Financial Aid Phishing Scams
Students and families may receive plenty of emails and texts about tuition, financial aid, account updates, and school deadlines. Scammers take advantage of that busy time by sending messages designed to look like they came from a school, financial aid office, or other trusted source.
The goal may be to steal your login credentials, personal information, or money.
Common Scholarship Scam Red Flags
- Urgent deadlines: You're told to act immediately or risk losing financial aid, a refund, or access to your account.
- Unexpected links: A message directs you to a website to sign in, update information, or “verify” your account.
- Requests for sensitive information: You're asked for passwords, Social Security numbers, banking information, or other personal details.
- Something doesn't look quite right: Look closely at the sender's email address, spelling, wording, and web address.
- Unexpected payment requests: Be cautious if you're told a fee or payment is required to release financial aid or prevent it from being canceled.
Before You Click
If you receive an unexpected financial aid message, don't use the link or contact information provided in the message.
Instead, go directly to your school's official website or contact the financial aid office using information you already know is legitimate. If the message is real, they'll be able to confirm it.
And remember:
Don't let urgency make the decision for you.
Take a moment to stop, verify the message, and know who you're dealing with before providing information or sending money.
The Pause Protects.
When in doubt, check it out.
