Federal Government Grants Department
Complaint 333023 Details

I first received a call from someone who'd said I had been randomly selected for a $7000 grant. Now I thought this was a scam from the beginning, but I had been applying for grants for a while and this guy had my address and info, so I started to take it seriously. Plus with holidays around the corner, I was feeling a little overexcited at the thought of being able to afford gifts and such this year. This guy gives me a Confirmation ID and a number, so I call this number and the guy on the phone starts telling me the same things the other guy told me. He started giving me the info and everything and then said I had to pay $150 to start my registration, which would be paid back when I got the money. So I did. Then I went to walmart to get a moneygram sheet cause that's what he said to do. He gave me the sender info and a reference number and then said I had to pay $499 to activate this number, which would again be refunded. He even told me to write $7649 on my moneygram sheet to get it all back. I told him I didnt have another $500, so he said he would take care of $200 and I just needed to pay $300 and once I got my money, it would be taken off for what he paid.

I should have realized it was a scam by then but I was too focused on being able to give my family a good christmas this year. So I paid $300. Then they proceeded to tell me after waiting for it to go through that it wouldn't work and I had to pay the remaining $199. Forked over more cash. After that, they were saying it was all activated and I had to pay $199 for the payment protection fee. I was done by then. I argued with the guy on the phone for 20 minutes and he hung up on me twice. I got what I assumed was a new guy the next time I called and he told me that they could cancel it all and get me my refund, but it would take 7 days. He said he wouldn't let me down. But I have to call him back on Monday cause he couldn't do it tonight. I got his name and everything, but I am pretty sure I'm never going to see that money again.

Please don't be stupid like me and fall for this. I have nothing left because of it. Look into things before you go throwing your money away.