- Report: #1448568
Complaint Review: Freddy Johnson 1st number ext 1013 - New York New York
Reported By:
Patricia -
Marysville, Ohio, United States
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Freddy Johnson 1st number ext 1013
New York, New York, United States
Phone:
3153672105 / 3154000771
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Freddy Johnson 1st number ext 1013 Steven Hall 2nd number ext 1005 Scammed me out of $1100 before i figured it out. New York New York
Initially i received a call from an unknown number saying i was qualified for a gov grant. They knew all kinds of things about me. They gave me a grant code and a different number to call with my grant code. I called that 1st number and got Freddy Johnson. He virtually repeated everything the 1st person did, saying i qualified for a $9000 grant from the federal government. However i had to first purchase $250 worth of Google play gift cards in order to complete my registration and get a reference number to receive a money gram from walmart. It did sound a little fishy but Freddy was staying on the line with me until i received the grant plus the 250 refunded so it still sounded legit especially since I was to receive the money within 10 minutes. I purchased the cards and activated them through Freddy who then gave me the 2nd phone number to complete the "final verification" and receive my reference number. I then reached Sreven who told me I had to pay a tax fee of $850 again with Google play cards and as soon as this was completed, I would have my money, $10,000 within 10 min. He was going to stay on the line with me until I received my money.
At this point I questioned it being a fraud and Steven became offended saying it is guaranteed, recorded, the only safe way to receive the grant. I really questioned the validity of it but still purchased the gift cards and activated them through Steven. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Once I did that, low and behold, the state of Ohio required me to pay taxes up front for $1200 before I would receive my $10100. This was because the amount was greater than $5000. He even "tried" to get the federal reserve bank to split my payments but of course they couldn't do that. So as soon as I bought $1200 worth of google play gift cards, I would get all of my money. Well, by now I knew I just got screwed out of $1100. Steven wanted to help me out by transferring my call to the Ohio tax office to see what they could do to help me. What they could do is have me pay $600 and they would release $5000 then I could pay the additional $600 and they'd release the rest. I said I wasn't sending 1 more penny to them and wanted to cancel everything...which Steven had already given as an option.
I was transferred back to Steven who became extremely defensive, saying I was disrespecting him by calling him a fraud as he has worked for the federal government for 9 years but if I wanted to cancel, I had to pay $300 up front to cancel...with Google play cards...and I would receive my refund in 15 days. Needless to say, by now I was very angry.. at myself for being defrauded out of $1100. I'm usually not that stupid but it sounded so absolutely legitimate at first. I wish I would have looked up the address and phone numbers before purchasing those 1st cards. I would have found the fraud before losing any of my money. I didn't have it to lose as I am on disability. Live and learn and hopefully save others from getting screwed. The US government wouldn't work this way. These people were all foreigners but answered the phone with Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Us Tax Department and gave 200 independence Avenue Washington DC as the address. Sounded so official but it is a scam.
