The SBA has alerted the public to malicious phishing and scams related to COVID-19 economic stimulus programs such as Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Loans offered by the U.S.  Small Business Administration in response to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA ).

Things you need to know include:

• Email communications from the SBA will come from accounts ending with sba.gov.
• If you are contacted by someone promising to get approval of an SBA loan but requires a payment upfront suspect fraud.
• The presence of an SBA logo on a webpage does not guarantee the information is accurate or endorsed by SBA. Cross-reference any information you receive with information available at www.sba.gov.
• The SBA does not use a third-party platform to actively seek personally identifiable information (PII).
• As always, protect your identity by never providing PII such as full name, date of birth, social security number, address, bank account numbers, application and loan numbers, etc. to an unknown or untrusted source.

You can learn more about scams and fraud schemes on the SBA’s website at sba.gov/COVIDfraudalert.

If you suspect an email is associated with a fraud scam targeting the SBA, you can report it to the Office of Inspector General’s Hotline at 800-767-0385 or online at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/oversight-advocacy/office-inspector-general/office-inspector-general-hotline