Financial freedom could come at a cost for students who get duped.
SAN ANTONIO — It can be costly when college kids head back to campus. And when students spend their money or yours, scammers are ready to take advantage of newly found finances to make a buck in their own way.
Scammers know that many college students are managing their own money for the first time, which makes them much more vulnerable to deception coming in many forms, starting with fake credit cards with enticing offers.
Jason Meza, the spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of south Texas told us, “It’s unchecked many times if you’re not really intimate and this will create some problems in the future.”
Also too-good-to-be-true apartment listings wanting a credit card to snag a spot, and ID theft.
“ID theft is is messy. It takes at minimum two to three years to clean up an ID theft spill and it is heartbreaking,” Meza added.
Families across the country are expected to spend an average of $1,325 on back-to-school college shopping. That totals a record $88.8 billion dollars nationwide.
And with the average student receiving just over half of the cost of typical college tuition, at $16,630, students often turn to credit cards to make ends meet, and they often don’t read the fine print.
“If you’re not really sure about the terms, the long term effects, the fees that are attached to it, which can be deceptive,” Meza said.
Then there’s scholarship and grant scams where you give too much personal information.
“If it’s a grant, it’s going to be a free option for you. If it’s a scholarship, it should come from a legitimate company or other information or the institution. We say check your social circle first,” said Meza.
Last but not least, test preparation scams where you end up blackmailed for money, and the scammers threaten expulsion if it isn’t paid.
“Instead, it turns into a legitimate we’re going to sell you information from other tests, and it’s a cheating scandal,” Meza said.
If you think you have been duped by any type of scam, the Better Business Bureau says to make sure you report it to their scam tracker.