Fraud Tip of the Day - November 1

Free Government Grant Scams

These scams rely on your willingness to pay an advance fee of up to $250 for a government grant you will never receive. Put this way, it may seem hard to imagine that anyone would fall for a scam like this but many have. That's because the sales pitches are very good, promising victims anywhere from $2,000 all the way to $100,000. Why would anyone believe the government wants to hand out money like that? Because they want to. Remember that a scammer can promise you anything to make the "sale" because their profit is whatever you are willing to fork over to them. Some of their pitches will sound very plausable, coming from institutions with impressive names like the Federal Government Grant Information Center, Government Grant Association, Department of Revenue, Customer Care Plus, Government Grant USA or the Government Grant Center to name a few.

Reasons given for these grant distributions include your prompt tax payments or the fact that you're a senior citizen. While either of these reasons are award-worthy, they don't make anyone eligible for a government grant.

Government grant scam tips:

• Don't pay for something in advance unless you are dealing with someone you can trust with a proven track record
  
  
• The United States government doesn't call people to offer them grant money over the phone
  
  
• Government grants aren't guaranteed and money isn't distributed without good reason
  
  
• Be wary of "hard sell" tactics. Why would anyone giving away money do this?
  
  
• Receiving a real government grant requires detailed documentation and the submission of a detailed application.
  
  
• When you hear word like "free" and "guaranteed" be extremely skeptical. When was the last time you had to pay for a "free" item?
  
  

While we warn against government grant fraud, we want you to realize that real grants exist. These grants are awarded for specific reasons. To receive this money you must show that the criteria for the grant have been met. Proving this requires submitting lengthy documents. Once you receive a grant administrators will ask for frequent status reports. It's a difficult process and rightly so. These grants are our tax dollars and we should hope that our money isn't being doled out for trivial reasons. If you would like information on real government grants, we suggest that you contact the government directly and avoid paying for books are other services peddled to consumers on TV, in the papers and on the internet.

Find out more about government grant scams on Fraud Guides.