Beware the Government Grant Scam
It starts off innocently enough. Someone you have known in the past or a business associate you haven’t been in touch with recently sends you a request to be a friend on Facebook or other social media platform. So you accept their request, and in the next day or two they send you a note to ask how you are doing. You briefly tell them, maybe saying you have been very busy, and you ask about them. They say it was nice hearing from you, but instead of telling you anything about themself, they immediately ask if you have heard about a new government grant program, say they know people who have gotten a big grant, and there might still be time to apply. Then, they give you a link to a Facebook page, which initially looks legit, though if you look more closely, you will discover very few followers and likes (under 5), and there is no information on followers, no detailed description about the agency, no mentions, no videos, essentially nothing more beyond the first page, with a few photos of supposedly official events, followed by some comments claim satisfaction with the service.
However, if you look more closely, you can discover odd sentence constructions, grammatical errors, capitalization errors, and misspellings that are signs of a scam. But after I didn’t pay attention to that and provided some basic information for a “grant application,” what immediately got me suspicious is how quickly the so-called agency was able to process a grant after I suggested I would like to apply for a grant of $100,000 for producing a film and writing a book about a topic in which the government agency was interested. Supposedly after a couple of minutes of supposedly checking a database, the “agency” said I qualified. So at that point, I asked the so-called business associate who referred me if this was legit, and she immediately heaped praise on the company and claimed she got $90,000 delivered to her the next day. It was at that point that I realized that she was part of the scam, too, and I cut off further conversation with the impersonator and the scammer representing a government agent. At least I only gave the so-called agent some basic personal information and images of my drivers’ license, which have public information about me available elsewhere
The irony of all this is that I have written four books about scams The Big Con, I Was Scammed, Scam Story, and Scams in the Digital Age. Plus I have two films about scams based on these books, am producing the third film Scams in the Digital Age, and have a Facebook group Scammed, which shows that almost anyone can be drawn in by a scam. These films which feature a wide range of scams and how to avoid them are based on two books published by American Leadership Book: The Big Con turned into “Conned: A True Story” and I Was Scammed turned into “Con Artists Unveiled”. Both films are distributed by Gravitas Ventures. The books are on Amazon and the films can be seen on Apple TV: Conned: A True Story — Apple TV and Con Artists Unveiled — Apple TV.
Just to illustrate how the scammers can draw a targeted victim into thinking something is a real opportunity and not a scam, here’s a more detailed description of my conversation with the “friend” that led to the phony government agent. It shows how the “agent” sought to get me to give her information to determine I qualified for a grant and where to send the money once I sent a small “delivery” fee. I’ll call my “friend” Sue Black and the agent June Evans. I have kept the errors in spelling.
Here’s the initial exchange that started so “innocently,” after Facebook announced after her now: “You’re friends on Facebook. You are now connected on Messenger.”
, Sue: Hello how are you been?
Me: Very busy with books, films, and ghostwriting for clients. How about you?”
Sue: “It’s nice hearing from you, Did you heard or watch the department of health and human service program Assisting the Retired , Workers, Co-workers, Sel Employed Disabled, Deaf and Citizen, student,yet?
At this point, I didn’t pay attention to the few examples of incorrect grammar, tenses, or spacing. After all, people on the social media often write quickly, so we send to ignore such errors. Instead, I simply replied, and the conversation led to her referring me to this phony agent.
Me: No, I didn’t see it or hear about it. I just created this video based on the election that ties into one of my books — it doesn’t take sides, just highlights differences — it’s both a narration and a just published music video https://youtu.be/agFdmB82Hnw. (Then the link posted the thumbnail for the video).
Sue: It’s a program set down by the government to assist the old, Retired, Workers self employed, disable and students. I got a grant of $90,000 cash benefited from the program the money is free, which you don’t have to pay it back, no strings attached life is good,do you know how to apply?
And then she added a comment about recent events in the news, which contributed to my believing this was real, and my continuing to ignore the grammar and punctuation errors.
Sue: And who are you going to vote for president. If you say t-rump, that’s it.”
Me: Thanks for letting me know about the program. I should apply. I’m trying to remain neutral in this race…,So publicly, my position is no position, especially since people are so divided in the business community where I live.
Sue: Let me see if I can still find the link page to the online claiming agent. So you will be able to get in touch with them and claim your winning grant money as well as benefit from them. It so helpful. A lot.
Then Sue gave me a link to the agent’s “website.” At the time, I just gave the page a cursory look. It looked official in that it showed a line of three men and three women dressed in everyday suits with a half-dozen American and government flags in the background. Also, there was a picture, presumably of “Sue Black” in a circle, which was just below the banner along with the words: “Agent Sue Black.” But I didn’t notice the wording below her name that should have been an indication this was a recently created scam: “3 likes, 4 followers.” Had it been a real government site, there would likely be hundreds if not thousands of followers. Moreover, it would have been on a website domain, whereas this was a link to a Facebook profile page, and a real government site would be full of extensive links and descriptions of program. But acting like this profile page was the real thing, Sue helpfully advised me how to apply for the grant.
Sue: Click on the link right now text them that a friend of you told you about the program and you are ready to apply okay.
So I clicked, telling Sue: “Thanks so much for the referral. I just wrote to Agent June Evans about this,” to which Sue replied:
Sue: “Ok . is there any email address I can address you,cause I don’t regularly stay on FB here so you will able to keep me update about it.”
I then gave her my one of my emails, and my correspondence with Agent June Evans began. I have left out some of the details about myself which I told her.
Me: A friend of mine Susan Black told me about the government program for those who are old, self-employed, and disabled. I’m… self-employed as a writer and publisher…Can you let me know how to apply, and possibly my writing can help the government too.
June: My name is June Evans from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) , we’re helping workers, hearing deaf, old, young, students, widowed, Retired and people with disabilities to benefit from us financially to maintain the standards of living. You need to give me your full name and address to check if you’re eligible to apply for the DHHS grant program.
I then proceeded to give her my name, home address, mailing address, and I referred her to my main website. I concluded by telling her:
Me: Please let me know if you need other information from me. My phone is….
June: Please hold on with me let me check our database to see if your name and address is eligible to get the grant money. This might take few mins. Kindly bear with us. Do you understand?
Me. Yes.
Still thinking this was real, I added some information that I thought might contribute to the government finding me eligible.
Me: One of the ways I could use this is doing a documentary on one of the topics your agency is interested in. I’ve produced 18 films, 15 in distribution, one on elders over 80 living healthy active lives, other films on scams and how to avoid becoming a victim. You can see more about these films at www.changemakersproductions.com.
Looking back, one of the ironies of this exchange is I was describing how I had been involved in producing some films on scams and how to avoid becoming a victim, and here a scammer was trying to scam me. Needless to say she quickly reported that I was indeed eligible.
June: Ok beer with us and we want you to stay Active with us…
You’re highly Eligible and Qualify to apply for the DHHS program. Should we proceed?
Me: Yes, please proceed and let me know what to do.
June: To get your DHHS program you have to fill a form to avoid double applying .so that we can locate your destination when bringing your money package are you ready to fill the delivery information?
Me: Yes, I can do that. I have to leave here at 5 p.m., but I think I’ll have enough time to fill this out.
June sent me a form, which I copied over and filled in. It looked like this:
June: Fill this forms and send it to me accordingly one after the other:
Full Name……….
Mother’s name……..
Street Address……….
Email Address……..
State…………
Gender………
Age…………
Monthly Income…..
Telephone………….
Occupation……….
Single or married……
Indicate if you’re retired or not….
As requested, I filled it out, and when it came to the income question, I indicated that it varied widely from month to month, since it depended “on what clients I have.”
Did I do this accurately, June wanted to know, asking me:
June: Are you sure all the information you gave us are real/legit about you. If we found out it’s not real you may get disqualify??
Still thinking was real, and not noticing her occasionally odd use of words and grammatical errors, I felt concerned that maybe my income information might be misleading, so I even offered to send more information, which fortunately she didn’t ask for.
Me: I can send you an income statement for Jan-July of this year or an income tax statement. My monthly income varies greatly each month, so I’m not sure about the best way to describe it, and then I have the documentary films we have produced…. I also thought that I might put any income I get from the grant into writing a book along with producing a film on a subject of interest. You can see more information about me on my website at www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com or on my YouTube channel for Changemakers Publishing.
At this point, June the scammer was probably not interested in any of this. She just wanted more information and was leading up to the scam of getting me to send money for the grant application. The conversation with her continued.
June: You need to send us a picture of yourself and your ID card or Driver license, now because its needed for attachment to your DHHS GRANT. And Whats your maximum amount for the grant application, before we can proceed.
Me: Here’s my driver’s license. For the application, if it’s for writing a book and film, I’d like to suggest $100,000…I’ll be here for another 15 minutes, and then I’m going to a meeting; back about 7 p.m.
About a minute later, June sent me a photo of a plaque saying: Grant application successfully submitted.
I quickly wrote back “Many thanks. Fingers crossed.”
June: Below is your grant details and you have to keep them safe. So kindly write it down, it serve as security questions when the FedEx men get to your destination. Let me know once you’ve finished writing it down.
She then gave me a long official looking code, presumably so it would seem like I would be receiving a real delivery:
Name #. . Gini Graham Scott
Batch # . . FB/8056590402
Ref #. . . . . FB/454661725
Winning# . .FB/USA/CANADA/AUSTRALIA/MIXCO/EUROPE/2024
Me: I just copied it into a Word doc and took a screenshot.
June: Thanks for getting back to us ASAP, We got your information. This is to inform you that your Full Name and Home Address has been forwarded to the FedEx delivery Manager for the delivery of your grant money to you at your doorstep. should we proceed?
Me: Yes, please do proceed. It would be better to use my mailing address, but my home address is okay too. There’s a gate to get approved, though they may already have an approval for FedEx deliveries. Otherwise, I can put a name at the game for them to let the car through.
June: We Congratulate you Once again. Your information has been process in Our Data Base. We have forward your Home Address and Your Name to the FEDEX Company and they are preparing to Deliver your Money to you,
***DELIVERY NOTIFICATION***
MESSAGE FROM THE FEDEX DELIVERY HEAD OFFICE
IMPORTANT Notice We want you to keep these notifications strictly From public notice or from any family member until your claim has been process and your winning money is claimed and delivered to you as we have come across many cases of FedEx Men been attacked by robbers and the claimant was killed by family members after receive the deliver it is clear. Can we proceed.
Me: Yes, certainly. If I am not here, they can leave the information on my doorstep.
June: Our options winners list will be forward to you right away,so you can able to choose your preferrable amount.
Me: I’m leaving now, back around 7.
June: Okay hoping to get back from you.
Then she sent me the Options List, which indicated a “clearance and delivery fee” for each grant amount I was requesting.
June: This is the authorized option list Kindly choose your preferable amount you are willing to apply for so we can proceed to the segment.
Kindly choose your preferable amount so we can proceed with your grant processing
As soon as I saw this Option List and saw a delivery fee was required to get the grant money, that’s when I suddenly realized this was all a scam to get a payment from me, and maybe more personal information that could be used to access my bank or other accounts. At least my driver’s license had no personal information on it — just my phone, license number, and date of birth, which was readily available through multiple sources.
Given my suspicions and still believing Sue Black was really someone I knew and not part of the scam, I wrote to her about my concerns, thinking I might help her avoid being scammed if this wasn’t a legitimate offer.
Me: Supposedly I got the grant. Though I’m wondering if this is legit. The agent asked me to fill out something, she checked if I qualified, and then they are delivering money. It seemed to happen too fast for a regular government grant.
Sue tried to be reassuring, which is when I realized she was one of the scammers.
Sue: There are 100% legit.many people claim from them and they all got there winning grant package deliver to them as well.
Yes you will got your winning money delivered to you at your doorstep without No Stress. I got mine the next day after claiming and I didn’t do much all did was text her and she gave me a form to fill and I was told to pay for tax clearance and delivery fee. That’s all I did to my surprise the next day my money was deliver to my home Address.
That statement was all the confirmation I needed that Sue Black was part of the scam, and was spoofing the real person I knew.
While I was gone, Sue sent me two more messages:
Sue: Are you there? Dear Claimant kindly choose your preferable amount from our winning list so we can proceed.
We need your response with us immediately.
And a few minutes later she added:
Sue: Are you there? Dear Claimant kindly choose your preferable amount from our winning list so Enter
When I got back from my meeting, I finally wrote to June:
Me: Unfortunately, I need to decline your offer, since I don’t have the money to contribute. I have put all my money into films, and I owe about $40,000 on the latest film we are doing. But I will refer your program to my friends in the San Ramon and Danville Police departments where I have been a volunteer. I know they are applying for grants for various programs.
I wrote my message to indicate that I didn’t have any money and I had contacts in the police department to dissuade them from trying to use what information they had about me, since they might not want to get involved with law enforcement.
But June was still trying to persuade me to pursue the claim, and obviously didn’t want to proceed with the police.
June: No we can decline your offer, just choose your preferable amount so we can proceed forward Dear claimant.
Kindly choose your preferable amount so we can proceed with your grant processing
So I can mail the delivery department on how to arrange your necessary documents and also schedule your delivery as well
But I still didn’t respond, so June’s responded:
June: Are you there kindly let us know something madam
But I wasn’t about to respond. I checked with a couple of lawyer friends about whether the scammers might use the information on my driver’s license, but they didn’t think so, since it had already public information about me and my car license. Additionally, I checked with the real June Evans. She was already aware of the scam and had reported it, but apparently nothing had happened, since her imposter was still out there. She wondered why I had thought the scam might be real, and I mentioned an odd coincidence that occurred during lunch that day. I had sat at a table with a woman who spoke about a county X Project which was giving out grant money, though her company didn’t qualify. When June wondered why I would think she would recommend a government grant program, I told her I thought she had gotten a grant and was recommending it to others, even though we hadn’t been in touch for years. Finally, she suggested I report the scam too, and of course, I said, I would.
Ironically, though I hadn’t responded, the “agent” still tried to continue the scam.
June: Good morning Dear claimant hope you have a rested night?
And then, an hour later, in a somewhat incoherent post:
June: Definitely you are not willing to have this grant because if you really do definitely you will have to try all your possible just consider what is coming to you is much more than what you are about to give out.
Ten minutes later:
June: We need your response with us immediately. so we can proceed Dear claimant.
I didn’t respond to and of these emails either. At least her last emails indicated that the scammers still needed more information and involvement from me to complete the scam.
Besides not responding, once I realized this was a scam, I decided to turn my experience into this article to warn others about this scam by masquerading as a real DHHS program. As I discovered, there are many DHHS programs, since HHS is the largest grant-making agency in the US. Most of these grants are provided directly to states, territories, tribes, and educational and community organizations, who then give grants to people and organizations who are eligible to receive funding. Grant funds may also be disbursed directly to a recipient, such as a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business, or an individual. Through these grants, recipients can increase access to health care services and expand health insurance coverage. These grants are also a funding tool for research and efforts to develop innovative treatments, therapies, training activities, and medical technologies that can improve health outcomes. You can find more information on getting grants at https://www.hhs.gov/grants-contracts/index.html
As I also discovered, the scammers have been around scamming people since February 2023, and maybe even earlier. Here’s an alert from the real Department of Health and Human Services:
Fraud Alert: Scammers Steal Money From the Public Through Fake HHS Websites and Social Media Schemes
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is alerting the public to a fraud scheme that uses social media and fake websites to steal money from individuals by offering fake HHS grants.
The scheme involves scammers pretending to offer you grants from HHS and asking for payment or personal information to receive the fake grants. Scammers may use various social media platforms and chat applications to contact you and direct you to fake websites, online chats, chat boxes, or live customer support in order to lure you into providing your personal or financial information. These scammers may pretend to be a “friend” or someone from HHS. Although the precise message may vary, the scammer provides fake HHS employee information or a link to a fake HHS website, tells you that you will receive free Government grant money, and then asks you for money or personal information.
Do not pay scammers. HHS will never ask you to pay money to receive a grant. Scammers may ask you to send gift cards or money to cover processing and/or delivery fees. Do not respond to, pay, or share any financial information with anyone contacting you via social media, email, or otherwise offering free HHS grants or money.
Do not share your personal information. HHS will not message you through social media to begin a grant application. Scammers may offer fake HHS grant money in exchange for personal or financial information, such as your Social Security number, date of birth, address, bank account number, login information, or copies of your personal identification.
Do not be fooled by spoof websites. HHS websites always use a .gov domain. HHS does not use .org, .com, or .us domains.
Report grant scams. Never respond to any schemes that try to get you to pay money or give your personal information for an HHS grant. If you receive such a call or message, submit a hotline complaint or call 1–800-HHS-TIPS (1–800–447–8477; TTY 1–800–377–4950).
So there you have it — how the grant scammers can seem very believable, so you think you have a legitimate referral from someone you know to a scammer who lures you thinking there is a grant opportunity offered through a representative from a government agency. But the reality is that no one will reach out to you on the social media with an offer for grant money. And if you pay attention to what the scammer is writing, you’ll see all kinds of mistakes in grammar, sentence construction, punctuation, capitalization, and more. It’s easy to ignore such errors on the social media, because people write quickly and can easily make mistakes. But as soon as someone asks for personal information or money for you to take advantage of an opportunity to get money or something of value, that’s a tip-off this is a scam. Unfortunately, thinking I was given the reference by a friend, I did give away some personal information in sharing my driver’s license. But at least I didn’t share much else, and I soon realized there was a scam before I gave up any damaging personal information or money.
So be careful yourself. And if anyone approaches you on the social media offering a chance to get some grant money quickly, know it’s a scam and end the conversation. Don’t let the scammers get any information or money from you.
For more information on my books and films about scams, you can find them on Amazon. The books are: The Big Con, I Was Scammed, and Scam Story. The films are Conned: A True Story and Scam Story.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 200 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing (http://www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com). She writes books, proposals, and film scripts for clients, and has written and produced 18 feature films and documentaries, including Conned: A True Story and Con Artists Unveiled¸ distributed by Gravitas Ventures. (http://www.changemakersproductionsfilms.com). Her latest books include Ghost Story and How to Find and Work with a Good Ghostwriter published by Waterside Productions; The Big Con, I Was Scammed, and Love and Sex in Prison, published by American Leadership Press; and Ask the AI Wizard, published by J. Michael Publishing.