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The Daily Nebraskan is accepting applications for news, sports
and arts & entertainment reporting positions for the fall.
Freshmen are encouraged to apply. Pick up an application
today at the Daily Nebraskan office - 34 Nebraska Union.
UNL does not discriminate in its academic, admissions or employment
programs and abides by all Federal regulations pertaining to the same.
Students target of many financial pitfalls
By Paula Lavigne
Staff Reporter_
Upon entering college, students end
up juggling grades, classes and activ
ities before they realize they have to
perform one more balancing act —
their budget.
Managing money means more re
sponsibility. It can leave the college
student in a more vulnerable position
as prey for scams and risky ventures
and if left unchecked, the end result is
a financial fiasco.
Students’ financial pitfalls can lie
in telemarketing scams, credit card
solicitations, or bogus money-making
or employment opportunities.
acott Mecnam, presiueni oi me
Comhusker Better Business Bureau,
said telemarketing fraud and sweep
stakes offers can be financial traps for
college students.
“The truly professional scam artist
is so good that anyone is a potential
victim, certainly anyone a little less
wise to the world,” he said.
Mecham said protection was the
key element to warding off scams.
Students should be wary of giving out
financial information over the phone,
he said, including credit card, bank
account and social security numbers,
for any other reason than to make a
purchase.
Fraudulent companies can use that
information to make charges against
the student’s bank account or credit
card.
Dan Parsons, senior consumer spe
cialist with the Nebraska Consumer
Protection Division of the Office ol
Attorney General, said students are
more susceptible to fraud because
they ’ re caught up with graduat ing and
getting out on their own.
He said a lot of telemarketing scams
try to sway the student with offers of
fabulous prizes or vacations.
“They say ‘You’ve won a car or a
trip to a fabulous destination and all
you have to do is give us your credit
card number for verification and for
$ 19.95 you could become a finalist in
this prize promotion,”’ Parsons said.
-44
Just because you’re
automatically
approved for credit
doesn’t mean you
should jump at the
first one that wants to
" give you an account.
—Dan Parsons
Office of the Attorney General
_ ii _
9 9
Parsons said a lot of students com
ing to the city for the first time may not
be aware of the tactics of thieves.
"We are Midwesterners. We trust
people. When we’re told we’re going
to win a fabulous prize, we expect it
will happen,” Parsons said. “We have
to expect consumer fraud is out there,
and we have to educate ourselves and
prevent it.”
Although not a financial scam,
credit cards can also put students in
jeopardy, Parsons said.
"There’s nothing against the law to
get you to sign up for a credit card. As
good consumers, students need to be
aware it is a very competitive busi
ness,” he said.
Students should ask a lot of ques
tions about interest charges and yearlv
is fees, he said. y
if “Just because you’re automatically
approved for credit doesn’t mean you
a should jump at the first one that wants
11 to give you an account,” Parsons said
it He said students should shop around
ir and shop at home instead of getting a
n credit card from an out-of-state corpo
1. ration even though they may not j>ct a
huge line of credit.
Linda Engelkes, communications
manager for Norwest Card Services in
Des Moines, Fowa, said in order to
combat students going into debt, they
offer them a lower credit line.
“We don’t want students to get in
trouble. We want them to use it for
what it’s intended for,” Engelkes said.
“We don’t want to allow them the
opportunity to let it get out of hand.”
Recently, incidents involving col
lege students who ran up a $ 17,000 or
more debt on their cred it cards spawned
„ reaction in Congress. Rep. Joseph
Kennedy of Massachusetts addressed
■ the issue and said something must be
t done to regulate credit card issuers.
He suggested legislation that would
t require credit card applicants under
! the age of 21 to have their requests
l signed by a parent.
: Charlotte Rush, vice president of
, public affairs at MasterCard Intcma
1 tional, said these cases of extreme debt
arc anomalies and the answer lies in
education.
“(Students) have shown to be very
good credit risks. As a universe of
consumers they are good customers,”
Rush said. “They tend to pay their bills
in full at the end of the month at a
greater rate than the adult popula
tion."
Because of their reliability, stu
dents are a general target of credit
card issuers. Rush said. Credit card
companies like to build loyal custom
ers, she said, and the sooner they can
get to the them, the better.
Rush said since most students start
out with a fairly low credit limit they
can’t get into a huge amount of debt.
“You need to learn how to use a
credit card, which is an important tool
as you enter adult life. If you use a
credit card appropriately, it has many
advantages.” Rush said.
MasterCard offers several educa
tional programs at both the high school
and college level geared to help stu
dents manage their money along with
learning the responsibility of credit,
she said.
“They need to appreciate credit
and not treat it as fijpe money,” Rush
said.
“With credit, the thing to remem
ber is at the end of the day it’s still
money and you still have to pay for it.
It’s not magically postponed indefi
nitely."
Part of their program, “College
Fundamentals”, an eight-page insert
in U. Magazine, is aimed at teaching
college students how to be responsible
for their money once they leave home.
Rush said MasterCard is also design
ing a program to be implemented into
freshman orientation programs across
the nation.
“Credit’s a fact of life. It’s a useful
thing for a college student to have
some exposure to,” she said.
Parsons said, in general, “I think
all of us as consumers need to be
cautious and try to spend our money
wisely. We need to be prudent. As
Mom and Dad would say, as we’re
coming down to school just be cau
tious how we spend our money."
James Mehsling/DN 1
