Have you been receiving solicitations to apply for a federal grant from certain Facebook profiles of alleged members of the Masonic family?
Is the name of the new program, The Federal Government Empowerment program?
After receiving three solicitations from three profiles that appeared to be Master Masons, I decided to do some investigating. Being a certified Grant Writer and Consultant and operating a Nonprofit Services company, I had never heard of the program or the grant.
Whenever the Federal Government decides to allocate funds via grants, there will be an RFP or Request for Proposal sent out to various State agencies for listing or they will list them on their own website, grants.gov. Never will the Federal Government do third party solicitations for any of their RFPs.
I found out that the group is working through a website:
http://governmentgrant.com/
The issue arises when one visits the website and find this as a disclaimer:
"Please note that GOVERNMENTGRANT.COM a private website and is not associated with the U.S. government or any agency or department thereof. U.S. government agencies have not reviewed this information. GOVERNMENTGRANT.COM is a private advertising portal for third parties who advertise financial and grant related information. We may receive a commission or other remuneration from these third parties. Government grants may be obtained directly from the United States government and departments thereof, for free, without professional assistance at www.grants.gov, however qualification and other eligibility requirements may be required. This site is for general information purposes only and you should consult with a professional advisor or government official prior to applying for any financial assistance or government grants of any kind."
Is the name of the new program, The Federal Government Empowerment program?
After receiving three solicitations from three profiles that appeared to be Master Masons, I decided to do some investigating. Being a certified Grant Writer and Consultant and operating a Nonprofit Services company, I had never heard of the program or the grant.
Whenever the Federal Government decides to allocate funds via grants, there will be an RFP or Request for Proposal sent out to various State agencies for listing or they will list them on their own website, grants.gov. Never will the Federal Government do third party solicitations for any of their RFPs.
I found out that the group is working through a website:
http://governmentgrant.com/
The issue arises when one visits the website and find this as a disclaimer:
"Please note that GOVERNMENTGRANT.COM a private website and is not associated with the U.S. government or any agency or department thereof. U.S. government agencies have not reviewed this information. GOVERNMENTGRANT.COM is a private advertising portal for third parties who advertise financial and grant related information. We may receive a commission or other remuneration from these third parties. Government grants may be obtained directly from the United States government and departments thereof, for free, without professional assistance at www.grants.gov, however qualification and other eligibility requirements may be required. This site is for general information purposes only and you should consult with a professional advisor or government official prior to applying for any financial assistance or government grants of any kind."
Source: http://governmentgrant.com/
The "agents" doing the solicitations actually state that they are connected to the Community of Federal Domestic Assistance, which is another mistake, because that agency has a website:
https://www.cfda.gov/
https://www.cfda.gov/
The website has a disclaimer regarding "Unsolicited Contact". Their policy states:
"What should I do if I receive unsolicited contact from someone claiming to be a CFDA representative?
"What should I do if I receive unsolicited contact from someone claiming to be a CFDA representative?
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) program does not use social media or contact individuals by phone to solicit, review, or make awards. Additionally, no government staff will call or message you requesting money in order to be eligible for an award. Please report any information and documentation that you have related to this incident to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (www.ic3.gov) and your local law enforcement authorities."
Here is the solicitation used by one profile:
After explaining who I was and what I knew, the profile blocked me from being able to further expose the scheme. The same with this profile:
After this conversation, I was blocked from the profile. Then today this profile attempted to try and present the scheme from a totally different angle:
- Today
Right before I could post the website for the fraud alert, this profile blocked me as well.
Here is what Grants.Gov has to say about the alleged CFDA agents and third-party solicitors:
So, if you are being contacted about this grant, it is a scam and fraudulent. It is my sincere hope that the profiles used were hacked, and that those Brothers were not involved in attempting to lure unsuspecting Masons and Eastern Stars into a fraudulent scheme utilizing the Federal Government as a cover.
Scam Alert from the Federal Service Desk
June 3, 2015 - The Federal Service Desk (FSD) has recently been receiving claims from the public that CFDA agents have contacted them claiming that in order for the recipient to claim federal grant money they must first send the CFDA agent personal information or money.
Although the CFDA agent claims to be with the Community for Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) or a similarly named organization, and not the federally-run Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), they do represent themselves as agents of CFDA.
CFDA does not use social media or direct phone contact to solicit, review, or make awards.
If you hear of anyone being contacted in this way, please advise them to pass all information to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (www.ic3.gov) and their local law enforcement authorities.
Although the CFDA agent claims to be with the Community for Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) or a similarly named organization, and not the federally-run Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), they do represent themselves as agents of CFDA.
CFDA does not use social media or direct phone contact to solicit, review, or make awards.
If you hear of anyone being contacted in this way, please advise them to pass all information to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (www.ic3.gov) and their local law enforcement authorities.
So, if you are being contacted about this grant, it is a scam and fraudulent. It is my sincere hope that the profiles used were hacked, and that those Brothers were not involved in attempting to lure unsuspecting Masons and Eastern Stars into a fraudulent scheme utilizing the Federal Government as a cover.
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