Politically-Based Education Scams

Anytime something major makes headlines, scammers and fraudsters are ready to strike.

Who Is It Targeting: Anyone with a stake in US education

What Is It: Politically-motivated phishing scams

What Are They After: When anything earth-shaking dominates the headlines, scammers are ready to swoop in. It might be a natural disaster, a major sporting event, or in this case, politics. Without taking any political stance whatsoever, it’s true that the Senate’s recent confirmation of Betsy Devos as Secretary of Education is making news around the world. Some are hailing it as progress, while others are quite vocal that it spells doom for public and higher education.

This is the time to be cautious of news articles, emails, and social media ads insisting that you hurry up and secure your financial aid now before the government “takes it away.” There might also be scams affecting parents of school-aged kids, with claims of being able to “opt out” of certain agendas that are falsely being reported.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Any time you’re told you must act immediately to avoid some bizarre consequence, stop and think it through.
• Before paying any fees or providing any of your personal information, research the claim thoroughly to make sure it’s not a scam.
• If you have doubts about political posts, check them out from neutral, trusted news sources.

For full details of this scam check out this article from BusinessInsider.