As students prepare to return to school, scammers are targeting families with fake scholarships and online deals, using urgency and fear to pressure them into acting without verifying the offers.

How to Spot Red Flags

Consumer Reports advises families to never pay fees or provide personal information for scholarships. Instead, they recommend looking up the school or scholarship provider and calling the official number to confirm the offer. For online deals, Consumer Reports warns that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. They advise being cautious of suspicious links and recommend typing the website’s address directly into your browser rather than clicking on links sent to you to ensure the site looks legitimate.

A Consumer Reports survey found that nearly half of Americans have encountered a scam, and about one in 10 of those individuals lost money. Families are encouraged to take a few seconds to think before acting on any offer, whether it’s a scholarship or an online deal.

Original reporting: KOAT Albuquerque — read the source article.