Are Government Grants Real? How to Spot a Grant Scam

Government grants are real. Governments in Canada and the US fund businesses every year. But grant scams are real too, and they work because the genuine programs are hard to find and hard to understand. A few simple checks will keep you safe.

Warning signs

• Someone contacts you out of the blue — by phone, text or social media — to say you've been approved for a grant you never applied for.
• You're asked to pay a fee, buy gift cards or send a wire transfer to release the money.
• The offer promises guaranteed approval. No real program can guarantee that, because most grants are competitive.
• The website doesn't end in .gov (US) or .gc.ca / a provincial .ca address (Canada), but claims to be a government agency.
• You're pressured to act immediately.

How to confirm a program is genuine

• Find the program on the official government site yourself — Grants.gov or SBA.gov in the US, canada.ca or your provincial site in Canada — rather than following a link someone sent you.
• Check that it lists eligibility rules, an application process and a named funding agency.
• Look for a deadline or a statement that intake is continuous.
• Check whether the program is still open. Many pages for ended programs stay online.

What legitimate help looks like

Legitimate services help you find programs and prepare applications, and they're clear that the funder makes the decision. They don't guarantee outcomes and they don't take a cut by pretending to release government money. A fee for the work of researching and drafting is normal. A fee for the grant itself is not.