According to the Federal Trade Commission, reports have emerged of business owners receiving phony emails from the "Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance" about government-sponsored loan programs and will further prompt recipients to provide information via email. These calls are not genuine and are attempts to maliciously gather personal information from business owners. As a general rule of thumb, a government agency will not contact you first about a loan. Business owners have to be the one to initiate such processes. Secondly, a government agency will not procure your personal information via email. Furthermore, check any suspicious emails for spelling or grammatical mistakes, false information, or email addresses that do not correspond with the sender’s apparent identity.
If you are ever unsure about the validity of a government loan program, visit FTC.gov for any government alerts and check the SBA.gov website for official communication regarding loan programs. You have enough to worry about right now without the threat of identity theft and fraud. Protect yourself and your business by being skeptical and proactive about safeguarding your information.
