Scholarships >> Browse Articles >> Scams and Pitfalls
Beware of Scholarship Scams. Part 1: False Claims
Don't be a victim of scholarship scams.
By Roxana Hadad
Wow! You just got a letter from a company saying they’ll find scholarships for you. What a great deal! After all, who has time to research scholarship opportunities? But be careful — there are a lot of scholarship search scams out there. Watch for these crooked claims and make sure you’re not being taken for a ride:
“For a small fee, we’ll give you the most comprehensive list of scholarships for which you’re eligible from the largest database available.”
You should never spend your hard-earned money on a fee-based matching service. The biggest and best scholarship databases are available for free on the web. The number of scholarships some services boast can be misleading because individual sponsors could offer hundreds of different scholarships.
“$6.6 billion in scholarship money went unclaimed last year.”
Though it would be nice if there were piles of money out there waiting for someone to claim them, the truth is that most financial aid programs are highly competitive. Statements about billions of dollars going unclaimed are based on old estimates of unused employer tuition benefits that the general public can’t get anyway.
A handful of highly restricted scholarships sometimes go unclaimed because they can’t be claimed. For example, the Zolp scholarship at Loyola University of Chicago is available to a Catholic student born with a last name of “Zolp”. Most years there are one or two students who qualify, and occasionally there are none. But you can’t change your name to qualify for the award.
“You are guaranteed a minimum of $1,000 in financial aid sources.”
A service can’t guarantee you’ll receive funding because they have no control over the decisions made by the scholarship judges.
“Everybody is eligible.”
While scholarships are awarded based on a variety of merits and needs, some set of restrictions always applies since sponsors are looking for candidates who match certain criteria.

Saeeda123
3 days ago
This really helped someone just called me about this but I wont take chances: Thanks
ruthy40109
8 days ago
this is good advice I don want to fall for that
mandashmanda
11 days ago
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
AprilS299
24 days ago
Here's one example of a scam: it's the American Scholarships and the letter (which I just shredded) goes something like this:
"It's been impossible for us to get in touch with you. Please contact us at your earliest convenience [phone number] (Hablamos Espanol)"
In the front of the postcard it says "For VIPs only." The return address is in Murrieta, CA, and when you call, it asks to pay a fee of $249.00 for information on private scholarships. Be careful guys!
mycatnono
29 days ago
yea I would not want to waste my money on something like that.
FranciscoM202
about 1 month ago
this really clears up to what you have to look for
Jasmine2002
about 1 month ago
that's good to hear
DarrylPye12
about 1 month ago
none at this time.
hannahbasha
about 1 month ago
Thanks for the info
lgkamp
about 1 month ago
good info I will use when I am looking for scholarships. Keeps my eyes open.
rbean2188
about 1 month ago
what about the ones who talk about drawings? Put your name in for a drawing type thing?
MonicaLB
about 1 month ago
agreed
ashley234
about 1 month ago
YEA THAT IS TRUE CUZ SOME PEOPLE ON HERE COULD BE LIEN ,AN MAY JUST WANT TO SCAME U , AN TRY TO GET YOU. THEY MAY JUST WANT TO TAKE YOUR LIFE AN STUFF
AmandaIacono
about 1 month ago
True but if you don't trust anyone you won't ever apply for a scholarship - guess all we can do is go with our guts.
ArleneD3
about 1 month ago
Wow Thats nice to know!