Person called 4 times in twenty minutes while I was at work yesterday. I did not recognize the # so kept hitting the ignore button. the fifth time I answered just to put a stop to the calls. It was a man with a middle eastern accent, with very poor English telling me I had been approved for a $6,700 grant for paying my taxes and bills on time. He had my "maiden name", correct street address, and the town I work in (which is different than where I live) and wanted my zip code...I did not give him any information, but told him to go ahead and send the check to the address he had. He did offer to directly deposit in my bank account...RIGHT! He then gave me another # to call for verification. I did not call it, but did call my bank immediately! I think with as many people reporting this as I have seen, someone should stop them! Please make your "younger adults, and older family members" AWARE of what these people are doing! I now know how to block these #s on my phone as well!
This is not actually a response to anyone. I am just placing it here because this post has been reported as a number for the Grant scam:
As per the Federal Grants website at http://www.grants.gov
YOU WILL NOT BE CONTACTED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO OFFER YOU A GRANT.
The government does not contact people to offer them money. If you do qualify for a government grant, the government does not request payment for it.
THERE ARE NO FEES ASSOCIATED WITH APPLYING FOR A GOVERNMENT GRANT.
Providing financial information to prove that you qualify for a government grant is typical, but you should never pay money to apply for a grant. People who run scams often claim to provide help and sometimes claim to be "federal government" officials, don't be fooled by these scams that request money from you.
ALL GOVERNMENT GRANTS INVOLVE AN APPLICATION PROCESS
If you have not submitted an application for a government grant and someone claims you have been awarded one, it's a scam. Grant money is not given over the phone for a fee. In order to qualify for a grant you must apply for the specific opportunity that you are qualified to apply for.
GOVERNMENT GRANTS ARE AWARDED FOR EXPLICIT OPPORTUNITIES
Government Grants are typically awarded to states, cities, educational institutions, nonprofits and other organizations to fund research and other projects.
GOVERNMENT GRANT APPLICATIONS AND INFORMATION IS FREE
Be cautious of offers that ask for your personal information (especially financial) when requesting a fee to access grant information. You can always access free information about government grants and other benefits at Grants.gov and Govbenefits.gov
If you get this call, please report it to:
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/general-support/grant-fraud.html
I am sick and tired of being bothered EVERY night from the idiots with phones that try to scam people. Middle eastern accent woman saying my name was drawn to receive a federal grant and then yelling at me when I said, No one gives money away for free and then she hung up on me. WHO DO WE REPORT TO, TO STOP THIS!!!!
They just tried to call me claiming that they were from the Grant Dept of the US Gov't. They wanted me to call another number: 360-205-3655. This was supposed to take me to a supervisor who would authorize the check (because NO WAY am I giving you my bank info...)