As a student or the parent of one, the cost of tuition is always at the back of your mind. The average price of attending a four-year college nowadays ranges from $108,584 at public institutions to over $234,512 at private universities, according to the Education Data Initiative . And as schools go back in session, scammers prey on family’s financial anxieties.
The Federal Communications Commission issued an alert this spring to students and parents, warning them to be wary of “scammers seeking to capitalize on the busy academic season, online as well as over the phone.” One of the top student scams the FCC says to be wary of? The scholarship scam. Michael Jabbara, the vice president and global head of fraud services for Visa, said the credit card company is seeing an uptick in these tuition-related scams.
In these tricks, families will typically receive a tempting email that redirects them to a website promising, “Hey, we can offer you scholarships or discounts to pay your tuition. All you have to do is complete your application and pay a processing fee,” Jabbara explained. “And sometimes it is about getting the money.
Sometimes it’s about stealing that sensitive data so that it can be monetized elsewhere.” These bad actors will sometimes claim to be reaching out under the authority of an altruistic organization, a school’s financial aid office or a well-known celebrity. In 2014, filmmaker Tyler Perry warned fans about a fake scholarship program using his n.