Very similar to most of the posts. I recieved a call on 11/17 from a guy identified himself as "George Simpson". Very heavy accent (I thought it was either Asian or Indian) I could hardly understand him. He said he was from Government Proceesing Center and has a grant for me for $8,000 to $25,000. He wanted to know if I was over 18, paid my taxes, had a checking account and if I had ever filed bankruptcy. He told me that the government had "set aside" money for me. I knew the whole thing was a scam but I really wanted to get information from him so I could report it. When he asked me for my bank account number, I started probing and he finally hung up.
Then today 11/18 I got another call from the exact same guy only today his name was, get this "John Smith". I decided that I was going to try my best to get as much information from him as possible. I stayed on the phone with him for 20 minutes and alot of the conversation was me asking him to repeat himself—I mean this stuff is sooooo ridiculous. He went through his gig again about the grant and that he needed $257 for a "lifetime processing fee" and of course wanted the name of my bank and account number. I just said B of A (which is not true) and of course no account number.
The good thing that happened is that I told him he absolutely needed to give me his phone # so I could verify him —and finally he gave me 800-357-9145. I did call that # and they answer the phone as "Premier Benefit" and supposedly give away movie tickets for only shipping and handling of $3.95. I asked a number of questions, ie, address, president, supervisor but was only told that they were in Orange, California. The woman again had a very heavy accent. A while later I called the number again and guess who answers this time? The same guy that called me yesterday and today— (his voice was very distinctive). I asked him his name and get this he said he was "Dave Smith" (aka, George Simpson, John Smith). So the phone number is definitley connected to the Government Grant Processing Center.
I so far have called the FBI and filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission 877-FTC-HELP or 877-382-4357. I also filed a report with the Kern County Sherrif where I live and with the City of Orange Police Dept. Where they are supposedly located. The FTC a also told me to call the State of Calif Consumer Protection Agency and they referred me to the Attorney General of Calif to file a report.in addition I called the Better Business Bureau and they are aware of the Grant Processing scam. When I gave her the 800 number that "John Smith" had given me she was able to verify that the number really is in Orange California but listed as a business called "Buyer's Union". She read me the report which was all super unfavorable but doing other types of telemarketing stuff. The address for Buyer's Union is 1442 E. Lincoln Ave., Orange, CA 92865
800-357-9145 which is the same number that "John Smith" gave me as "Government Processing Center" and the number he answered as "David Smith" with "Premier Benefit" and the BBB has listed as "Buyer's Union".
Everybody that is being scammed by these guys should file complaints. Let's get these guys!!!
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