Education Department warns of fraud scheme

Friday, July 16, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

The Education Department issued a warning this week of a potential fraud scheme aiming to rip off college students nationwide.

In the scheme, callers claiming to be from the federal department attempt to obtain bank or credit card information from students by offering them scholarships or grants to replace their students loans.

The callers say that they need the financial information in order to process the grants, charging a $249 fee.

The Education Department does not charge students to obtain federal education grants and does not replace loans with grants, officials said in the warning.

Southern Nevada officials said they were unaware of any such fraud activity operating in the Las Vegas Valley.

Students should report any attempts at such fraud to the Education Department, Office of Inspector General hotline at (800) 647-8733 or e-mail oig.hotline@ed.gov and contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams.

If students have already given their financial information out, they should also contact their bank, officials said.