The latest spam hitting inboxes promises recipients they can get free money from the government in the form of grants. The messages invite them to register at GrantsForYouNow.com, a site that is full of testimonals from happy customers, all who claim to have gotten checks for thousands from the government:

          It was pretty much a cakewalk. I got my grant money within 30 days and paid off all my debt, and between both of these sites I get like $5,000 a month from the government. The thing is, the government is all about giving away grant money to brothers and sisters, and most of them know nothing about it. All I did was sign up and pay for the shiping (like $5 bucks total for both of em) and they got back to me within a few days with their decision (this was the initial $12,000 check). It’s like scholarships or something. Affirmative action, baby!

The site in the spam message offers a free “software kit” that is supposed to help you apply for the grants. When you sign up you’re (surprise!) asked for your credit card info and told a processing fee of $1.99 will be applied. Seems okay? Well if you don’t read the fine print (conveniently hidden behind the Terms and Conditions link they know no one will check out) you’ll find yourself being charged $94.89 a MONTH for a membership, and additional $18.77 for a “Google third party program”. Want a refund? They make it pretty difficult. You have to wait three months and then print out and mail a form.

Starting to see the real picture? There is no such thing as free money and if you fall for this spam the only one that’ll be making a profit are the scammers behind this spam. Once again the saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it is!” applies.