It’s almost dinner time, and the phone rings. You check the caller ID – it’s a New Jersey number. You don’t recognize the number, but you pick it up anyway. “Hello,” a female voice says on the other end of the line in halting English. “I am calling for the United States government. There is $12,500 here for you. Do you want it?” You look at the caller ID again, sigh, and hang up the phone.
That’s right, it’s a scam. In fact, these brave new phone thieves have called my house twice in the last week. The second time they called, we decided to press them a little bit for more information, just to try and uncover their game. As soon as we expressed interest in obtaining the money “that had been set aside just because we are good Americans who pay their taxes on time,” the voice on the other end of the line started asking for the routing information for our checking account. That’s when we hung up for the second time.
If you get this call, don’t fall for it. The thieves at the other end of the line are most likely going to use your checking account information to withdraw money from your account, not deposit federal funds.
After the second phone call, I decided to place a call to my local FBI office just to confirm my suspicions that this was in fact fraud. Part of me wanted to believe that the federal government really was trying to track me down and give me money. Hope springs eternal, but my hopes were dashed in the mere thirty seconds it took to get an FBI agent on the line.
“Beseiged.” That’s what the FBI agent said. They are currently “besieged” with calls about this scam. And yes, it is a scam. The federal government is not randomly calling taxpayers and offering them big money simply for being good citizens.
Here are three easy tips about how to avoid being scammed over the phone:
1. Establish a house rule about phone solicitations. In our house, the rule is “NO”. We don’t engage in any sort of financial agreement of any kind with anyone who contacts us by phone. This includes charities.
2. Teach everyone in your family about this rule, and practice hanging up the phone on solicitors. Kids and adults are often hesitant to do this, since it is impolite under normal circumstances. Tell your children that under no circumstances should they ever divulge any personal information over the phone without your knowledge.
3. Alert the FBI to phone calls that seem to be fraudulent. The easiest way to do this is over the internet. The FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center maintain a web site for reporting phone fraud at www.ic3.gov. It’s very easy to use.
Don’t get taken in by these guys. Remember the adage about things that seem too good to be true. They probably are.
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10 responses so far ↓
1 New York City // May 20, 2009 at 12:16 am
Thanks so very much for this information. This same scam was attempted on someone dear to me. Your article gave me the ability to demonstrate to the individual that the $4,851 that the "National Grants Department" promised to send in return for a processing fee of $149 was a lie. Unfortunately, many people are extremely desperate right now and are falling for these types of con games.
2 ARF // Jun 18, 2009 at 9:47 pm
6/18/09
They are at it again form phone number 202 – 280 – 2381
This phone has call blocking, but they do not even care.
And looking for me? This phone is an emergency #, does not have a name.
3 Amanda // Oct 11, 2009 at 2:16 am
I got this call today from phone number 317-299-7864. Shouldn't the feds be going after this person? If we can provide a phone number why can't they catch them?
4 Doug // Nov 18, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I just received a call today 11-18-09 about how the goverment wants to give me 5000. dollars. This is the second call I have got from them. So i humored the guy for a while. The first call I got they wanted a bank acct number so i told the guy if they wanted to give me money just send me a check. The guy and i argued back and forth till i hung up. Today it was the same thing but when i told him i would give no personal info to him he said i could get my free money thru western union but i had to call his supervisor ay 202-657-6402 to get a number so i could go get my money. I called the number he gave me and got no awncer. I know its a scam but i was bored and wanted to mess with them a little bit. How do they think they can pull this scam off about giving us goverment money when they can hardly speek english??
5 Steven // Nov 24, 2009 at 2:49 am
they call every day, all day, mostly we ignore it and just don't answer………..but tonight I just plain got sick of it and answered the phone in order to become the "most ignorant person on the face of the planet"………and I performed quuite well for about 10 minutes while my wife and son were doubled and rolling around on the with laughter. Finally in complete experation they hung up on me, and I doubt they will call me again.
6 DAQ // Dec 9, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I received the call today also and muther ****ed them throughly and told them that I called the our State Arttorney General's office as well as BBB. I'd never offer my acct. info but it's absurd that they are claming they are from the U.S. Dept of Health and Human services. It's a federal crime to claim you are from a government agency. Total pieces of ****.
7 lisa snyder // Mar 5, 2010 at 7:03 pm
i got a call yesterday ,they said tthis guy named steve walls was from the us government and he had 5000.00 to give me all i had to do was give him a card numer to put it on so i gave him pre paid card that has no link to anything then he says his supervisor was going to call me today and put money on card well when they called they wanted me to go to western union and give someone in india 50.00 as a donation first then they would send the money lol they think people are that stupid the numers they gave me are 1-202-657-6268 and 1-408- 916 1704 supposedly the government id # is I374 for steve walls ,i live in alaska be ware of this scam
8 Linda // May 7, 2010 at 4:37 am
I got a call earlier today 5/6/10 saying since I was one of America's best citizens the Fedral (his spelling) Health Department was going to send me $500. All I had to do was give them my address. I was given an address (in NJ), a phone number, person's name and ID number. I asked him more questions than he asked me. He finally gave up and hung up on me.
9 Michael // Aug 9, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Today I got a call saying they were from the U.S. Department Of Health and Human Services, telling me that I was going to receive $4500.00 for paying my taxes, and bills on time! All I have to do is go to western union, and then call them back when I was there. They would then need me to give them $89.00 security fee + $10.00 western union fee, and the manager would stay on the phone with me for 10 mins, until I received the transfer of funds, which was now going to be $4589.00 to reinburst my security fee, but sorry the $10.00 I would not receive back to pay the transfer fee. They already had all my info when they contacted me, so why not just send me a check I asked, He said that this is faster and better because you have to show your I.D. And this way the money was nontaxable, ? When does Uncle Sam let any of us have money without taxing it once or even twice? Why would I have to pay money transfering fees? Also If it was a real deal, by mail you would still need an I.D. to cash the check right? They also said not to inform western union of the situation or they would charge me $500.00-$800.00, for taxes, so when did western union start being the IRS, and even @ that I thought the money was non-taxable? So which is it? They became angry that I had so much to say and ask, but if they were real, then they would understand the concern people would, have better yet, if it were real this is not the manner in which you would be receiving your money for qoute “Paying your Bills, and Taxes on time”! So then I was given a website to look them up, http://www.grantsforngos.com
So I did, and nowhere there does it list any info about there deal, also the very buttom of the page has a disclaimer about the web address having nothing to do with any of the information posted on it, and was not a warranty, and to make your own determenation, of what you saw listed above! So I called back, 1-202-204-0092 and told them that I don’t see how the web page relates to them. The guy acted confused for me to say this, and then became very angry, and told me to look on the net if I wanted to waste time, but call him back when I was @ western union. So I called western union and they said they have had many cases of this with no money sent, they had advised me to contact F.B.I , and not to answer anymore phone calls from them, or to try to figure out who they were, because these people were advanced thieves that could end up involing me into there scam somehow, seeing how they have so much info about me!
So why give free money to people for paying their bills and taxes on time? that would be nice, but don’t you think the people who haven’t paid on time would need the money more? Oh yea here my biggest problem with this situation, I was being given this money for being a good person and paying my bills, and taxes on time, but if they were who they said they were then how come they don’t know that I’m like half of the United States or better, and I’m in fiancial hardship, behind on bills, and taxes!!! But what the hell, look @ the economy! Then look @ these a**holes out here trying to take more money with these scams to take more out of the hurting people that they don’t have!!! I wish they cared about what they do to people, on one hand they might have just taken money from somebody who could afford to lose it, but on the other so many families are in critical situations, I’m glad they think padding their pockets is worth the possibility that They could have just taken some child’s food right from their mouth, or a baby’s diapers or formula! Now the children or babies are paying for this greed, and as they cry, and starve, the parents feel so horrible for their children and can do nothing now, because they were tricked, when they thought they were finally going to have a chance to better things for their family, it’s easy to take advantage of people who want to believe in these scams… I thought that Americans had a enough problems with dealing with bad banks taken our homes away! These scams need to be stopped!!! Here is what I was given for info about these people…… Greg Hutch… 1-202-204-0092… U.S. Department Of Health and Human Services…200 Independence ave S.W. Washington D.C. 20201… http://www.grantsforngos.com...
Some of these places do exsist, but these people say they are from them and they are not…. The real employees don’t call you with SCAMS like this!!! Thanks, I hope your family doesn’t fall victim to this, things are hard enough in my world…
10 Mamaaintnofool // Aug 23, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I just got this call from the phone # 284-677-3592 and was told to call back 202-204-0092. I was told the same will recieve $4500 and will need to pay $89.00. What really spooke me is they new the nearest western union near my house. These people are sick and they will never scam me. I can’t wait until these people are caught.
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