The Grant Scam

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The Hook

The email usually opens with flattery and a big number attached to it. In this case, someone claiming to be a “Senior Grant Coordinator” at something called the International Art Institute (or the name of a real foundation) reaches out directly, says she’s reviewed your work, and calls you an ideal candidate for a grant. The amounts mentioned range from $10,000 to $250,000, which is exactly the kind of figure that makes an artist stop scrolling.

The email leans hard on legitimacy. It name-drops a founding year, a mission statement about arts education and cultural exchange, and a tone that reads like it came out of an actual nonprofit’s boilerplate. That’s the point. Scammers running this play often lift language straight from real foundations’ websites, because it’s freely available and it sounds convincing to anyone who isn’t already suspicious.

Notice too that this isn’t a mass blast asking you to apply through an open call. It’s framed as personal outreach, someone singling you out because your work caught their eye.

The Build-Up

Once you’re interested, the scammer needs you invested enough to keep going. This is where the story gets fleshed out with detail meant to feel like proof.

The message name-drops real, verifiable people and institutions. In the example here, that means citing an actual Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, a real chamber trio, a real guitarist, and real venues like Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. None of these people or organizations have any connection to the scam. Their names are just being borrowed to build credibility. It’s a classic technique: attach your fake project to real, well-known names so a quick skim doesn’t raise red flags, and even a shallow web search seems to “check out.”

Then comes the ask for materials. You’re told to send an artist statement, a full project proposal, a portfolio of your best work, your CV, and an itemized budget. This all sounds like a normal grant application, which is exactly the point. It keeps you doing paperwork and feeling like you’re moving toward a real opportunity, all while building a psychological sense of investment. The more time and effort you put in, the harder it becomes to walk away later, even after something starts to feel off.

Somewhere in this stage, often buried in a follow-up email once you’re already committed, the real terms show up. You’re told that once the grant is awarded and the funds are transferred to you, you’ll send back 15 to 40 percent as a thank-you for the coordinator’s help getting you approved.

The Steal

That percentage is the entire scam. No legitimate grant, foundation, or fellowship ever asks the recipient to kick back a cut of the award to the person who “helped” them get it. That’s not how grants work anywhere, ever. Real grant money comes with reporting requirements and paperwork, not private commissions paid to an individual coordinator.

The actual theft usually happens one of two ways. Either you’re asked to pay upfront “processing” or “release” fees before the funds can be sent (fees that of course go straight to the scammer, and the grant money never existed), or you’re told a check or wire transfer is coming, and you’re asked to send your portion of the “fee” before it clears. By the time the transfer bounces or the check turns out to be fake, your money is already gone.

The safest rule with any unsolicited grant offer: real institutions don’t ask for a cut of the award, don’t rush you, and don’t reach out cold with your name already picked out. If you can’t find independent, verifiable information about the foundation outside of what they sent you, treat the whole thing as fake and move on.