I started receiving calls on my cell phone in September. They left voice mails stating that I was selected to receive a federal grant in the amount of $7000.00 out of 2000 US Citizens placed in to a lottery. I ignored the repeated calls for over a month. Recently I found myself going through a divorce and in desperate need of funds. The calls still kept coming and finally I asked what criteria was used to determine who was eligible to be placed in the lottery and was told that it determined by credit score which in my mind was all indication that they had access to my personal information. A call was received from a person who introduced herself as Rose, she left a phone number for me to return the call of 979-315-4774 and to reference grant approval number LR1692 and ask for Mike Turner, the calls come from 702-412-2123. I'm not one to usually question a specific accent because of our nations cultural diversity but each and every call was always made by a person (s) with an accent from India. I called and I spoke to the person named Mike Turner and I questioned him as to if this was a scam and reminded him that usually things that are too good to be true usually are. He responded in a very defensive tone and advised me that he was only doing his job on behalf of the US Government Federal Grants Department. I advised him that I was filing a complaint with the Federal Consumer Agency which I did immediately. I received a letter a week or two later which did not have any conclusive advise as to if this was a scam. Well, I then received a call from Daniel Cooper who assured me that this was on the up and up. He told me there was a $99.00 insurance fee that needed to be paid to insure delivery via Federal Express to my home and it had to be sent via Western Union as soon as possible so that I could receive the money before Christmas. Due to my recent marital situation, I started to cry and thank him. He said he was glad he could help me and I needed to call him when I arrived at Western Union to get instruction on how to wire the funds. I went to my local grocery store and wired the $99.00 fee which included a $10.00 processing via Western Union. I really could not afford this transaction, just really had my eye on the dangling carrot and the financial help that I am still in desperate need of. I called him at 206-866-5739 and he instructed me to make the transfer out to "Deepak Deepak" Delhi India which I did and to call him back with the transaction number when completed using the same phone number which I did. After a hour or two he called me back and told me that he was calling me from his own phone and was concerned for me and that he was a ministers son and said that all bad situations have a out and that this was a blessing from God and that really good people receive special blessings from God. He told me that he would talk with his superiors to see if there was anything more that they could be done to help me financially but in the interim I would receive a check for $7000.00 which would be sent via Federal Express in two days and that I would have to be home to show my personaI identification to receive the package. On Monday, 12/14/09, I received a call from "Daniel Cooper" while at work and he went on about being able to secure me $150,000.00 which made the fee now at $4000.00. I told him that was very nice and that I appreciated what he was doing for me. Said he would call me back with more detail. He called me today and said that I had to wire $4000.00 dollars and I told him that he was aware of my situation and that I did not have that kind of money and now I was really questioning the validity of this organization. He again assured me he was on the up and up and that if I could borrow the money from a friend or family member I would be able to pay them back in just a few days. I told him I was very much satisfied with just receiving the $7000.00 and to just send it. He said he did not think that was a possibility now and that he would call me back in a couple days. I assured him that my situation would not change in that time frame and to please send the $7000.00. He stated he would speak to his superiors and see if that could be possible but for me to work on getting the $4000.00 and I again reiterated to him that it was not possible. He discontinued the call by saying I would hear back from him in a couple of days. I have cleared my mind of this situation and have written it down as a life learning experience and that the $7000.00 will never be received. My next report is going to the BBB. Obviously, the Federal Consumer Protection Agency does not care to report on scams such as this, so why are we as tax payers funding this organization???
0 comments