Scams and Issues You May Face When Using FAFSA and Financial Aid in 2025!

Suppose you’re planning to sign up and receive financial aid through FAFSA or other means. In that case, there are some things you should know beforehand regarding scams and other potential issues that could negatively impact this college planning process. This is a common negative side effect of college planning that affects many people, and it’s our job to ensure that you sign up in the best way possible without any issues. We know how important this is to students and the parents of students for their long-term college years.

In this blog, we will run through what those financial aid scams and issues are and how to properly sign up for financial aid while avoiding them.

Why Would Someone Want to Scam You for Financial Aid?

There are a lot of reasons for why someone would want to scam you out of your financial aid and by letting you know why, you might just be able to see the scams coming and will be able to avoid them over time. 

You might not believe it at first, but it’s something to consider, and that’s the fact that there are people out there who need the financial aid for themselves who can’t afford it for their own college planning, and so they go out of their way to scam others who are signing up like them. This is a common form of another non-college financial aid crime, like identity theft. The most common motive is financial gain. They can take control of your credit card or bank information, and whatever else you would use to help with finding financial aid resources.

Just as much as you might be desperate to find the best resources for financial aid and find the most proper way to get it, the people who try and scam you will be just as desperate. They prey on the most financially vulnerable people who are stressed about college costs, which is why we are here, making this blog for you, so you don't feel stressed in this process. We want you to be able to learn about these circumstances and, in time, not feel the weight on your shoulders and get through it without any problems.

The Scams of FAFSA and Financial Aid

So with that thought process in mind behind why scammers prey on you, let's run through all of their methods and the types of scams that they try to pull on you:

Identity Theft as a Financial Aid Expert

We've already mentioned identity theft, so let's delve deeper into it with a great example. Likely, the most common type of person who will reach out to you via a scam personality is someone acting as a financial aid expert. Someone who would assist you with completing forms like FAFSA, offer advice on financial aid packages, and help students understand and manage their loan obligations and repayment options.

There are bad actors out there who will try to pretend to be helpful and separate themselves from scammers, and you have to be wary of these instances where they set that tone with you in the back-and-forth communication.

FAFSA is the type of financial aid form that we at Send Your Kids to College cherish the most and want people to sign up for, given the benefits it offers. Unless you hear it from a reputable, proven, non-profit organization, or more specifically, a certified college planner, you should not take any type of financial aid advice from someone who doesn’t know FAFSA as well as we do.

Upfront "Processing Fees" and Making You Pay for the Application

It should be made crystal clear… You do not, nor should you be required to pay money to sign up for FAFSA or other resources involved with receiving financial aid! FAFSA, in particular, is a free application! Any website or email that requests payment to complete the FAFSA is not an official government site and does not work directly with colleges. 

Now, if you do your homework and look into the entity that is offering help, like Send Your Kids to College, it is not unlikely that there could be some fee associated with helping you through the frustrating process of filling out financial aid forms. Ensure that if you’re working with someone who claims to be a FAFSA expert, you check them out and be sure they are a reputable organization with proof of being a legitimate business or nonprofit. 

Sometimes, even fake scholarship offers might require you to pay an upfront processing fee, and if a financial aid form is asking you to do so, it’s most likely a scam. The simple answer to this type of financial aid scam is to sign up for FAFSA, and you can do that here on our website! Go to our main page and read more before you do so.

Looking for .edu Email Addresses and Avoiding Phishing Emails

We talk about what the scams are, but you are just as likely to be fooled by where they come from more than anything else. How does someone get scammed? More often than not, it comes down to being able to read carefully from the places that you see this information come from. Colleges will start reaching out to you via email or phone call, and you have to be able to know when it’s actually them or a phishing attempt. 

If the email doesn’t have the three big letters “edu” at the end, then the red flags should be going off IMMEDIATELY. If they try to give you an unsolicited grant or reward, then that’s also a phishing attempt. If they try and call you over the phone and ask for sensitive information like your FSA ID password or bank account number, then that’s how you know it’s a scam from that form of communication.

Financial Aid Scam FAQs

What should I do if I think I've been scammed and information has been stolen?

If you believe you have been scammed by any of the specific examples that we discussed in this blog, you should immediately contact your bank and have them change any information that could be accessed by the scammer to get your money and savings. Report the scam to your federal loan servicer immediately to ensure no unauthorized changes were made. A financial aid scam is a federal crime, and so we also recommend you get in contact with the state and federal governments around divisions like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Where can I find the best financial aid information and opportunities?

Your guide to where you can find the best financial aid opportunities begins here! Official government websites and other financial aid offices of the schools you are considering or are currently in attendance with are your best bet. It’s our job to honor your ability to look for these resources, and Send Your Kids to College has some of the best financial aid information and resources at your disposal for students in Buffalo and Western New York. 

These resources will help you figure out your goals with financial aid before you sign up for FAFSA, and if you have any other questions related to this topic, we recommend that you reach out through our contact form. Get the best information here, and we will be there to guide you!