University doesn’t come cheap, especially for international students looking to study abroad. But scholarship scams are — all they need is a phone to run a dishonest scheme.
International students pay between US$11,415) and going up to US$43,378 in tuition fees for a UK degree. Their friends in the US spend an average of US$99,417 over the course of their American degrees.
Luckily, financial aid exists, especially scholarships. Some cover rent, tuition, textbooks, laptops, to name a few. Others are generous enough that an international student need not pay anything.
Scammers understand this big appeal of a free degree abroad — with plenty of tricks to get you to give them your money. They take advantage of scholarship candidates by trying to steal money, banking information, personal information, and other important details.
Some charge a fee for scholarships and call them application fees, payment fees, or processing fees. Some may even send a check for more than the scholarship amount and ask the student to return the difference. By the time the student discovers that this is fake, the criminals behind these scholarship scams have already pocketed their money.
There are seemingly endless ways to cheat you out of you and your parents’ hard-earned money. Don’t fall for these scholarship scams — to protect yourself, here are five tips to follow closely:
Watch out for scholarship scams that require you to send money upfront, pay an application fee, or…
