Menu
US Financial Resources

US Financial Resources review: Unapproved Debit Charge 25

A
Author of the review
2:33 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

I received a telephone call regarding Government Grants to individuals for any need that would not require any pay back. I opted to a $3.97 charge from my debit account for this program ONLY! The rep wanted my to buy other options I said ONLY $3.97 charge and ABSOLUTELY no other charges or memberships to my account! I was told that I had 10 days to cancel my $3.97 membership. Well the next day I cancelled @ easy help center.com (per a recording [protected]) to find out that they also had signed my up for some other program @ an additional charge! I checked my banking account and they did not allow 10 days; instead they instantly withdrew from my account a total of $53.97! This caused my a financial problem, being unemployed! The Rep. had stated that this telephone conversation was recorded; so stating that I said no additional fees and they did not allow 10 days as promised! I'm calling my bank to report Fraud! Please let everyone know about this SCAM! Whatever can be done thru this service I would truelly appreciate! Sincerely, A. Rettig [protected]

25 comments
S
S
Sakuraya
London, US
Oct 29, 2014 12:13 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I've received many calls saying that they're from the Government of Kentucky, the Treasury, and just the government in general saying that I've been selected to receive grant money for anything (home expenses, college, transportation, business, personal etc.) means with no taxes or fees required from the US Federal Government. They've done this many times a day over the past month or two and simply hanging up on them or telling them I'm not interested isn't enough. I've reported them twice now to the FTC and other departments, but it seems like nothing's being done.

I can understand nothing being done to any real extent at this point considering that the majority (but not all) scams are conducted on US residents from foreign countries. In this case, I've received calls from what sounds to be the same male, using different names almost every time he calls, but this time he's going solidly by "David" for my sake since I promised him a call back for payment, which won't happen.

First of all, grant money is for school. I'm in college; I know this. They can't keep arguing with me since I know I'm right. Secondly, if they claim that they can give me $5, 000-$40, 000 for free, why would I have to pay a processing fee for it? Also, I think I would remember if I applied for any grants, especially since I did that and my FAFSA less than two months ago and I keep a detailed record of that stuff on my personal computer as well as other documents that prove it.

Third, the government won't call you. If you apply for grants, you will receive verification online through the grant site that you used (granted it's legitimate) in some cases, or at least a confirmation code if you did apply online for those rare grants, but 99% of the time, at least, you will apply and receive confirmation through the mail in secure postage. Not only that, but I'm fairly certain (as a previous employee of the government myself) that any employee working in a call center, especially in a government-related one if that were to be the case (such as in some immigration departments) that the employees would have to be fluent in English and be able to speak clearly and slow enough for everyone to understand, not in the jumbled mess that these guys do.

Sure, the fee they charge is cheap, at least according to their sales pitch (or "this is not sales; I am not selling you anything" as one of them has told me today) but according to what I've read, it seems like they charge vast amounts of money over extended periods by using this stuff; it's ridiculous and you shouldn't be the person who actually trusts anyone over the phone who asks for credit card information; the government wouldn't do that anyway. They would have no need to, lest the request come from someone you don't know over the telephone working for some company that you don't recognize or any other red flags that should come up once you actually listen to them.

As for the telephone numbers, they oftentimes show up as "unavailable", but a lot of the time for me the number has shown to be in either Georgia or California. If you're calling from the same company, pretending to be the same person, why or how would you call me from totally different numbers each time or the same one in the rare case, but you call from a different state from time to time with the same name? Surely you can't be traveling that often and that fast for the exact same thing?

With a bit of research into this from talking to this guy and searching around on my own, I found a telephone number from Florida that somehow connects back to this guy. [protected] is the number he gave me when I asked, stating that I could call once I had the money to pay the processing fee. Now, after calling this number located in Florida and receiving no answer but a voice mail recording of what sounds to be a British woman, I hung up. Within about 15 minutes, I got a call from the same California number that had called before, giving me this Florida number. He told me that his supervisor had saw on the Caller ID that I had called them there, which made no sense. So, I told him that my phone called on accident.

Another big thing for me is how quickly they talk and he even told me that (after I mentioned I wasn't interested in the grant) if I didn't act fast then my application would expire, which was a hilarious pot of crock. There's nothing legitimate about this at all. And I agree; the people who post around on websites like this saying that this whole thing is legitimate? They're liars and I guarantee you that they're either the scammers who are calling or people who are working right there beside them. They shouldn't be getting away with it.

What I recommend to people getting these calls, take notes of what the person says to you and the number. Look up where it's coming from. Report it to at least the FTC on the government site (websites that end in anything but .gov like uscis.gov for example aren't legitimate; use only the .gov web pages) so that they can get them turned in. Also, ask for other government bureaus that take consumer complaints on this sort of stuff. They need to stop preying on hard-working citizens. America among other places have enough issues as it is without deadbeat scammers trying to steal what we've all worked so hard for.

J
J
joel matthews
, US
Jun 15, 2012 8:47 am EDT

Canceled my membership the next day, never got to apply for grant.

K
K
kimberlygross
Buffalo, US
Jun 12, 2014 3:15 pm EDT

I just started getting the phone calls after filling out some postings on resume sites. I am currently unemployed and looking for a position with the degree i just earned. the caller ID on my cell phone says "unknown". The guy asked for my name in a heavy accent. I said speaking and he asked how I was...I asked for his name and he simply said "james". and i said ok what is this about... he said I filled out an application for a grant...to which I asked where he was calling from. He stated US FInancial Resources. I told him I never filled out an application for a grant and he just said "well maybe you filled one out a month ago and just dont remember." warning bells went off at this point and even more so when he asked for the exact same dollar amount as the people above... its only $4 he stated...when I started to tell him I wasnt going to give him any money because I am unemployed he asked for a family members card to pay it for me and i told him no, i didnt have a family member who would pay for something like this over the phone and he said "oh...you think this is a scam? let me have you talk to my supervisor" this new person did not introduce himself, had just as heavy an accent as the last guy, and spoke so fast i could barely understand what he was saying except he said "if this was a scam we would be asking for $100 not $3.87..." i told him i would have to wait to talk to a family member and he gave me a number to call back...[protected]...immediately after hanging up i googled the name of the company and found this site and the above complaints and they called me back again not five minutes later while I was on here reading...i had a feeling this was a scam and now I am sure of it...thank you to everyone who took the time to post about there experiences on here so others arent scammed and i am sorry to those who lost more than the $3.87... i would pursue any and all legal options at your disposal because somebody needs to put a stop to these people.

T
T
Tricia Currie
Nunda, US
Jan 27, 2014 9:51 am EST

Oh and they also have a clause in their email about certsin people of their company beingfraudulent toward consumers. Well if you know this do something about it the eoman who contacted me called herself Anna Gomez. Look into it because she is obviously a liar and trying to be a thief.

T
T
Tricia Currie
Nunda, US
Jan 27, 2014 9:46 am EST

YI received a call from this place and the woman claimed her name was Anna Gomez. I amtrying to get my grants for college and I thought that maybe these people were legit.So I agreed to the $3.87 and I thought that would be it. Than I looked on the computer at my moms account, because she let me use her card. And there was a charge for $19.95 which I never agreed to and was not even told about. My mom traced her account to find out who had charged it. And even got there phone #. So, I called and told them that they better return the money or they would have to deal with fraud charges. And thst I would put them on scam mail. They rturned the 19.95 and now I have been trying to cancel my membership for the $3.97 and they wont respond or confirm mt cancellation. I dont wannt nor need their membership. And I am hoping h they do not try to charge my mothets account for the $59.00 some odd dollars for their membership. I have been trying to cancel since the first 24 hrs. And my emails keep getting forwarded back to me. If you people at this financial scam joke read this cancel my subscription, 10 day membership or whatever u call it now! You got your $3.97 out of me. And you are not even worth that. So, do something right and cancel my 10 day trial now.

M
M
motherof2boys
Raleigh, US
Nov 07, 2012 5:38 pm EST

I got the same phone call today... He didn't say his name, he knew all my information. I did fill out a application for some money because I needed the money. I wasn't thinking clearly during the phone call. But he asked for my cc number and I gave it to him but did not have the money for the 3.97 that I had to pay to wait till Tuesday. Now im just worried if I should cancel by card before something happens to it even though I have a 0.00 balance on it. What should I do?

M
M
MonicaAnne
Wakefield, US
Nov 02, 2012 7:11 am EDT

There are multiple versions of this scam around just now. I am researching because I got a call like this the other day, but I am not sure who the caller was. I am researching to do some reporting to the feds for a couple reasons. The new spin is they are actually claiming to be from the Treasury Department. Well, that's easy enough to check on so I called them and of course they confirmed that any version of this storyline is, indeed, a scam.

The scam has been around in this version or the Advance Fee version mostly since 2008, with a few reports going back as far as 2006. The popping up of the "I really did get my grant money" posts seems to have begun in a very small trickle around the end of 2009, with more and more of them appearing starting around summer of 2011.

I'm not sure of this company, but most of the Advance Fee versions of the scam use Voice over Internet Protocol technologies to mask the phone numbers's real origin, which is usually outside the U.S. Some people have the technology to still trace the origins of the call, and so far on sites like this one I have seen the following countries identified as the originating location of the call: India [the most], Nigeria (relatively few), Pakistan, Peru, Viet Nam, and Korea. With some guesses, but no actual tracing, of China.

I'm wrapping up my own data collection efforts and preparing to make reports to the Dept. of Treasury and the FBI. I c&p-ed this website's URL, because there are the most positive reviewers on this one than on any other scam review sites that I've seen. But most scam report websites on these types of scams now have one or two positive reviews on them. There are also a couple of posts like "Do you have proof it's a scam?" or "How do you know the calls will go to international numbers and you will get asked for money?" which also MAY be the scammers themselves, or just people who are still hoping these are real grant opportunities. The English skills in the latter type posts tend to be more like native speakers.

That (the URL for this site) will definitely be going to the FBI.

I did the research because there seemed to me to be a shift in my case where I had been calls on a different type of scam and then it switched to the "Dept. of Treasury" scam, so I wanted to see if there was information new enough that potentially The Department of Treasury didn't have that information. There seems to be big change in this kind of thing in about the last six months or so.

As a few other posters have mentioned, the positive reviewers have very poor English skills. A giveaway that they are almost certainly the scammers themselves.

Perhaps supplying the URL to the FBI will help them trace the identify of some of these so-called grant recipients.

H
H
honeybee30
Fresno, US
Oct 13, 2012 9:05 am EDT

This is sad how people take advantage of you so fast liiking for a little help and these people see you and pounce on you i wish it was a way to teach them a lesson and sue there ### im so mad..

H
H
honeybee30
Fresno, US
Oct 13, 2012 9:03 am EDT

I have recievevd the same calls for the last few days, I have asked them to stop callin but they continue to at all time of the day. I just reciceed two phone calls back to back asking for my c.c number once again. Please contact me if you have any info on this company are how i can make them stop calling.. [protected]

A
A
Aurelia21
Sacramento, US
Oct 04, 2012 2:20 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I'm very cautious when someone calls and asks for credit card information. The caller (with "unknown" on caller ID) stated that he was with US Financial Resource and gave the name of Charles Marvin, however, he had a very heavy accent. I know some people change their names, but some use as a cover. I called the Customer Care number provided [protected]) and it was not in service. I've researched grants and the government does NOT offer grants to individuals for ANY reason and no one can get the money for you. Government grants are provided for certified and functioning non-profits, educational institutions, government agencies and municipalities. Go to www.usgrants.gov for an idea of grant synopsis and a list of qualifications and requirements. There is no free money to be given with just an application fee of $3.75 from someone who claims that they can get it from the government on your behalf. From what I understand there are some companies that will provide instructions, for a price, on how to submit proposals for a grant. Grant writing does take skill. Not sure if the caller was actually an employee of US Financial Resource, but they appear to be connected. The Better Business Bureau rating for US Financial Resource is D- from an A+ to F range, and they are not BBB accredited. If someone on this complaint page is stating that they have received money, I think that it is a member of the USFR. Buyer beware! People are preying on individuals that are going through difficult financial times and sometimes we want to believe it's true.

B
B
Beatrice Ducre
New Orleans, US
Sep 26, 2012 9:04 pm EDT

I received a call today from a guy who said my grant was approved and a fee of $3.87 for processing the grant, i was giving a confirmation number 201154 and was told to go to www.support@usfinance.com put in my ID beatrice.ducre@yahoo, PW 70119 and a address: US Finance these peoples or person need to be stop and our money return to our credit cards.
P.O.Box 333
Pleasant grove, UT 8406 I was call from this number [protected] Anaheim, Ca 12:38pm these peoples are perfection liers. I am sorry i was not smart as the person who took on Johnny King, $3.87 is all i will loose!

P
P
peppersdrei
Park City, US
Sep 14, 2012 8:35 am EDT

I received a call from these people first number had a 210 area code the call got hung up and I immediately received a second phone call from a 607 area code that threw up multiple red flags

T
T
Tim Campbell
, US
Jul 26, 2012 8:10 pm EDT

I was contacted by 'Johnny King' and he is calling me tomorrow for my cc info that I refused to give him today. That bought me time to research the company a little and now after reading all of these complaints and finding that they are not recognized by the BBB, I have plenty of ammo to tell Mr. Johnny King where he can shove his grant money.

W
W
Warning Others
Toledo, US
Jul 25, 2012 12:15 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I received a phone call from "US Financial Services" today. I heard the same sales pitch/story about being selected to receive a US Government Grant. I was really suspicious when I could not understand the person talking to me. I did play along while I tried to get more information about the company. I did give him my address, telephone number(which he called me on) and e-mail address. When he asked for CC information, to bill the $3 and whatever cents too; I told him NO WAY am I going to give that information out to a company that I knew nothing about without researching it first. Then I got the ...it is only $3.89, or what ever it was, and then he tried to intimidate me by saying that ..."FINE I WILL JUST CANCEL ALL YOUR FREE MONEY INFORMATION". He gave me 17827his name as Eric Watson and his employee id # of 17827 and a telephone number of [protected]. After I hung up, I called that number and the lady that answered, some what more fluent in English, just answered "hello". When I asked who I was calling, she hesitated and then said it was some marketing company. I told her that I was trying to reach US Financial Company and suddenly, that was who I reached. That was enough for me so I did an internet search and ended up here. I agree with A Long and believe that they are posting positive information about themselves. I am just trying to let others know about my dealings with them and warn others. I was also told that the company was in Texas and when I asked what city; he couldn't come up with a city name in TX...lol... and changed the subject.

A
A
april55
cuseeta, US
Jul 20, 2012 10:03 am EDT

I just got a call from danny brown and I have heard the same thing about $3.87. They said my money is waiting for me and I get to tell them how much grant I need . By reading your reviews I dont want to get scamed. I am low income and cant afford to take the chance with even $3.87.

M
M
mag_pie1967
Hazel Green, US
Jun 01, 2012 2:14 pm EDT

I get these same calls all the time and when I try to call the number back it only ask me to enter my account number...NOT HAPPENING! This is a scam. Here are the numbers they are calling from and they are located somewhere in Atlanta GA...I located them with the gps locator...[protected] and [protected]

M
M
Melissa Espinosa
Los Lunas, US
May 26, 2012 2:36 am EDT

i applied for the goverment grant money for education after some they
call me and they say they are calling from us financial resources
his name was dexter Then 2 to 4 weeks later i would recieve my
money. i gave them my debit card. then after 10 days i got my grant money.
god bless dexter.

J
J
John T Hoyle II
Senoia, US
May 26, 2012 1:09 am EDT

i applied for the goverment grant money for education after some they call me and they say they are calling from us financial resources
they provide me my username & passward and that person say me you have to write a letter in that letter you have to write how much grant you want, i fillup that application and i submit it and in 2 weeks i got my grant which i hope

A
A
A Long
, US
May 24, 2012 5:29 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been receiving numerous calls from this place at my job. I have 5 witnesses who hear me tell them I did not ask for a grant, I do not want a grant, and I want them to stop calling me. I received at least 5 in one day, got 3 more the next. A week went by, and oh my, guess what, again a call from a non english-speaking male. I said I asked you to remove my number from your base I am on a do not call list, and you are calling me on my job, and I do not want your calls. He hung up, an hour later, I got another call, same place. I started keeping a record of the name they give me and the phone numbers are not always the same but the name of the business is. Yep, it IS our USA money being given to other countries, and they are loaning it back to us! this is a scam, and the next call I do get from them I am hiring an attorney. anyone else interested in suing this place maybe we can do a mass suit! notice too, the ones above who say they got money, barely write and/or speak English well, so I must assume they are placing their own "good?" reviews.

V
V
VINCENT FOSTER
Chicago, US
May 19, 2012 2:48 am EDT

I applied for the grant and i get my education grant $7000 15 BUSINESS DAYS its good

R
R
rbenton27
Savannah, US
May 14, 2012 4:00 am EDT

I received the same phone call and they are a scam all the way none of the employees could answer any question about the reports about them being a scam. When the account manager got on the line he simply hung up after a told him his call center was full of unprofessional individuals that needed to be fired! I called back and asked where they are located the woman said U-ta I said you mean Utah she said thanks for that and hung up.

F
F
family sanchez
Napa, US
Mar 23, 2012 7:15 pm EDT

ya i got a call aswell saying that i had unlimited amout of money and only a $3.87 charge for membership well i gave them my dads credit card andthey ###in whiped out his whole bank account from $7000 to 0$ this is a damm scam people get it through your heads its fake and now my dad and i are screwed

A
A
ALPHIA
Lake City, US
Dec 14, 2011 11:26 pm EST

i completely agree the charge was charged to me for $3.87 and i applied in 10 days i did have any harm on my bank account...i have now signed up for membership with them and getting my regular support on their customer service...please try it it's nice i did got through..

W
W
Webester Thierry
Lake Charles, US
Sep 04, 2011 3:31 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I applied for the grant and didnt hear anything from anyone. My email address is sammytee123@yahoo.com and not phierry@suddlenlink.com. Please give me a call at [protected]. Thank you for letting post my complaint. Really looking forward to hear from you.

E
E
EDWARD WILLIAM
New Orleans, US
Jul 28, 2011 6:05 pm EDT

US FINANCIAL RESOURCES IS NOT A SCAM...I PAYED $3.87 AND I WAS PROVIDED WITH THE LEGAL PAPER WORKS AND I FILLED THOSE PAPERS AND SEND TO ADDRESS GIVEN...! AND I GOT MY GRANT FREE MONEY WITHIN 7 BUSINESS DAYS.]
SO THE PERSON ABOVE HAD NOT COMPLETED WITH THE LEGAL FORMALITIES SO HE DIDNT RECIEVED HIS GRANTS.
THIS IS NOT A SCAM...SO PEOPLE THOSE WHO ARE IN SERIOUS NEED OF MONEY CAN APPLY FOR IT. It"s JUST ONE TIME ACCOUNT SET UP FEE THAT IS TAKEN FROM YOU AS SHIPPING AND HANDLING CHARGES.SO LET ME TELL EVERY CITIZEN OF USA TO GO FOR THE GRANT FREE MONEY. THIS MONEY IS PROVIDED BY US GOVT.

Learn how the rating is calculated

Write a review File a complaint

US Financial Resources contacts

Phone number
Website
www.usfinancialresources.com
Category