We all need extra money and sometimes we can get help from the government. Although, when you see a sign such as US Grants for Personal Needs a red flag alert should immediately pop up in your mind telling you this is a scam. Your common sense tells you the government does not give away free money to individuals. Before you proceed you must make sure you are dealing with a genuine US grant outfit.

There are educational grants that students can obtain but the money is not given to the students but is sent directly to the university. And to make exceptions to all rules, there may be exceptions to the above cautions but they are few and far between. Don't count on them.

An interesting description from Consumer Affairs.com of the many ways scammers work with government grants to steal money from unsuspecting people is as follows: "It [the scams] has more variations than a bull dog has wrinkles. " They go on to inform that what they are after is your personal information.

To verify that fact just Google them. Go online and type in government grants + free and watch that bulldog's tail wag. (Does a bull dog have a tail?) The Internet is inundated with these scams'. Most promise you information they have collected about how to apply. They maybe quasi-legitimate in that they are careful to offer you something for the money they are hoping to extract from you. If after you go through the complicated procedures and read all about how to get free grant money, you find you are not qualified, is it their fault?

Others are not so careful. They insist that there's money out there for you and proceed to show you how simple it is to get it. All you need to do to see if you qualify is to fill in the blanks of a questionnaire, on the blanks they ask for your address and your telephone number. You can be sure you will be hearing more from them since they assume they have another sucker on their hook.

They will probably ask for more information. Whatever you do, if you have gone along this far, give them nothing. What do you do if you have actual need for that cash that you applied for? Seek help from your State welfare agency if you are in real need and need money for food and need help with your medical bills.

If somehow you have allowed yourself to get involved in a scam and you need help in dealing with them, seek out your State's Attorney General. Usually a letter or a warning from them will stop their annoyances. The best way, however, is to be forewarned:

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