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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Rental scams like most of the scams can be avoided by being aware of situations and doing some research. Some of the signs which should raise red flags, whenever in search for a rental property, are as follows:

• A sure way of spotting a rental scam is when the ‘proposed land owner’ claims to be out of the state or country. This is one of the basic tactics used by rental scam artists and real estate fraudsters.

• The ‘proposed land owner’ asks for upfront rent or advance rent. Forwarding money to someone who you have not met or for property you are yet to see is a bad idea. Doing some research on the property and the ‘proposed owner’ will prove to be a valuable time investment.

• Some rental scam artists may even manage to show you a property, but this will not imply any genuineness on part of the ‘proposed land owner’. Being skeptical and finding out more about the property and the ‘owner’ will provide cover against such rental scams.

Looking out for the above signs and being aware may still not guarantee a 100 percent safety against rental scams. If you do find yourself being a victim of a rental scam, reporting the same to legitimate authorities like the FTC is advisable.