The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) office has recently seen an uptick in scammers claiming they are an SBA employee or third-party that can secure SBA grants for business entrepreneurs for a fee.

What you need to know about small business grants:

• SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business.
• SBA provides grants to nonprofits, Resource Partners, and educational organizations. These grants aim to support entrepreneurship through counseling and training programs.
• SBA only communicates from email addresses ending in @sba.gov. If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from SBA, check their address. If they are not using an official SBA email address, you should suspect and report fraud. An SBA employee would never contact you on social media or encrypted messaging platforms.

For more information about our grants, see our official website https://link.edgepilot.com/s/a6e1e43b/4ecMn6sZAkiwVpy1boZmBQ?u=https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants.

Additionally, we would like to reiterate that there are no more pandemic relief funds available and SBA loans are not forgivable.

Protect yourselves:

1. Always verify the source. Contact our office (205) 290-7101 directly if you are ever unsure.
2. Report suspicious activity – Preventing fraud and identity theft | U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)
3. Never share personal or financial information.

Stay vigilant and spread the world to help protect others!