Pixabay
Pixabay
In a time when finances are taking a huge hit due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, small businesses are open to any kind of help.
The Better Business Bureau, however, cautions that fraudulent offers of assistance are flooding emails, social media and even the phone.
One such scam the BBB warns about is someone pretending to represent the U.S. Small Business Administration requesting banking and business information for a grant. Once the “government agency” contacts business owners about the grant, a “friend” then reaches out on Facebook claiming to have obtained funds from the grant in question. The BBB said the friend is actually a compromised Facebook account.
The following tips would help small businesses avoid falling victim to scammers:
- An email address that does not end in either .gov or .ca is a scammer;
- Conduct a quick search on similar scams;
- Government agencies do not send text messages or communicate on social media; and
- Grants do not require recipients to pay back the money
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