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Follow these three general guidelines to help you steer clear of illegitimate scholarship programs.
You generally don’t need to provide anything other than your birthday and ZIP code when you’re looking for a scholarship. Companies that ask for your email could sell the address to third parties, filling your inbox with spam. In the worst case scenario, you could get your identity stolen.
With plenty of free resources to find scholarships – including your high school guidance counselor — there’s no reason to pay money to get connected with scholarships. Even if a paid resource isn’t a scam, you’ll still be spending money when you don’t need to.
If something seems fishy, stay away. There are plenty of legit resources out there that don’t sound like a scam. It’s best to not take the risk.
Look out for these red flags when searching for scholarships:
There are several steps you can take if you think you’ve been a victim of a scholarship scam:
Knowing the red flags and following common sense can help you stay away from most scholarship scams. And if you think you might have been the victim of one, there are several resources you can turn to for help.
To avoid problems in the future, check out our guide to finding a scholarship for legit, free resources to get you started on your search.
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