First Citizens Bank recently sent out a notice alerting businesses about a new phishing scam, which targets the Small Business Administration (SBA) PPP loan applicants.
“Criminals are impersonating the SBA and its office of disaster assistance, sending phishing emails that appear to be from the SBA,” a portion of the notice reads. “The emails create a sense of urgency for applicants to click on a link to verify their account. The link leads to a fake website that looks like an official SBA website where applicants are asked to sign in to their account.”
The bank advises all to protect personal information and not to click on links or respond to emails that ask you to log in to an account or provide personally identifiable information. If you suspect an email you’ve received is associated with an SBA scam, you can submit a complaint with the SBA office of inspector general by calling 800.767.0385.
If you’ve already encountered and responded to this phishing scam by providing your personal information, please contact the Fraud Central team at 866.567.7760.
