Augusta County Sheriff’s Office issues warning on grant scam

The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office has been receiving calls this week about a scam that was first reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2016.

According to the FTC, scammers have been posing as “government officials” to get consumers to send in money. These scammers will impersonate the National Institutes of Health, pretending to offer NIH grants. The grant, however can only be obtained, according to the scammers, through a payment via iTunes, Green Dot cards, or with your bank account information.

If you receive a call declaring you are eligible for a National Institutes of Health grant, do not divulge any of your personal or financial information — hang up.

This scam raises a couple of red flags right off the bat:

• The federal government (inclusive of NIH) will not call you to give you a grant.
• The federal government (inclusive of NIH) will not request that you wire them money or provide your bank account information.