Beware the Scholarship Hucksters

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According to the FTC, here are six warning signs to avoid becoming a scholarship sucker:

· If the pitch says your child is guaranteed a scholarship or you'll get your money back. Of course there are always conditions that make that money-back promise useless.

· If you believe a claim that they'll do all the work. Come on, every scholarship I've ever seen requires the applicant to do some work.

· If you fall for a claim that "you can't get this information anywhere else." Hello, there's this thing called the Internet and because of it, not much is a secret anymore. There are plenty of books that cost less than $50 that will help you and your child search for free money.

· You are being pressured to give your credit card or bank account number to "hold" a scholarship for your child. Talk about a red flag. If a company tries to get you to hand over such information, hang up the telephone or get out of the room. Don't give out the information.

· You're contemplating paying a fee to apply for a scholarship. That's no different from when you're told to send money to claim cash supposedly won in a lottery. Free money shouldn't cost you anything.

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