily...that's right, readily... available elsewhere. At no cost.
The group pitch is followed by individual meetings during which families are pressured to immediately pay for the services offered. Many yield to the pressure, writing checks in excess of $1,000 for a worthless set of services.
Every year, a new set of potential victims come along. But, you and your family can avoid these masters-of-rip-off by turning to the people who really do have your best interests at heart...school counselors and college financial aid professionals.
About the Author
Daniel Z. Kane is a university dean with websites offering information on scholarships, online schools, online degrees, and online colleges .
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