Federal Grant Scams-Wiping out Bank Accounts!
Federal Grant scam is a scam wherein unsuspecting citizens receive a phone call informing them that they are amongst the very few who have been selected for a government grant. Scammers and fraudsters operating such federal grant scams or government grant scams assure the ‘prospective receivers’ that the grant is free and does not need to be paid back. At this point many of us would suspect something fishy and would back out, but there are some who do fall for such federal grant scams. Those who have fallen prey to such federal grant scams inform that their bank account information was acquired so as to facilitate the transfer of the ‘government grant’ into their bank accounts. The next thing was pretty much obvious with the bank accounts being wiped out clean by these federal grant scammers.
Saving ourselves from a federal grant scam or any scam for that matter is just a matter of being aware of what the possible outcome of our actions could be. Some tips to keep in mind to avoid such scams are:
- Government or any department of the government does not ‘give-away’ grants. If the caller claims to be representing an agency, be skeptical and know this fact for sure that it may be just another scammer trying to scam you.
- Sharing of personal information should be carefully controlled and under no circumstances should bank information be divulged over the phone or internet, even if the requesting party claims to be a representative of the bank. Contacting your bank personally if you do receive any such call or email will clear out the ambiguity.
- Government agencies never ask for a ‘fee’ or ‘charge’ in order to process a grant that has been allocated to you. Any individual representing a government organization and asking for a ‘fee’ so that the grant may be forwarded to you should be considered as a fake.
A federal grant requiring for an upfront charge does not remain ‘free’. Keeping our bank information safe is our individual responsibility and being aware is something that will provide an extra protection against such scams and fraud.
