Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Empowering Communities Through Business

How to Avoid COVID-19 Scams

How to avoid COVID-19 scams! From our colleague Cindy Brooks with the Washington Small Business Development Center:

It seems everyone is scrambling to apply for relief. Please, take a minute to think about what you are being asked for and use good judgment before sending your private information.

Scammers are using the SBA name to con small businesses and individuals during the COVID-19 crisis through phone calls, emails, text messages and letters.

Please let your clients know:

  • If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from the SBA, suspect fraud.
  • Emails from SBA or other legitimate government agencies will always end in .gov.
  • There is no cost to apply for a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and SBA will never ask you to provide a credit card.
  • Do not release any private information (social security number, date of birth, etc.) or banking information in response to an unsolicited caller, letter, email, or text.
  • 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 your application number.
  • An SBA logo on an email or webpage does not guarantee the information is accurate or from the SBA.
  • Check for spelling and grammatical errors in an email and be wary of clicking on any links or attachments.
  • Visit the Small Business Cybersecurity site to learn more about small Business Cybersecurity tips, common threats, training, and best practices. https://www.sba.gov/…/manage-y…/small-business-cybersecurity
  • Visit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Infrastructure site for small business resources. https://w.gov/pub…/stopthinkconnect-small-business-resources
  • Trust your instincts! If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true.

In addition, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Group (CISA) and the Regional Infrastructure Security Group (RISG) are also sharing information to warn the public of potential scams. More information is at https://www.us-cert.gov/…/defending-against-covid-19-cyber-…

Please take care and stay safe.

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The Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship is a member of the Washington SBDC Network. The Washington SBDC is an accredited member of America’s SBDC. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, institutions of higher education, economic development organizations and other public and private funding partners.

Washington SBDC services are extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.