When it comes time to begin planning for college, financial aid is one of the biggest concerns that most students have. Whether it’s a matter of obtaining college grants and scholarships or taking out a student loan, the possibilities are endless. While there are many legitimate sources of financial aid, in the age of the internet, many students are finding that it’s just as easy to be scammed online. For students searching for online grants and online scholarships, sifting through the honest tuition assistance programs versus the fraudulent imitators can be a difficult task. Following these three simple rules students can go a long way to protecting themselves from online cons.

The first red flag that any prospective student should be on the lookout for is cost. Any program that requires an upfront payment is most likely not a legitimate source of tuition assistance. FAFSA will never charge you for their services or for any grant or college loans offered.

Grants and scholarships are awarded to the discretion of the student. They do not require that you provide any financial information about yourself. Never give your credit card information or bank account to any organization for any reason. There is no legitimate financial aid institution who will need this information. Many scams will insist that you’ve been awarded a scholarship or college grant and that in order to collect the information they will require your bank account information – this should ALWAYS be an alarming signal.

Ultimately the best way to protect yourself from financial aid scams is to do your research. Any institution or program that you may have doubts about you should research thoroughly. There’s a great deal of available resource sites about grants online to provide ample information about what programs are trustworthy. Checking with the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Student Aid websites is an excellent reference source.

Seeking financial aid can be a frustrating process but it’s never worth it to give into desperation and trust blindly in financial aid programs without checking them out in advance. Do plenty of research and guard your financial assets and you’ll have no problem finding legitimate financial aid for your advanced education.