214-261-5364

Got a phone call from someone calling themself David Sternfeld offering an $80,000 grant but says i will need to pay $480 for a grant writer. It is  scam! contact FTC (Federal Trade Commision) imediately and report them. 1-877-382-4357

I was also scammed by someone at this number named Steven McDaniels.  I did report it.  I am so angry because, they are listed as an A+ rating with the better business bureau!

It's really easy to get an A+ rating from the BBB, especially if you pay $$$ to join the BBB. Don't be fooled by A+ ratings.
THIS IS A SCAM. This is a version of the advance-fee-for-something scam where something is a grant, loan, scammed-money refund, lottery winnings, interest rate reduction, tax reduction, gift card, refund, doggie, cruise, vacation, free gas, etc., and the advance-fee is for tax, shipping, registration, insurance, secure handling, processing, etc. They may send you a fake check, may want your credit/debit card or bank account number, or tell you to wire cash via Western Union, Moneygram, etc. They can put recurrent difficult-to-cancel monthly charges or a 1-time charge on your card or bank account, and sell account info to other criminals and you'll have to replace accounts altogether. Wired-cash is irretrievable - once it's picked up at the other end, it's untraceable and gone. If they want you to call them up for instructions, they may tell you not to discuss the wire with Western Union desk clerks but the real reason is WU clerks are familiar with these scams and will warn you not to wire the money. Report to US Postal Service Inspectors https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

If you get a call from Steve McDaniels of the Herman Group located at 21 SanJacinto St, Suite 2600,
Dallas Texas, you are being SCAMMED!!!  He will promise you a $80,000 government grant and he is very articulate and he will tell you to submit a $480.00 CASHIER'S CHECK to cover the cost of the grant being written. The grant writer and the person who you write the cashier check for $480.00 is
ANABELA FRANCESCHI, 16506 Fm 529 Suite 115 - 305, Houston, TX 77905.  Please DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THESE THIEVES.  SCAM SCAM SCAM. They have hacked government computers evidently to get information.  After contacting the govt. in Washington about grants, lo and behold a few days later Steve McDaniels calls you and has all your info. that you provided to the govt. and tells you that the govt. passed the info. on to him and wants to write you a grant and even if you don't get the grant, you will be given the $480.00 back.  Yeah right!  Thank you Steve - I was 5 months pregnant and lost a baby a few weeks ago and now I find I've been scrammed by you. Hope you are enjoying the money you stole from me and my family. You are A DISGUSTING AND VILE BLOOD SUCKING PIG!  ENJOY YOUR LIFE, YOU ANIMAL.

Got a call from a man by the name of Steven McDaniel's @ 281-301-7994 regarding offering me a grant and asking me to pay $380.00 to cover grant writer. Very suspicious so I got online and found many people complaining of same thing. Just called FTC and filed a complaint with them as well.

i too was scammed, someone named mark stroll or mike stoll called representing the government and referred me to stephen mcdaniels with a case # then when i called him he verified my info and put me to work gathering proposal info to turn in to rachell francis who would be preparing the info for the government, sent her a cashiers check for 480.00 and was told i would be reimbursed in the grant while preparing my plan i called a few times for information and always recieved a call back then i overnighted it to the address given within a week it came back and when i started calling to find out why, no answer the 480.00 loss sucks but the damage done is far worse that grant coulda changed alot of peoples lives and brought a surge to our local economy, many local retailers would have benifited from this plan and now i must face them all and explain, my name is ruined !

the first call was from the # 202-618-7004 that man said his name was mike stoll then later mark stroll, he said he woorked for the government and told me that they contract through The Herman Group.
the scond # was 214-261-5364 that was Stephen Mcdaniels the other name was Rachell Francis and that is who the check for 480.00 was made out too.

Well i was almost got scammed last week.. A lady called me 2 weeks ago from D.C claiming to be working on behalf of the government her name was Felecia Bradley her number was 202-609-7089. She told me that I was eligible for a government grant that i had applied for about 3 months ago on one of the government websites.. I really did apply for quite a few grants so I thought it could have been possible. Anyway she told me I would need a 9 page grant proposal put together for the grant. She then asked me if I had a grant writer and i told her no. So she she told me to call Steven McDaniels (281-404-9912) from First financial USA Inc. in Houston Texas. Address 16801 Greenspoint Park. Dr. Houston, TX. and this company would help me put my grant together with one of there grant writers name Rachell Francis. Steven McDaniels or what ever this guys real name is, assured me that I could get the grant because his company works with the grant department in DC. he told me by late November I would be able to receive the $50,000 grant and for me to pay $480.00 to one of the grant writers their named Rachell Francis so she can get started preparing the grant proposal. Feeling a little funny I still went to the bank last Thursday 7/28/11 and got my cashiers check in the name of Rachell Francis just like he asked. It was to late to send off that day so i planned on sending it off the next day which was Friday. Anyhow still feeling slightly unsure I decided to search the internet for Steven McDaniels and Rachell Francis in Houston Texas, which led me to this blog site.. When i read everyone's blogs that thursday evening.. I canceled my cashiers check the next day and got my money back from the bank. Thank you everyone for your posts.  For more information on Steven McDaniels, the email account he used to send me his fake contract is dhfirstfinancialusa@gmail.com

Many scammers use free, throwaway email addresses from gmail, Yahoo, hotmail, etc. An established grant-writing business would *never* use such email addresses but would have their own website and email service so this is one way to tell the difference between a scammer and a legit business.

How where you scammed exactly?

Update on Falicia Bradley phone number (202)609-7098 and Steven Mc Daniels is saying he is with Senior Strategies Inc. The address is 21561 Lake Front Dr., Lago Vista, Tx, 7864.  Its outside of Austin, TX. His phone number is (512)672-8714 x 623 and the one he calls back on is (512)236-5104... And yes they are still running the same scam $480 for the grant writer to get the $80000.

When did you speak to Steven today? it's Sunday.... If so your saying he (Steven) say's he is with Senior Strategies inc??!!

I'm reading everyone's post... But Thing's on my end don't add up on my end.... what was it that you sent overnight? & what do you mean it came back?!

Could you explain your story please... I'm curious to know.

Falicia (Felicia) Bradley phone number (202) 609-7098 just called 10:AM PST with this scam pitch.  
"You won a grant but you need a grant writer to write a grant proposal, you just need to pay a grant writer $480.00."  When asking, "What grant?  Felicia gives me general information about my business but tells me nothing about the grant that I have won or will get.  Then when I ask; "Don't I need to submit a grant proposal _BEFORE_ I win?"  Felicia could not answer my questions very well, that is when I started asking about the business, "What grant office do you work for?"  "What is the name, address, main business number and website URL for this company?"  I hung up when Felicia could not give me solid answers.  I am submitting a complaint to FCC and FTC at website below.

THIS IS A SCAM. This is a version of the advance-fee-for-something scam where something is a grant, loan, scammed-money refund, lottery winnings, interest rate reduction, tax reduction, gift card, refund, doggie, cruise, vacation, free gas, etc., and the advance-fee is for tax, shipping, registration, insurance, secure handling, processing, etc. They may send you a fake check, may want your credit/debit card or bank account number, or tell you to wire cash via Western Union, Moneygram, etc. They can put recurrent difficult-to-cancel monthly charges or a 1-time charge on your card or bank account, and sell account info to other criminals and you'll have to replace accounts altogether. Wired-cash is irretrievable - once it's picked up at the other end, it's untraceable and gone. If they want you to call them up for instructions, they may tell you not to discuss the wire with Western Union desk clerks but the real reason is WU clerks are familiar with these scams and will warn you not to wire the money. Report to US Postal Service Inspectors https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

How can we take this steven guy down?

You guys saved me $480. Thanks to all for your posts.  This is how we put them out of business.

Always remember, If they ask for money, it's a scam.

Got a call from a mark stroll informing me that I am excepted for a grant
So I looked him up on line and found his name among some others like
a Steven and a Francis don't get caught by these pieces of !!!!! they did
not get far enough to ask for any money told me to call back on Monday
the # is 202-570-7290

Mark Stroll and Steven McDaniels almost got me too.  Mark said he worked for the govt, and that I had qualified for a grant of up to $10K.  Recommends Kenyon Financial as a company that can write the grant proposal.  Steven McDaniels from Kenyon Financial calls and now suddenly I've qualified for a grant of up to $50K.  The next day I gave him a detailed accounting of how I would spend the money on my business.  He asked all the right questions and acted very professional.  

But when I started asking for more information about his company (like a website), he ended the call abruptly.

The red flags for me were:
1. sounded too good to be true
2.they asked for money upfront
3. the amount of money went from $10K to $50K overnight, and he encouraged me to spend it all
4. they made it seem time-critical (I'd loose my grant if I didn't send the check today)
5. they didn't give me a web address.  Instead told me to check online with the BBB, which only said that they had not received any complaints about this company.  (YET)

Yep just 2 days ago I got a call saying that I was approved for a 50,000 federal grant. Then Felicia Bradley referred me to Steven Mc Daniels at Florida State Financial Planners for a grant writer. I was excited first and then as time went on my business partner came around and started asking questions I couldnt answer, so we decided to do a little research online. It is all a scam. The website is grantability.com ... Im sure the names and numbers will change soon as we have learned they do. It is terrible what these people are doing and I most certainly plan on reporting them. I already reported them to the BBB. I plan on going much further. The reason they ask for $480 is because if they get caught its a misdemeanor. Any illegal transaction over $500 is considered a felony. Im glad they did not get any of our money but the disappointment of the whole ordeal is scaring .... I hope someday these people are behind bars.