Staying Fit
In this story
How it starts • About government grants • How scams work • How real grants work • Red flags • Protecting yourself • Reporting scams • More resources
It might start with a phone call from the “Federal Grants Administration” (which doesn’t exist) informing you that you’re eligible for a lucrative grant the government is providing to help people just like you.
Perhaps you spotted a website or social media post promising “free money from the government,” or someone in your network claims they’ve just received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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“We see it the most on social media. Often they trust it because it appears to come from friends. Or it really is one of their friends passing something along they think is legitimate,” says Steve Weisman, a professor of white-collar crime at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and editor of scamicide.com, which publishes news about scams.
But these offers of government funds are vague, says Weisman. “They purposely don’t give any kind of indication of qualifications for the money. It’s just ‘Hey, the federal government is giving money away and all you need to do is know how to apply for it.’”
What are government grants?
There are 52 federal government agencies awarding grants worth more than a trillion dollars a year, says Mike Chamberlain, CEO of the Grant Professionals Association, which supports members applying for and managing government and foundation grants. They’re awarded to organizations, institutions, universities and states to fund programs benefiting the community, but not to one person to do with as they wish, adds Chamberlain. “[Grants] do serve individuals, but they serve them through … a local government or a nonprofit,” says Chamberlain. The government might give money, for example, to set up broadband internet in rural communities. But, “grants are not coming to you or me to pay for our internet at our house.”
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