Typical college funding requires some type of financial aid or a scholarship, whether it is to get masters degrees at a traditional university or enrolling in an online master degree program. In the world that we live in today, there are financial aid scams going around that can be devastating if you fall victim to them. Knowing the clues and the possible scams that are being used can save a lot of money and many headaches along the way to getting your masters degree.

The Telemarketing Financial Aid Scam

Very recently, it has become known that there are criminals that are using fake identities of government officials and bank managers to coax students into giving them their credit card and bank account information. These thieves will call you on the phone and claim to be a representative of a very legitimate organization, the U.S. Department of Education. The offer to replace your standing student loan with a government grant of $8,000 is given to you and the only requirement is that they will need to collect a small fee in order to process the request.

Does this sound too good to be true or what? The caller will then proceed to get your bank account number or your credit card number for the small processing fee. That is the scam and that is your valuable information being handed to the thief without them even having to steal your wallet or anything.

The lesson in this type of financial aid scam is that you should never give any information to anyone unless it was you that had initiated the contact. If you are absolutely positive of the identity of the person that you are speaking with and know that their motives are legitimate, then go ahead and reveal your information. Otherwise, do not fall for such a scheme to obtain your information because it will be a huge price to pay when all you really had intended to do was to get your online masters degree.

Can a Financial Aid Counselor really be a Scam Artist?

Sometimes it is an intimidating thing for college students and their parents to attempting to procure financial assistance or aid from the government. It may seem like a viable solution to hire help in the process and might appear that hiring a financial aid counselor would be a good idea. You may want to think twice though.

Financial aid consultants will advertise services of assistance in filling out paperwork and swiftly getting through the financial system. The offer is made to parents or students that are looking for financial aid in getting an extended education and earning an associate, bachelor or masters degree. The truth is, however, that a high school guidance counselor will be happy to give any free advice on the financial aid process.