All five of the sites I saw had toll-free phone numbers that, according to a reverse toll-free number lookup utility, are all operated by the same Voice-over-IP service. When I dialed the number listed for Economic Crisis Grant last Friday, a woman who identified herself only as Jen picked up and agreed to answer questions for this story.

Jen confirmed that the multiple company names I had found at the same address were all part of the same organization.

"We help people who seek financial assistance and provide customers with information on federal grants and programs," Jen said when I asked what the organization did.

I next asked if an average person could actually get this federal grant money within days, even without a business- or education-related reason. Jen said yes.

When I asked what the $79.95 monthly membership fee bought, Jen responded: "It's just a monthly fee, your membership." I asked again what one actually received for that fee, and a long silence followed. Jen asked me twice to repeat my question, and then finally said: "It's a membership fee, monthly, when you are involved in our program."