Background: The Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR) asked federal agencies to share the fraud alert message below from OMB with grant applicants and recipients.
“Over the past few months, the Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR) has received inquiries and complaints from persons targeted by a fraudulent grants scheme. Let me state clearly and unequivocally, the COFAR is not a grant making organization. The COFAR will never request banking information, social security numbers, or other personally identifiable information to facilitate the issuance of a ‘grant.'”
According to reports, the scam artist claims to represent the COFAR when contacting the individual. Victims are told they have been selected to receive a government grant ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. In order to receive the grant money, the representative explains a “processing fee” ranging between $150 and $700 must be paid and asks individuals for bank account information.
If you have received reports from anyone who may have been a victim of a government grant scam, please ask them to file a complaint with the FTC online, or call toll-free,1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.