Just received the call, knew it was a scam immediately but played with them anyway. I said I'd call that number 206-201-2174 but didn't call, so they called me back to remind me to call. I said I tried but it wouldn't go through, so have the other person call ME instead and we can talk. He said it couldn't be done. Huh? Not fishy at all, LOL. I'm waiting now to be reminded again, but they probably figured I knew it was bogus.
To report the fraud, go here:
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/general-support/grant-fraud.html
Their number is listed , along with an email address, at the top of the page.
Also here:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0113-government-grant-scams
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Its ILLEGAL to ask for money to receive it:
Prize Offers: You Don’t Have to Pay to Play!
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel17.shtm
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-telemarketing-scams
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http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0119-jam ... ng-us-consumers
After looking into it more i most certainly decided this is the worst set of scammers. To go back to the first number i mentioned, 543-210-9876, didnt realize it until i actually wrote it down that its just a sequential count down from 5. I smell ammonia. Then i looked at other reports of that number, basically people saying the same scam.
Then i looked into this 206 number. Found multiple reports saying they run various scams regarding the need for an initial payment before processing funds.
Also i looked at the American Recovery Act of 2009, which they were using as the guise for their scheme. This act was the tax stimulus package we recieved back just after obama took office, and since it has already been distributed, there is no reason we should still be seeing it come up in cold calls.
So after i looked up my info and verified through the federal trade commision website that governemtn grants do NOT require a processing fee, i called this number back and surely got the same foreign guy who answered my first call, and confronted him with the information i found after recieving the company info he works for which he insisted that its the us grants and treasury, which doesnt exist, then he got rude and defensive when i told him i knew this was a scam. He said "well ill be calling you in a week and you will see that this number is still active and that this is real" i just laughed and hung up. Then i filed a feport at www.ftc.gov