$$$$ AVOID BEING SCAMMED! $$$$

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education receives numerous complaints from students and parents who did not receive the information they expected from financial aid search services. If you decide to use one of these services, you should check its reputation by contacting the Better Business Bureau or your campus financial aid office. Additionally, investigate the organization yourself before making a commitment:

Some services will tell you that millions of dollars in student aid go unclaimed every year. Usually, such benefits are available only to the employees (and their families) of a specific company, union, or other organization.

Some claim that you can't get the same information anywhere else. Many services make you pay to get information you could have received for free from a college financial aid office, state education agency, local library, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Internet. Remember that you can find out about student aid without paying a fee to a search service.

Others request your credit card or bank account number to hold student financial aid for you. Search services do not, in most cases, provide any awards directly to applicants, apply on behalf of applicants, or act as a disbursing agent for financial aid providers. You should never give out a credit card or bank account number unless you know the company or organization you are giving it to is legitimate.

Scholarship seminars frequently end with one-on-one meetings in which a salesperson pressures the student to "buy now or lose out on this opportunity." Legitimate services don't use such pressure tactics.

Source: Department of Education Website