News Details (Posted: August 31, 2004):

Government Grant Fraud

Contact Information:

Jonah Berglund

Full Description:

On Friday (8/27/04), I got a call from a man claiming to be awarding goverment grants. He sounded like he was Asian, and all sounded realistic until he told me I'd have to pay $249.00 for a Government Grant Info Packet in order to get the grant. They confirmed personal information about me with me - address, phone number, and EVEN my bank and checking account number! They also gave me a "confirmation number" and a toll-free number to call back if I had any questions. I also noted as I talked with several different people from this "grant offer," they ALL sounded Asian and didn't speak the greatest English. After checking in with the local police department and my bank, I discovered that this whole thing was a big fraud! The people are most likely calling from somewhere overseas (Asia?), and they intent on charging my checking account without sending any "governement grant" or even the info pack. Today, I had to close my bank account and claim fraud protection. It was a royal pain. The world is not such a safe place. This has happened before to several residents here in Alexandria... so I figured I would do what I could to help prevent further occurrancs.