Apr 19, 2010
A woman who calls herself Carolyn (broken english, sounds like from India) called my boyfriend up claiming to work for the New York State Dept. of Government Grants, the number she called from was 516-204-4810, told him he was approved for a $30,000 government grant. She asked him for information such as his DOB, and the last four digits of his SS#. Then she asked for his bank account information, emphasis put on providing accurate routing and account numbers for his account because she would be depositing his $30,000 grant check into his bank account sometime tomorrow. While he was on the phone with her I checked out the phone number and name of company on the internet. I asked her myself what the name of the business was that she worked for and she said she worked for the federal government in government grants. I then asked for the address of this New York State Dept. Government Grants building, she gave me Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower, Albany, NY 12237, however, the phone number in which she called from was a Long Island area code and she was calling from Albany NY, hmm?? I called the number that came up in Google because it of course was different and was told by a woman at directory assistance in NY that there was no such company name in New York State. She gave me a phone number to contact the Attorney General's Office in NY and I filed a complaint with the FTC. Moral of this story, be careful of these people who call claiming to be someone official and start asking you for your personal information, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM. Besides, a grant doesn't get approved and funded overnight, especially for that much money.