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COVID 19 and Fraud

The reality of today is that our lives will never go back to what they were before COVID. At the same time, what we may forget to consider is that COVID already affects everything in our daily lives including and not limited to cybersecurity. In fact, the Small Business Administration (SBA) posted the following:

“The Office of Inspector General recognizes that we are facing unprecedented times and is alerting the public about potential fraud schemes related to economic stimulus programs offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration in response to the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19).  The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the largest financial assistance bill to date, includes provisions to help small businesses. Fraudsters have already begun targeting small business owners during these economically difficult times.  Be on the lookout for grant fraud, loan fraud, and phishing.

 Scams and Fraud Schemes

 Grants

  • SBA does not initiate contact on either 7a or Disaster loans or grants.  If you are proactively contacted by someone claiming to be from the SBA, suspect fraud.

Loans

  • If you are contacted by someone promising to get the approval of an SBA loan, but requires any payment upfront or offers a high-interest bridge loan in the interim, suspect fraud.
  • SBA limits the fees a broker can charge a borrower to 3% for loans $50,000 or less and 2% for loans $50,000 to $1,000,000 with an additional ¼% on amounts over $1,000,000.  Any attempt to charge more than these fees is inappropriate.
  • If you have a question about getting an SBA disaster loan, call 800-659-2955 or send an email to [email protected].
  • If you have questions about other SBA lending products, call SBA’s Answer Desk at 800-827-5722 or send an email to [email protected].

Phishing

  • If you are in the process of applying for an SBA loan and receive email correspondence asking for PII, ensure that the referenced application number is consistent with the actual application number.
  • Look out for phishing attacks/scams utilizing the SBA logo.  These may be attempts to obtain your personally identifiable information (PII), to obtain personal banking access, or to install ransomware/malware on your computer.
  • Any email communication from SBA will come from accounts ending with gov.
  • The presence of an SBA logo on a webpage does not guaranty the information is accurate or endorsed by SBA.  Please cross-reference any information you receive with information available at sba.gov.

Report Fraud

Report any suspected fraud to OIG’s Hotline at 800-767-0385 or online at, https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/oversight-advocacy/office-inspector-general/office-inspector-general-hotline.’

The bottom line, there will be a new normal and new opportunities to succeed so stay tuned, be safe, and remember to be flexible as you consider new options in your lives.