Was called today by a Nancy Smith who had a middle east accent and said she was of course from the US Treasury Grant Dept and said I had been selected for a free grant of $7,000 Dollars that I didn't need to pay back. I asked what was the catch and what did I have to pay out and she responded "nothing". She then gave me a Grant Approval number of RM004 and the name of her supervisor Sierra Smith who also had a middle eastern accent and a phone number of 202-684-6772. She told me to hang up and call her supervisor and re-verify my name, bank account info (That I stupidly gave them). I called the supervisor and she reverified my info again. All of a sudden there was a donation that I needed to do of 200.00 to one of 3 middle east and China charities by going with cash only to my nearest Western Union Office send the money to them and call them while I was at the western union office so the could credit my bank account with the $7,000 dollars.
I feel so stupid. I did call my bank and notified them immediately. They suggested that I go to my local branch and change my account number. More work for me. I am just grateful that this was the weekend and I can go first thing Monday. For all of you out there please take this as a warning, that I was told that the goverment will usually never approve a grant to you by phone, usuallly always by mail. So if you get a phone call like this, tell them to their face that you know it's a scam and hang up. You will be saving yourself a headache.
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