My boyfriend received a phone call this morning (half asleep from taking care of our baby all night) and was told by "Stephen Smith" (had a thick accent. I think it was Indian) he got a $10,000 grant ONLY if he got a "GreenDotMoneyPak" with $200 to send to them to register for the Federal Reserve Bank and that "Stephen" would only be in the office for a few more hours, so it had to be done right away. With my boyfriend being half asleep, he told him his card information and shortly after called me once he realized his mistake in giving his Visa information so I could fix it. I called my bank right away, then went on to call "Stephen" to figure out what all he had told my boyfriend. His scam was "I do everything over the phone for you. You go to an A.T.M. to check and see your money is in there so I'll need access to your accounts. You can't tell any 3rd party about this or they will tax you on your $10,000 so you have to wait till after it's deposited to share any information. I'm from the U.S. Federal Grant Department so if any of this goes wrong on your end I get fired so you KNOW you can trust me. So when will you have the $200 for me?" I was amazed by half the stuff this man had told me. Seriously, "Stephen"?? When I told him I was calling for my boyfriend he INSTANTLY knew who I was talking about. How would he know without me giving him any names or anything when he's been "making these calls all morning" to let the "lucky people" know? Please don't fall for this, people. I had to spend half my work day making calls before they could access my account and steal my money because of a simple mistake made.
My boyfriend received a phone call this morning (half asleep from taking care of our baby all night) and was told by "Stephen Smith" (had a thick accent. I think it was Indian) he got a $10,000 grant ONLY if he got a "GreenDotMoneyPak" with $200 to send to them to register for the Federal Reserve Bank and that "Stephen" would only be in the office for a few more hours, so it had to be done right away. With my boyfriend being half asleep, he told him his card information and shortly after called me once he realized his mistake in giving his Visa information so I could fix it. I called my bank right away, then went on to call "Stephen" to figure out what all he had told my boyfriend. His scam was "I do everything over the phone for you. You go to an A.T.M. to check and see your money is in there so I'll need access to your accounts. You can't tell any 3rd party about this or they will tax you on your $10,000 so you have to wait till after it's deposited to share any information. I'm from the U.S. Federal Grant Department so if any of this goes wrong on your end I get fired so you KNOW you can trust me. So when will you have the $200 for me?" I was amazed by half the stuff this man had told me. Seriously, "Stephen"?? When I told him I was calling for my boyfriend he INSTANTLY knew who I was talking about. How would he know without me giving him any names or anything when he's been "making these calls all morning" to let the "lucky people" know? Please don't fall for this, people. I had to spend half my work day making calls before they could access my account and steal my money because of a simple mistake made.
I have won a 9,812 $ grant that never has to be paid back.
I'm laughing at the lady at this point. Sounded like she was from India.
I told her allrighttttt.
I am to call the minister of funds at 202-738-1370 and give them my personal money confirmation #.
They will get my information and wire my funds.
I left it at that and looked on the web.
# she called from(800)111-3344
If the money was sent by an untraceable means, such as Green Dot or Western Union, there is no way to get it back.
Since you do not have the true location of the scammer, there is no way to find / punish them.
You REALLY need to educate your husband, friends, neighbors and acquaintances in this scam and the other, prevalent scams, so they can avoid them!
More information on those scams (and others) may be found at
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/facts_rev.html