Back to School: College and University Scams Affecting Students

Whether you’re heading to campus for the first time or returning for your next semester, it’s important to be aware of the scams that target post-secondary students. Learn what the most common scams are today, and how to protect yourself, your money and your information.

As a student, there’s a lot to learn. Whether you’re studying the arts, engineering, business or math, you’ll be absorbing a lot of information in the coming year. While you will undoubtedly be busy with classes, assignments and exams, it’s also important to learn a few things outside the classroom – specifically, the common scams that target post-secondary students.

Fraudsters target students for a few reasons. For one, students have specific needs – books, accommodation and often, financial assistance. This makes it easy for fraudsters to fine-tune scams and make promises that are highly appealing to you. Students are also active on social media, making you easy to reach by fraudsters. And, with all the costs that come with post-secondary school, messages about saving on tuition or apartments are hard to resist.

Here are some of the most common scams that target students today, and how to protect yourself against them.

Scholarship and grant scams

With a scholarship or grant scam, you might get a call or email letting you know that you’ve been awarded a scholarship, which you may or may not remember having applied for. Great news, right? The catch is you need to give out your bank account information in order to get the funds.

What happens next is the scammer could access the money in your account and drain your savings. 

How to protect yourself:

• Never pay to apply for a scholarship. If a company promises you funding in exchange for a processing cost or other upfront payment, walk away!

• Watch for guarantees – a legitimate company will never guarantee a scholarship upon your application

• If you don’t remember applying for the scholarship, don’t pursue it

University fee scams

A prevalent scam across the globe, fee scams involve a scammer contacting students with a promise to offer a discount on tuition. Students are often contacted online and, in order to get the discount promised, pressured into giving their banking or credit card credentials so the service can pay the tuition on their behalf. Victims of this scam often end up paying for their tuition twice, losing thousands of dollars to fraudsters along the way.

How to protect yourself:

• Don’t engage in discussions where you’re being pressured to take action and/or provide your financial details 

• If you’re suspicious of someone who has contacted you, block them from your apps/ email

• Don’t pay your tuition to a third party – only pay directly to the college or university through the payment methods they offer (usually this is through their online portal or through online banking)

• Never share your banking information with anyone 

Loan relief scams

Student loan debt in the United States is over $1.7 trillion, with an average student loan debt balance of over $37,000. In Canada, the average amount is slightly lower, at $28,000, with total student loan debt topping $23,5 billion. So, it’s no wonder that promises to forgive or reduce loan amounts are so attractive to students.

Relief scams start with fraudsters making false promises to pay down or pay off student loan debt, and/or lower your monthly payments. All you need to do is “sign up” and provide your banking information. Upon doing so, however, scammers will start to divert payments to their own accounts. There are some accounts of students (or former students) not realizing for years that their student loans weren’t being repaid.

Loan relief scams can be spotted because they’re often aggressive in nature – in order to qualify for loan forgiveness, you must “act immediately” and applications are on a “first come, first serve basis.” While legitimate loan relief programs do exist, they would never use urgent or aggressive language while connecting with you. 

How to protect yourself:

• Only deal directly with your loan provider

• Never give out your banking password, PIN or other login credentials – no legitimate organization or lender will ask you for this sensitive data

• Watch for typos, improper grammar and strange phone numbers or email addresses – these are all red flags that the message isn’t coming from a legitimate source

Apartment scams

Scammers know that students need a place to live near campus – even if you’re a first-year student, soon enough you’ll need to start looking for a room or apartment to rent for next year.

Unfortunately, there are many variations of housing scams, including:

• Ads for a place that does not exist or is not for rent. Scammers will try to get you to pay a deposit or a few months’ rent before you realize it

• Ads for a real place but with altered contact information

• Scammers that collect deposits for a place already rented

• Housing that does not have the promised amenities 

• Scammers that try to get you to sign a lease for a different property than the one advertised

• Requests for upfront fees to secure the apartment

How to protect yourself:

• Always visit the place before you sign anything or pay any money

• Do an online search of the owner and listing – if you find the same ad listed under a different name, that’s a red flag!

• Check your lease carefully to ensure it’s for the correct house or apartment

• Holding deposits, application fees, damage deposits and cleaning fees are not legal in Canada – only last month’s rent and a refundable key deposit can be legally asked for

Fake credit cards

Many students use credit cards to pay for both essentials and lifestyle expenses while away at school. As such, there are many scammers out there that promise students fake credit cards, as well as legitimate credit card companies that offer cards with high fees or interest rates that could be difficult to pay off in the future.

How to protect yourself:

• Research student credit cards at financial institutions that you trust – many have student-specific cards

• Don’t respond to a credit card solicitation – be proactive instead of reactive

• Check the fine print of the credit card offer before you sign up – it’s a good idea to get a second set of eyes to review as well

Academic scams

There is a lot of pressure that comes with post-secondary school – but it’s important to avoid services that try to give you a leg up. There are companies out there that offer tutoring services that ultimately try to trick you into getting them to do your assignments for you. These scammers are known as ‘contract cheating companies.’ They may ask for your student login details (which they can then use to steal information about you) or blackmail you if you have paid for their services.

How to protect yourself:

• Don’t engage with companies that contact you with offers to help you with your assignments. If you need tutoring help, reach out to your university/college to find legitimate tutors in your area of study

• Never provide your login details or personal information to anyone you don’t know or trust

While there is a lot to learn in the classroom, taking a few minutes to learn about the scams targeting students can help keep you, your money and your information safe. Using common sense, avoiding messages that promise too-good-to-be-true offers and keeping your private information to yourself are key tips to remember in the year ahead.

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