told me I have a federal grant coming to me. Trust me I have tried to apply for them they do not give them away.
Bad English lots of noise from other callers in the back ground, don't get fooled
Got a call from 202-241-7597, in bad English, chatter in the background, told me to purchase a "my vanilla" pre-paid reload visa card and load it with 210 bucks for tax purposes? Was supposed to be in order to receive a federal tax grant of $6700? Too good to be true, good thing I looked it up.
It is a scam.
The government does not offer grants to individuals for personal use.
It is a scam ran by off shore con artists to trick you into sending unrecoverable money to them, you get nothing in return.
The only legitimate avenue for government grants is through www.grants.gov which is the official US government webs site for grants.
From their FAQ concerning fraud:
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/general-support/grant-fraud.html
Please note the following:
No government grant-making agency will make phone calls; send email or letters to solicit money or personal banking information from a potential grant recipient.
There are no processing fees for federal grants.
Federal grants are not issued for personal use, but are intended for institutions and non-profits to carry out projects with a public purpose.
Know who you're dealing with on the web. Scam artists will often post a website with a name similar to a legitimate site.
If you have provided personal banking information to anyone claiming to be associated with a Federal grant agency, call your bank immediately to prevent unauthorized access to your account.
If you receive a call, mail, email, FAX, or any other form of communication soliciting you for a grant, STOP.
It is a scam.
Report it to the FTC:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0113-government-grant-scams
File a complaint with the FTC. If you think you may have been a victim of a government grant scam, file a complaint with the FTC online https://ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ , or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.