Grant scams

How to keep the easy grants actually easy

The hard part of “finding grants” is usually not the form — it is avoiding people who charge you for a program that was always free. Use this page as a filter before you click.

1. 01

   Real applications are free

   Federal and state grant or benefit applications do not charge a processing fee. Anyone who asks you to pay — gift cards, wire, crypto, “unlock fee” — is running a scam.

2. 02

   Look for .gov

   Official sites end in .gov (StudentAid.gov, Benefits.gov, IRS.gov, USDA.gov, VA.gov). A look-alike .com that copies the logo is not the government.

3. 03

   Nobody texts you a grant you did not apply for

   Agencies do not DM, email, or call to say you “won” money. They will not ask for your SSN over the phone to release funds.

4. 04

   There is no unclaimed personal grant sitting in a database

   USA.gov is explicit: the government does not give free money to pay personal bills just because you ask. Help is program-specific (Pell, LIHEAP, SNAP, and so on).

5. 05

   Small-business grant ads are almost always fake

   The SBA rarely gives cash grants to start a shop. Free counseling and loans are the real offer. “Guaranteed $25,000 grant” ads are a tell.

6. 06

   If you already paid someone

   Report it to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and, if a government program was impersonated, to the HHS or SBA fraud hotline listed on that agency’s site.

Report a scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. GrantLane is not a government website and never collects applications.