Company stating they are US Grant Department
Complaint 172216 Details

On 10/27/2012 I received a call from what they said was the US Grant Dept. stating that I had been chosen to receive a $7500 grant from the US Government. They told me that there was a $280 security deposit that would be refunded to me once paid through Western Union. Being in a financially desperate situation, I fell for the scam. I went to Western Union and sent $280 to "Frankie" whose phone number is 202-436-9770. I was put on hold until the transfer was verified. I was then told that I would receive a MTCN to receive the $7500 plus the $280. I was then called by a "supervisor" to confirm the transfer of $7780. Selene "supervisor" 202-470-0883, gave me the MTCN # then put me on hold. Selene then called back and said that the State of Texas had a transfer tax on the $7780 of 8% ($622) which I had to pay before the money would be sent to me via Western Union. I did not have the money but borrowed it from a payday loan company in hopes of receiving the money back right away as Selene assured me I would. After going through all of that and sending the additional $622, I called Selene back and gave her the information. She put me on hold and confirmed the transfer then promised me that in 15 minutes I would receive $8402 and gave me an MTCN of 1415561943. I went back into Western Union and was told there was no money there for that MTCN nor for the name of Michael Brown and that they could not transfer any amount higher than $5000. I called Selene back and was given the number of 202-657-6862 which was supposed to be the Federal Reserve Bank. I called and spoke with Robert Smith who at first hung up on me when I told him this was a scam. I called back and spoke with him again. I could hear Selene talking in the background. He put me on hold several times then came back and told me he spoke with his supervisor and was told that any amount over $8000 required an additional $897 transfer fee. He then hung up on me again. I called back at 5:17 pm and there was no answer. I am in desperate need of my $902 back.