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Economic Injury Disaster Grant Scam

Economic Injury Disaster Grant Scam

Stay alert!

Small businesses are being targeted with a phishing scam designed to collect banking information and payment in return for “SBDC Economic Injury Disaster Grant.” This is NOT a legitimate email or offering. 

The emails may come from: “[email protected]” and claim a business has been approved for a grant but a “tax clearance fee” needs to be provided. 

As a reminder, the UGA SBDC and America’s SBDC does not provide SBA grants or loans. You will never be asked by the SBDC to provide your banking information or provide payment for a grant or loan.

To protect yourself online, here are helpful tips provided by the FTC:

DO:

  • Get information about SBA loans directly from the SBA’s website: sba.gov

  • Reach out to your local UGA SBDC office for guidance if you receive a suspicious email. georgiasbdc.org/locations 

 

DON’T:

  • Don’t pay in advance for information. All information on grant and loan programs from the SBA is accessible at no-cost at sba.gov.

  • Don’t pay in advance for a government grant or loan. You don’t have to pay up front to get an SBA loan.

  • Don’t give your information to someone who calls, emails or texts you out of the blue. The SBA won’t call unsolicited to find out information about you or your business, or to ask you to apply for a loan. The SBA is not going to send you emails or text messages asking for sensitive information. If you get an email or text like this, delete it. It’s a scam.  

  • Don’t apply for a loan without verifying the lender. Only SBA-authorized lenders can provide loans, and other loans may be available through SBA directly. To find an SBA-authorized lender in your area, use this SBA tool.

  • Don’t click on links or reply to emails or text messages from someone you don’t know. If you click on the links, you could download malware to your computer or device or be connected to a scammer or hacker.

Security tips provided by the Federal Trade Commission.