The Federal Trade Commission advises you to look out for the following statements in scholarship advertisements:

• "This scholarship will cost some money."
• "We'll do the work for you!"
• "You're a finalist (in a contest you never entered)!"
• "You can't get this information anywhere else!"

Legitimate companies never guarantee scholarships, although some require a nominal application fee to cover processing expenses. Some companies also charge fees to access their database. Legitimate scholarship providers never guarantee you'll win anything. If they do, you're being scammed, and you should avoid doing business with these companies. Scholarship sponsors want you to apply for their money. They don't hide information from you, so there's no need to pay for information you easily can find yourself.