When I penned my real-life it-just-happened piece on the government grant telemarketing call I received back in December, I didn’t think it would generate much response. Boy, was I wrong. Over the past four months, a whole bunch of folks have written to tell me their government grant call experiences …

The most recent notes shine a light squarely on the outbreak of government grant calls.

Gnomie J wrote last week:

Same thing just happened to me. (I didn’t buy it.) You might be interested to know that when I was approached about it, they claimed they needed a “Mandatory Charity Donation” for the victims of the Tsunami, of only $299 with a 95 cent handling fee. But, of course, I’d be getting a FREE $5000, and maybe as much as $12,500! Anyways, I Googled them while he was babbling, and got a negative from the Better Business Bureau and your page. So, you’re helpful, thanks!

Hey, we’re here for the public good! :) A week earlier, Gnomie T wrote:

I just got a call the other night from a man at the Government Grant Association. He told me the same thing. I, like you, realize these guys calling are trying to earn a living, so I play along and try to listen to their offer and politely refuse their product/service. Anyway, this guy would not take no for an answer. He kept telling me that I was interested or I would not even listen to his pitch. So I hung up on him as I was laughing. Not 5 minutes pass and he calls again. I tell him I am not interested and hang up again! He then calls again and my wife answers the phone and proceeds to ask for me–she asks who is calling as she usually does, and he says “who is this?” The nerve of this guy to say that to a possible customer or whatever he thought I was. So she hangs up on him–if he does not identify himself, he does not talk. Then he calls again and I tell him if he calls again, I will call the police and report him–he had no response, so I hung up on him again.

I don’t like the sound of a $199.95 federal government package that I cannot read until I commit to the 199.95–that I don’t have to pay for “today or tomorrow, but at a time when I have the money”. I think it sounds like a scam. What do you think? I wouldn’t buy into it if I were you. Where do you think that “company” gets their money to operate? My $199.95 that’s where!

Anyway, thanks for the message opportunity.

So what do I think? Quite honestly, there is government grant money out there. But there are tons of scams out there, as well. Needless to say, I remain overly dubious of the telemarketers.

If you’re just beginning to look into the topic of government grants, you’ll want to start by checking out the Federal government’s grants.gov … some of the other sites may be worth looking into, too … but if you’re looking for a grant from the federal government, it can’t hurt to start at the source … if nothing else, it’s an eye-opener as to how and where the government doles out those grant dollars.