My story is just like the others you've read here regarding US Grants Interactive.
I received a call from an "Unknown" listing on my cell phone. A woman with a thick accent, claiming to be "Jennifer Gates, employee number 2014", wanted to speak with XXXXX XXXXX. I told her that she had the wrong number.
She replied by telling me that I had been selected by the govenment for some free money that I would never have to pay back in my lifetime. This sounded good to me, since I have no intentions of repaying any financial obligations after my demise.
Next, I was informed that I could use the money for anything that I wanted. She "just" needed to know how much money I wanted, and what I wanted to use it for. Growing increasingly skeptical, I answered that I wanted $100,000 to start a commune. She asked me what that was. I said "a commune, a community of like minded individuals living with each other to achieve a common purpose." She said, "oh, so you want to start a family. That's okay."
I thought, "WOW, the united states government, while already up to its nostrils in debt, is willing to shell out $100,000 of tax payers money for me to 'start a family'?" There must be some catch.
I was right.
She would send me some information in the mail after I answered a few standard questions to verify that I was eligible to receive my free money. Everything went smoothly until...
"And may I have your bank's name and account number?" asked the suspiciously generous voice, eating up my anytime minutes. I said that I was on a cell phone and didn't feel comfortable giving out that information.
She pushed again, claiming that no charges would be made without my approval. "NO, I'm not comfortable giving that out." Then, she said she would give me her bank's name and account number, if that made me feel better. HA!
"I can't send you the grants proposal package or your confirmation number without verifying that you have a valid bank account, " said the voice. I countered by asking that she send me some literature, and offered to send the necessary information in a physical copy if I wanted to pursue her offer for free money.
No she couldn't.
"How about I go to the website to look over your company's information, and then I'll call you back if I'm interested?"
No. She was in a processing center where they could only call out. She said I had to do it over the phone or not at all, as there were many many more people in my area that had also been selected for this money. (Remember she called my phone thinking I was someone else) "So, for you to get your free money, I just need your account number."
The more I said no, the more desperately she tried. I don't know what US Grants Interactive does to their employees if they don't make their quotas, but judging by this "Jennifer" girl's tone of voice, it must be something she doesn't want to go through again. I'm not accusing them of torturing their telemarketers, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.
After hearing about 15 variations of the same lame sales pitch, I got bored with her games, and gave up hoping that I might actually get $100,000 with no strings attached. I told her that while I appreciated her trying to help me get some "free money", I had an important phone call on the other line. As I was hanging up, I could hear her going into her pitch once again. Poor girl. No dice.
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