SCAMPATROL

[dtpete]

I received a phone call on 2/14/06 saying that I was to receive a federal grant in the amount of $8000 and all I needed to do was supply my bank account and routing numbers for the deposit to be processed. I'm no idiot--I used to do collections and my husband has been a victim of identity theft--so I asked for more information. I asked for a number to call them back ( I got one at the end of the phone call which led to a personal voice mailbox which was full), I asked for information on how this "grant" would be processed (we will deposit the grant, then later that day the $295 processing fee will be deducted from the account, he said), and I asked when this would happen (I was told it would be on 3/2, which was the date the processing fee was extracted, but no deposit was made). I talked to my husband, and we decided to use an open but largely unused account to "process" this (and create a paper trail). When I saw the debit amount, I immediately contacted my bank and explained the situation. They closed the account and reversed the nsf fee, but they said the police would not follow-up on such a small amount. I have filed a complaint with the state attorney general, but I've heard nothing.

The long-distance company that offered a free 10-day trial for their service sent their letter, which I read and called to cancel. The unlimited long distance program was a $20 start-up and $50 monthly fee. This is the only paperwork I received from the phone call. Has anyone else gotten bitten by this?

[dtpete]

They called back today I can't believe they would try this again, but they had my bank account information from last time, so I know it's the same company. I dialed *69 and gave the information to the FBI and my state attorney general's office. I hope they get caught!

[M_Saeed_Al_Sahhaf]

Just out of curiousity what did the area code check out as? Chances are they were calling from a completely different country so that makes the chances of them being caught slim at best.

Never give personal details to a cold caller. Another tip is not to ask for a number but to find the main switchboard number for yourself. And if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.