EMAIL SCAMS FOR OBAMA GOVERNMENT GRANTS

This is a problem that is not as prevalent as it was 6 months ago but it is still around. The Obama government grants scammers had to be addressed by the FTC and they forbid the use of the Presidents picture or likeness in association with any federal grants advertisements.

Most of these ads have been removed but there are still grant companies that are trying to fool people and they can be doing it through email. I have gotten several of these stimulus grants emails trying to convince me that grant money was waiting for me and all I had to do was click through and sign up.

As previously mentioned, government grants are free and you shouldn't have pay money to apply for them. However, since grants are confusing and the application process can be tedious, many companies are there to "help" you get your grant. You are usually prompted to sign up for a "free" grant kit that costs $1.95 for shipping or some other small amount that seems reasonable. Sometimes there may not be a kit involved and you have to pay a small fee to get into the membership site to look around.

The scam or dishonesty comes in because after you give your credit card, you will be charged additional fees of $49.95, $79.95 or higher after the short 3 day or 7 day trial period is over. This information can never be found in a visible place but is only found after clicking a very small "terms & conditions" link which takes you to another page with a lot of legal mumbo jumbo.

Most people never click the terms and conditions link and have no idea that they are giving their credit card which can be charged a much higher amount several days later. This is exactly what the grant companies are counting on: that 9 out of 10 people will forget to cancel and then they can charge them the bigger charges.

Is this technically a scam? Because the information is there, these goverment grant advertisements are probably legal but they are very shady for sure. You can now find these ads in emails that are regularly sent to millions of people. Out of those millions, you know that hundreds of financially desperate people are being fooled into signing up. So, beware what you click on in your email and be careful when you give your credit card information out. Even though you think you are signing up for just a $1.95 shipping charge, the fine print may tell you that you are authorizing much bigger charges down the line!