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.
They will say you need to get prepaid money cards, like Green Dot and load them with you own money. Once you give the details from the card to the scammer, they clean out the card. You loose your money, you get nothing.
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.
Got a call from this phone number...no message. Upon searching this number on other sites, I read that others are saying it may be a scam wherein the caller offers a grant from the U.S. government.
Just got a call claiming to be the us government offering me an $8000 grant. I'm sure it's a scam. They don't know your name, they have a bad accent and a bad connection! Plus the U.S. government doesn't just call and offer free money! I blocked the number after I gave them a piece of my mind
I've got two calls within a three hour period on my cell phone. This has to be a scam. i can't even understand what they are saying. i call back and they give me their name and when i tell them not to call me anymore they hang up
Two calls, they do not leave message. Didn't bother to call them back after doing search on phone number. Search said Seattle Washington area. Probably Scam!!!
had 2 missed calls from this # . I called it back and a dude who called himself "Abraham" answered.Heavy accent similar to some Ethiopians.Claimed 2 know me and kept asking me 2 sing for him.I asked him to tell me my name since he swore repetedly I knew him.He used my name as it appears on facebook; then tells me one of my FB friends is his auntie....the funny part is the name he used is someone I've known for 40+ yrs.So apparently these folk are also facebook hackers