College students targeted in new financial aid scam

Some area universities are alerting students about a financial aid scam that administrators say could lead to empty bank accounts or identity theft.\nIt works like this: Someone pretending to be a U.S. Department of Education official calls college students and tells them they are eligible for an $8,000 grant. The catch is that the caller says he needs a bank account number to extract a $250 processing fee.\nThe Education Department does not charge fees for processing grants.\nThese calls, which have reached the St. Louis area in a couple of reported cases, have raised enough concern that the Education Department has put out a warning, the University of Missouri has put an alert on its Web site and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has sent an e-mail to students and posted fliers so students don't fall for the hoax.\n"The financial aid process can be intimidating, and if someone calls you up and offers you money, that can be tempting," said Sharon Berry, SIUE's financial aid director. But, she emphasized, "You don't pay for financial aid."\nBerry, who knows of other scholarship frauds that can deceive parents and students, said she was especially concerned about this one. If someone falls for it, the scammers can completely clean out that person's bank account.\nIncoming SIUE freshman Prince Wells IV received a call a few days ago from a man who said he was with the government. The man told him he was guaranteed $8,000 in grants, with the possibility of $35,000 total.\n"I was thinking, 'How did they choose me?'" said Wells, 18 of Hazelwood. "Or stuff like, maybe it was a grant I applied for and forgot about."\nHe soon became suspicious when the man insisted on having his checking account number. Wells didn't give it to him. He has tried to call back the 800 number the man gave him, only to be greeted by a busy signal.\nMarianna O'Brien, spokeswoman for the Office of Federal Student Aid of the Education Department, said about 25 to 30 cases from around the country had been reported to the department's inspector general.\nFor more information on what to do about financial aid fraud, go to www.ed.gov/misused.