The Small Business Administration (SBA) discovered an email scam that falsely warns of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds being issued to the recipient in error.
The email originates from sba-attorneys.com and seeks to create alarm among PPP loan borrowers, stating that immediate action must be taken to avoid “potential criminal liability.”
A sample of the phishing scam is provided by the SBA, which cautions those who receive the email to under no circumstances reply to the sender or click any embedded links in the message.
The SBA advises all recipients of the scam to mark the item as spam and delete it.
“From: Sba-attorneys <info @ Sba-attorneys.com>
Sent: XXXXXXXX
To: XXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Refund of your loan
Hello,
As a representative attorney of the SBA, personal guarantors and Federal debtors for the Treasury department’s bureau of Fiscal service, now mandated to contact and bring to your attention The SBA and the Treasury Department new guidance clarifying that the loans you took were not intended for you and companies with access to the equity market.
The SBA and the Treasury Department clarified that the loans were not intended for you or a company with access to the equity market and other funding. Currently you are on the list of those who received SBA PPP Loans under the CARES Act which were not intended for you.
We now warned you of impending consequences of an audit, and potential criminal liability as we did not receive the return of the funds “in good faith” from you, since the deadline of May 7th. Please note, Over $436 million of the over $1.3 billion received for SBA PPP Loans under the CARES Act has been returned to us. Awaiting your prompt response and more details will be provided to you on the way forward.
Brandon Alcott, Principal Partner Sba-attorneys”
