Yet another article about the battle to protect your credit rating and get better credit scores. This time it involves the recent stimulus law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the multitude of scams surrounding it on the internet and through emails.

As Eileen Harrington, acting director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said, “People who make a living defrauding consumers are quite opportunistic.”  As soon as the FTC squashes one website, several others pop up to replace it.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
EMAILS
Emails asking consumers for bank account information to deposit their share of the stimulus directly into their bank account.  The con artist then uses the information to empty the bank accounts, leaving the consumer with no money.

Another email asks for information to “verify” qualifications for a stimulus payment.  That “verification” information is then used for identity theft.

Some emails don’t ask directly for any information from the consumer but offer links to find out how to qualify for stimulus funds.  When the links are opened they download malicious software or spyware making the consumer vulnerable to identity theft.

WEBSITES
Beware of these website banners or titles:
Get Your Share
How to Get Your Free Stimulus Grant Before It’s Too Late!
President Obama Grants.com (or some variation)
Official Stimulus Grants.com  (or some variation)
Avoid Government-Grant Information Scams (this site’s “top recommendations” cleverly leads to the scam sites)

Most of the con artist websites claim that you can get information about hundreds of government grants that are worth tens of thousands of dollars, for only some small shipping and handling fees.  These usually range from $1 to $3 and are required to be paid by credit card. 

However, buried in the “terms and conditions” section, are the monthly fees which start being charged after the few days of the “free trial”.   These charges can include a one-time fee of $99 plus $50 a month for access to the “online resource center”.  Typical fees range from $35 to more than $100 per month.  And the consumer gets nothing.

THE FACTS
Most individual consumers will not qualify for government grants.  There are no grants to pay off your credit cards.

This is the site with information on the real government grants: www.grants.gov

To follow the stimulus funds spending go to www.recovery.gov

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Save yourself the expense, the time and frustration by doing some research before signing up for any quick-money fix packages.

If you do find that you have been the victim of identity theft, contact us for Personal Credit Consulting.  Our years of experience have provided successful credit report recovery after identity theft and we are here to help you, too.