You get an official-looking e-mail and you are informed that you or your company – have been approved for a government grant (details come with the message – it could be for any reason, either economical or because of your business).

The e-mail contains governmental logos and might look very realistic to you. A grant means money that recipients don’t have to return, so you might be in a hurry to offer the details they ask for.

The scammers will pull their fraud by either asking you to pay for some fees (“usual in these cases”) that might vary from $300 to $2,000 – depending on how much the grant is, or simply by getting all your bank details from you.

How to avoid: if you never applied for a grant, you can’t get one. Don’t accept any grant offer that you didn’t apply for.