The "free money" scam has been around almost as long as the human species. It has more variations than a bulldog has wrinkles but you can count on one thing: the government (any government) does not simply give money away to individuals. Anyone who tells you differently has larceny in his heart. If you give him your bank account number, he will soon have your funds in his pocket.
Below is a tiny sample of the hundreds and hundreds of complaints we receive about the many versions of this scam. It does no good to list all of the names used by these bunko artists because a.) they change all the time and b.) every single free-money government-grant offer is a scam. Period.
Norma of Spokane WA (03/29/09) I applied for 2 grant companies, Govtfundedgrants and center4grants. The next month I had about 120.00 of charges on my credit card; for which I did NOT ask for or sign anything. THey DID give me a phone no. and when contacted, they agreed to cancel and refund the charges. One Co. would NOT refund the current chg but said they would cancel the service. SO, I am red-faced and my hopes are dashed! I hope this helps you let people know they are not up front with us.
Wayne of El Centro, CA March 28, 2009
Wayne of El Centro CA (03/28/09) for a one time fee of 49.50 i was to recieve a package of information to recieve a gov. grant for a small bus. i recieve a call from them and was asked for more info , at this time i said i don't want to do this.i have since had thee deductions of 49.50 the last one on 3-1-09 from credit card i called the phone no. and was told to email.
these guys are smart and it as obvious they are accustom to these sort of calls . i can not deal with them and can not afford to lose 148.50 and looks like they will keep deducting every month what can be done?
Freddie of Gonzales, TX March 28, 2009
Freddie of Gonzales TX (03/28/09) On 2-20-09 I orderer an application to recieve the blank form so that I could apply for my own grant.Little that I know the 3.95 cost 74.95 on 3-3-09. I missed the money from my before I got the disk, it caused an overdraft.I did contact my credit-union about reversing the charges and they told me to send them an e-mail because probably have me paying the 74.95 every month. I did not willingly have an overdraft nor did I give them permision to take my money from my account.
When I tried to contact Grant Writing Express (grant help services) aftet 3days a recording came on with a menue to select from,before I could select it wood say Im sorry I do not that capability please hold,and was given a three minute waiting period.I never was able to talk to anyone.I hope and pray they take any more money from my account.Im going back to my credit union to see what other action if there are any.
We recently got a new school,a college and I wanted to go and maybe take a couple of courses,and what was left make some home and car repairs.I was really hoping this was going to be a blessing,but turned out be painful and embarasing,is there any good people out there anymore.
Craig of Washington, DC March 27, 2009
Craig of Washington DC (03/27/09) On March 16, 2009, I received a text message on my cell phone to sign up on a Grant Search? website for the cost of only 2?. I proceeded to get on the Internet, and examined the website. As it turns out, they just had a link to the governments website to apply for grants which is free, and only gives grants to universities and organizations, NOT individuals. The government DOES NOT just hand out money. Boy did I feel stupid. But, I thought, I was only ripped off 2.
Then, on March 21, 2009, I noticed a charge of 70.17 suddenly appear on my account from the same website. This was totally unexpected and not authorized by me in any way. I found out later (see below) that I was snared in a trap that this company had cleverly set up. I called my banks customer service, and was told to wait till the charge went from pending to completed, so I waited. I had the card cancelled and a new one re-issued. Meanwhile, I tried to go to the website to get contact information such as a phone number for them and demand that this unauthorized transaction be canceled, but found no phone numbers, no email addresses, no names, nothing. All I found was a submit form that was not functioning. I attempted to use this submit form several times to ask them to cancel and remove this unauthorized charge, but could not. Clicking submit resulted in nothing happening; the screen just stayed there and did nothing.
On March 26, 2009, when the transaction completed on my banks website, I called the fraud department, and opened up a case number. I was given a phone number to this Professional Grant company. On March 26, 2009 I called this company, and asked that this unauthorized charge be removed and reversed, and that I be given a refund because this charge was not authorized; but the company representative told me there are no refunds given, and I supposedly had agreed to these terms. I explained that I had in no way shape or form agree to this charge of 70.17, but the representative said that there was supposedly some terms of agreement sometime during the transaction that I had failed to read. That is a lie.
I informed them that I had submitted a fraud complaint to my bank, and I repeatedly demanded that they cancel this unauthorized charge and give me a refund, but the representative continued refusing to grant me a refund and eventually hung up on me. My suspicion is that this agreement (if it exists at all) is on a separate web page that one never encounters. I am also sure that if this supposed agreement does exist, they probably word it just tricky enough that you dont know you are agreeing to another charge, but good enough for them to try and claim it was a legitimate transaction. It was not. This transaction was highly deceitful and unethical, and should be illegal. My suspicion is that they use this to trick people into thinking that they are agreeing to a one-time charge of 2.01, but what they are actually agreeing to is this hidden charge of 70.17 some days later; in the hope that some of the victims dont try to or cant stop or recover the charges.
I found I am one of thousands of people who have gotten caught up in this highly unethical and deceitful scam. This company changes names, and is currently based in Comoros, but I am sure it is just a PO BOX that they shift around to avoid detection and prosecution. I hope that this money that was stolen from me in a highly deceitful manner can be recovered, and this highly unethical company be denied these funds. My hope is that they also be reported to the FTC, the Justice Department, and other authorities; but they are probably sneaky enough to operate outside the arm of the FTC and our Justice Department.
James of Tulsa, OK March 25, 2009
James of Tulsa OK (03/25/09) On March 11, 2009 I paid 1.99 for a look at government grants from a sidebar on YAHOO. Apparently (still not sure)in the terms and conditions fine print, there was a charge I did not see. I was charged 69.90 on March 21, for some access feature. I was scammed just like the other people on this site. The company is: Pacific WebWorks, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT 84101. In my mind, (and especially during this reccession), these people have broken the law.
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