Free money! They send you a fake check and ask you to buy gift cards for them as commission

Con artists have found a new way to get victims to send them money besides Western Union. The common denominator of both methods is that the criminal doesn't have to reveal his real name or address to collect the money.
Victims are told free money is available to them--supposedly for education, debt relief, low income subsidy or any other type of "financial aid."
Victims apply for their grant and are sent a check, typically for $4975, and are told to turn over part of the check for the broker's commission. The victim is instructed to send the broker's commission by purchasing a Green Dot prepaid card that you can buy at a neighborhood retailer and then use anywhere worldwide that MasterCard® Debit Cards or Visa® Debit Cards are accepted, including ATMs.
The victim is promised a second,larger check after the stored value card's serial numbers are emailed to the "broker" who uses the serial numbers to get money from the card.
Eventually, the original check is returned as counterfeit.