Scams to watch out for
American Scholarships: These people send postcards saying:
"It's been impossible to get in touch with you. Please call us at your earliest convenience.Sincerely, American Scholarships 1-800-471-2310 (Hablamos Espanol)"
American Scholarships
33175 Temecula Park Way, Ste A
Temecula, CA 92592
If you call, you are invited to come to a seminar in California. "They had two 'offerings': one was a 'Free Directory' of 'Private Sector Scholarships', basically a list with a few hundred names that could be found in any decent Community College Financial Aid office, or even off the web. The other thing they offered, 'the Service': for $250 ($199 if signed on the spot), claiming they've access over 38,000 'Private Sector' sources for scholarships"
(From: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-471-2310).
They are also on the California Board of Equalization's list of sales-tax delinquents.
National Academy of American Scholars (NAAS)
BEWARE. This is NOT a legitimate scholarship opportunity!! First of all, you must pay in order to "join" -- you should never have to pay for a scholarship. That's the first thing to look for when determining if a scholarship opportunity is "real" or fake: if you have to pay. The NAAS apparently has the "Easley National Scholarship", offering awards up to $10,000; students who do actually "win" only receive $200-$750, much less than was promised. Those who complained and created trouble were viciously and publicly attacked on the site; their personal information such as their social security number was displayed, and false statements about them published as well. Avoid this scholarship at all costs!
Check out an article by NY Times on this scam scholarship: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/education/17education.html
This article was written by Katherine Cai and Grace Do
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