Government Grant Sites Are Still Scams — Even for Women
Aug/091
For reasons that are at this point mysterious, the term “government grants for women“ is one of the most popular searches on Google this morning. The afflicter hasn’t ascertained what’s driving this interest, but when you do this search, the number one site that comes up is usagovernmentgrants.org.
At first glance, usagovernmentgrants might not look like a scam. Its home page even includes a warning to “beware of other websites selling outdated information and old CDs for over $30.00.”
But try to apply for the “free” information usagovernmentgrants claims to offer on how to win government grants, and you will find your self routed through a series of forms, asking for more and more personal information, that ultimately leads to a credit card form for a $39.95-a-month membership service plus an ID protection service for $9.95 and a program called “Craigslist Income Secrets” for $11.95.
The site in fact looks like Neverpayitback.com, which we’ve written about previously.
So, we’ll repeat. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that there’s no reason ever to pay for information about government grant programs. Information about all of them is available for free at government web sites including grants.gov.
Applying for government grants also is not a good plan to earn extra money. They’re generally available to fund social programs, academic studies, etc., and winning the application process is competitive.
