Scholarships are a great way for international students to obtain financial aid that is, essentially free, as you would never need to pay a scholarship back. For this reason scholarships are very popular, and there are some companies/ individuals that will prey on students eagerness to obtain a scholarship to scam them out of money.

To protect yourself there are many things you can look out for that should send alarm bells ringing when looking for a scholarship:

1. Loan Fees: You should be careful of companies that ask for a loan fee before they will disburse and money to you. Real loan companies will add fees to your loan balance which you repay over time and will never make you pay a fee upfront.
   
2. Money up front/ Application Fee: Whenever you are applying for a scholarship never send money up front or pay an application fee, you should not have to send money to an organisation to get a scholarship. These organisations will most likely just pocket the money and you will never hear from them again
   
3. Company/ Scholarship Names: If you see a scholarship service or company that is using words like "official", "national", "government" or other governmental or official sounding names be careful. They are most probably trying to sound official to cover up the scam
   
   
4. Guaranteed Scholarships: Never trust a company that advertises that they will guarantee to get you a scholarship. These companies will ask for a fee and may even offer a money back guarantee but will never get you a scholarship. Legitimate services will never say they guarantee to get your scholarship.
   

How To Protect Yourself

1. Too good to be true: If an offer or scholarship sounds too good to be true, it usually is! If you think something is just too good then sit back and do a little more research as things that sound too good to be true, usually are.
   
2. Contact them: If you have a scholarship offer that is asking for money up front or you want to make sure they are real contact them personally and make sure you can get hold of them by phone and ask for their physical address and any other information you want. Real companies will be glad to hand this information out and scam organisations will be hesitate to do this.
   
3. Never pay money: You should never give any money out to companies to cover things like application fees, service fees or really for any reason. Legitimate scholarships will be free to apply and will not ask you to pay money to get money - it does not work like that.
   
4. Get References: Do some checks on the company or organisation that is offering the scholarship, for example use google to check their name (if someone has been scammed by them you will probably see their name online somewhere about it. Also check the country company directory for that organisation, for example all UK companies have to be registered and you can search them online for free.

Ultimately, the best advice that anyone could give you to find a legitimate scholarship is to use your time to search yourself for a scholarship in a reputable site like Hot-Scholarships.com so just use your time wisely and follow the rules above and you should be okay!






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• A Guide To Study Abroad - The Easy Way
  
  
• How to Get a Scholarship
  
  
• Your Guide to Securing Scholarships
  
  
• How To Spot a Scholarship Scam
  
  
• 3 Techniques to Guarantee a Scholarship
  
  
• Best Ways To Find a Scholarship
  
  
• Tips for Getting Scholarships
  
  
• How To Compose Scholarship Essay