I know I'm not the only one who has been recently bombarded by emails and ads promising free money from the government to pay off personal debt. You know what I'm talking about- flash graphics screaming at you from Facebook sidebars and Google Ads with headlines like these:
"How I Got $12,000 in 7 Days, with a Dead Simple Method"
"Get your piece of the pie- $12,000 in government funds in less than a week!"
Like anyone else, I was intrigued. Sure I knew it was a scam, but I still like to investigate things like this. Interestingly enough, every link/ad took me to the same site: Jeffrey's Grant Blog.
Now, Jeff has a great story. He's an All-American guy- father, husband, firefighter. Down on his luck and about to lose his house, he called a friend for advice. His friend told him to look into government grants, and bam! Couple weeks later, his check arrived. Now he's paid his debt, fixed his car, and takes his pretty wife out to steakhouses in New York. All he had to do was pay $1.99 in shipping for the grant kit to get started.
Or so the story goes...
I went ahead and clicked through to the next stage of Jeffrey's site. Here I was given ten minutes to fill out a form with my birth date, annual salary, etc. I didn't do it. But here's where I figured out the scam.
If you fill out the information, and proceed to pay the $1.99 shipping fee, you will receive a CD with information and "tips" as to how to apply for a grant. Whether or not you actually receive a CD I couldn't tell you. But once you submit your credit card info, you will be signed up for a seven day "free trial" of the "Grant Information Access Club." If you don't cancel your membership within seven days you will be automatically charged about $59 per month (to the card you supplied). The fine print also states that cancellation takes at least two business days, so you really have about four days to figure out what you've done and try to get out of it.
"The resource center is billed at $58.61 monthly. This can be cancelled at anytime simply by calling the customer service number provided in the confirmation email and stating your desire to cancel said bonus material. However, in order to not be charged any future reoccurring cost, please give ample time (2 business days) to be cancelled out of any reoccurring billing system before the next scheduled charge to your account (this does not apply during any trial period). Not cancelling trial programs constitutes authorization, by you, the buyer, for any charges (as outlined) for the associated bonus service until your request to cancel has been received by our customer service staff. By not cancelling the bonus program during the trial period or prior to two days before a scheduled billing cycle, you agree that any reoccurring charges billed to you will be non-refundable." -Terms and Conditions, Grant Access Club
Now, don't get me wrong. The government DOES give out grants, but they are not awarded based on individual financial need. They are generally awarded to non-profit organizations, conservation societies, and things of that nature.
From Wikipedia: "A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States. Grants are not federal assistance or loans to individuals, benefits or entitlements."
Grants.gov, the official US government grant website, does provide accurate information on the funds available to the public. You can search a database full of opportunities and even apply online. Just please, please, don't fall for the internet scams. You know the saying- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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