Tips to Identify Scam/fake Scholarship Opportunities/providing Agency, Organization or Government

Comprehensively, scholarship can be defined as a gift offered through “schools, employers, individuals, private companies, nonprofits, communities, religious groups, and professional and social organizations.” In many situations, these scholarships can be applied directly to the cost of tuition or books or help to cover room and board at an accredited college or university. Being a “gift,” a scholarship does not require payment by the recipient.

There are numerous sites online and offline seminars of scholarship opportunities. Many of these scholarship opportunities are particularly directed at students seeking for scholarship sponsorship for their education, mostly especially young Africans and people from the developing countries around the world.

Yes there is abundance of scholarship opportunities but that does not rule out the aspect of competition, and this means that many young people will still be unable to access these opportunities due to some shortage in experience or education. Due to deficit in education or experience of some individuals, many young people fall victim of fraudsters. It is unfortunate to learn that while many countries, agencies, organizations and even individuals map out plans to make genuine opportunities available to young people, other organizations and individuals likewise, map out ways to exploit them.

Here are some great highlights key things to look out to help identify fake scholarship opportunities/providing agency, organization or government.

1. Fake Scholarship agencies/services and websites ask candidates to pay processing fee:

One thing very important thing you need to know is that there is no genuine scholarship-providing agency, organization or government will ask for money from their potential candidates. Scholarships are awarded to students on merit i.e either by selection or scoring the required score after sitting for examination organized by the scholarship-providing agency, organization or government.

Any scholarship that is advertised and requests applicants to pay a certain sum to a certain account number is 100% fake and should be avoided. The world’s most prestigious scholarship providers like MasterCard Foundation, Chinese CSC and Schwarzman Scholars usually send out warnings during scholarship processing periods, informing the general public about the activities of fraudsters acting as agents on their behalf, who are only intent on swindling unsuspecting and desperate candidates.

Although there are some scholarship that will only be awarded to students after they must have secured admission in that particular institution offering the scholarship or any institution mentioned as eligible.

2. Non Standard Website, no institutional email

Another very good way to identify fake scholarship opportunities websites is the website standard. Always pay a very attention to details in the site. Fake scholarship providing agency, organization or government sites do not have a typically standard website, little detail as possible out on the internet so as to not get caught, none of their claims on their websites are verifiable.

Education forums like www.onlinescholarshipcollges.com, www.afterschoolafrica.com is a good place to get information about scholarships and reviews. Before applying for any scholarship from any site, please always run an internet search on any of the scholarship opening before you commit to it. When you run an internet search on a fake scholarship, hardly will you see any positive review about them. They are fraudsters, human traffickers and kidnappers posing as legit organisations.

3. No clear contact of the Institution, Agency, Organization or Government providing the scholarship

Any scholarship providing agency, organization or government that does not have clear contact or any institution offering scholarships or that offer admission to people who scale through the scholarship screening without clear details is not real. As the institution offering scholarship, there must be clear contact details at the institution site.

4. The scholarship opportunities they offer sounds too good to be true

The scholarship opportunities some of this so called scholarship providing agency, organization or government or institution offer sounds too good to be true. For example, how can a private scholarship agency tell candidates that they will provide free admission to the best universities in any country, visa support and processing, flight ticket, subsistence allowance, stationery and health insurance, free accommodation, free vehicles for mobility, monthly stipends, and a good job after graduation? All for free?! if they had it so easy, they would make it happen for their loved ones first before putting it out to strangers on the internet. When it looks so sweet, check it. Go online to verify their claims/offers.

5. The scholarship “sweepstakes”

In this scam pattern they inform students by phone or email that they have “won” a fantastic scholarship. But, before you can claim your funds, you must either provide bank account information or pay a “disbursement fee.” If you don’t pay right at that moment, you are told you could lose out on the Scholarship awards/funds. If you come across such site or agency or institution, please run far from them, is totally not real.

6. No clear vision or mission

For instance, Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation established by Mastercard in 2006. Since its creation, the Foundation has partnered with a number of worldwide Non-governmental organizations and core partners aiming to ameliorate financial life, primarily in the Global South. MasterCard foundation has a strategic vision to provide access to quality education for economically-marginalized youth in Africa. To do this, they partner with several top universities within and outside Africa, to provide world-class education, financial and career support, and access to a world-class network of professionals. Their goal is to do this for a period of ten years, effectively empowering the continent’s next generation of leaders. Now this is a clear vision and mission. Same thing is also applicable to Chinese CSC Scholarships, Schwarzman Scholars, and a host of others.

Genuine philanthropic initiative has a strong vision behind it, and one of the reasons why the aforementioned scholarships have become as popular and sustainable as they are is because they have a vision driving their operations.

An organization or agency that rolls out scholarship schemes without a clear vision or mission, they are mostly neither genuine nor sustainable. Genuine scholarship granting bodies have clear vision and mission statements that guide their scholarship scheme, which they usually indicate on their website.

7. Unusually flexible with deadlines and requirements

Some of this so called scholarship providing agency, organization or government or institution is unusually flexible with deadlines and requirements in their site. Every genuine scholarship must have strict deadlines that must be followed, and strict instructions that must be adhered to.

Genuine scholarship applications go like this:

• Candidates register on the online platform
• Eligibility is determined
• Application is completed
• Supporting documents are submitted
• Candidates wait for feedback

And All within the stipulated deadlines.

In most situations, they inform candidates that applications that are submitted after the stipulated deadline will no longer be attended to. They also adhere strictly to the requirements and supporting documents that are requested. Any candidate that fails to meet up to their full requirements is usually automatically disqualified. But on the other hand, scam scholarship opportunities never portray such discipline and excellence.

From the above highlights, truths could also be applied to help you identify genuine ones as well.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when applying for scholarships:

• Don't give out your bank account information.
• Always go online to confirm if the organization is real and reputable.
• Avoid any scholarships that ask for entry fees i.e telling you to pay any money.
• Keep track of the scholarships you've applied for.
• Look for clear instructions and judging criteria.

This scholarship safety guide will help students learn to identify legitimate scholarship opportunities and avoid scholarship scams. It reveals the tell-tale signs of scholarship scams, as well as provides tips on how to safely share personal information during the scholarship application process.

In summary

By identifying the warning signs of a scholarship scam, you can protect yourself from identity theft, fraud and other safety risks during the scholarship application process. Here are some tips to keep in mind when applying for scholarships:

• Don’t give out your bank account information.
• Always confirm the organization is real and reputable.
• Avoid scholarships that ask for entry fees.
• Keep track of the scholarships you’ve applied for.
• Look for clear instructions and judging criteria.
• Watch out for poor spelling and grammar.

Use these tips and the information provided in this scholarship safety guide to help shield yourself from scams and threats related to looking for money to pay for college.

Some points from this post is extracted from AfterSchoolAfrica.