Scammed by Fake Government Assistance Website? Here’s How To Get Your Money Back Before It’s Too Late
If you were among the unlucky people who provided personal information to a fake government website operated by On Point Global and received no services in return, you may be due financial compensation. But you’ll have to act quickly.
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In April, the Federal Trade Commission was victorious in its lawsuit against On Point Global, which had been operating hundreds of seemingly legitimate state licensing and public benefit websites asking for personal information, email addresses and payment for services such as driver and fishing license renewals and offers to help consumers with housing assistance, food stamps, Medicaid and unemployment benefit government programs.
Upon receipt of a personal information, the fake site would simply return the victim to a landing page or send them a PDF containing general, publicly accessible information. Even if a payment wasn’t made to one of these sites, personal information was given and then shared.
The court win has made $17 million available as refunds to those harmed or swindled out of money by On Point Global. However, it’s important to note that the deadline for submitting you’re a Proof of Claim Form is September 7, 2022. If you don’t submit by this deadline, you cannot get any money from this lawsuit.
The original lawsuit was filed by the FTC in December 2019 and followed by a court order in February 2020 that granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission to stop the ongoing online scheme.
An April FTC press statement addressing dates and details reads, “If a consumer either: paid money to an On Point Global fake DMV site between January 2017 and December 2019 and didn’t already get their money back, or submitted their personal information to an On Point Global government benefits site in 2019, they are eligible for a payment, and should receive an email by mid-April with instructions from the company handling the claims process.”
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Those affected by the scam should have already received an email or postcard in the mail with instructions on how to handle the claim process. Per the FTC site, you should follow the steps below to see if you are eligible and claim your money.
- Go to onpointclaimform.com and click “File A Claim.” Follow the prompts to get your personalized claim link.
- If you’re eligible, fill out the Proof of Claim form. Confirm that you provided personal information and that you were not satisfied with your experience. You don’t need to submit any documentation.
- Choose how you would like to get your payment: Venmo, PayPal or check.
- Click Submit.
If you need help completing the claim form above, please call 1-866-223-6288.
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