I just received the exact same call from a man with an India accent named Michael. He gave me a grant ID number and a phone number to call back and speak with his Account manager Alina Dawson. He said I was to get $8,000.00 loyalty citizens free grant money. Old saying if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. The call back phone number was 1-360-406-4658.
Indian man said I had a tax return from the government in the ammount of 9,000 and some change that I was supposed to receive. Weird. I hung up right away! Scam scam scam!!
I received a call, from the India accented man. He told me I was awarded $9200 in a federal grant. My son has been applying for lots of grants for school. I told him that I was very interested, thinking it was related to his applications for school. He talked for about a minuet, describing it. Again sounded like something my son would have applied for. Then the India accented man hung up on me.
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