Although tens of thousands of dollars in free grant money may be hard to turn down, Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller, is warning residents of scammers who are using this as a lure to get their hands on your hard-earned money. The con artists are utilizing a variety of different tactics and tricks to gain your trust as well as your money. The Attorney General’s office has been seeing an increase in the use of Facebook as a means for scammers to contact victims. In a recent complaint, a consumer lost hundreds of dollars after her friend sent her a message on a social media site, telling her of a man who could provide a government grant if she just filled out a bit of personal information. After submitting that information, the woman was informed she would receive thousands in grant funds and was instructed to pay a “delivery fee” of $400 in bitcoin. After paying that fee and another, she found out that her friend’s Facebook had been hacked. This is just one example of the phony government grant scams. Other instances have scammers placing grant ads in the classifieds and contacting victims through phone calls and mailings about grant winnings. Miller and the Federal Trade Commission remind Iowa residents that an offer of “money for nothing” will likely just have you ending up with a lighter wallet. They urge everyone to be wary and to not pay out any money for a “free” government grant and to verify any contacts with the agency the individual claims to be representing. Do not trust caller ID as scammers can disguise the information to appear to originate from the claimed agency and never give any personal information. Legitimate businesses and agencies will not ask for you to email, text or Facebook message them your bank account, credit card or Social Security numbers. Report any scam contacts to Facebook or other online sites and be wary of any offer asking you to pay in gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency. If you have been contacted or been a victim of such a scam, complaints can be filed with the Iowa Attorney General’s office or Federal Trade Commission through the contact points included below.
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Complaints to the Iowa Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division:
Email: consumer@ag.iowa.gov
Phone: 515-281-5926
Toll Free: 888-777-4590
Complaints to the Federal Trade Commission:
Website: ftc.gov/complaint
