Did you get billed for an SBA loan you didn’t apply for? Here’s what to do

Did you get a bill for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, but you didn’t apply for one? It’s possible that an identity thief applied for the loan using your personal or business information.

The SBA has new guidance about reporting the fraud, and the FTC has tips to help you clear up any credit problems it may cause.

The SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance has been issuing the loans under its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The loans are designed to give financial help to small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Criminals have tried to take advantage of the program by using stolen information to get loans in someone else’s name, or in the name of that person’s company. And now, the bills are landing in the mailboxes of people and businesses that never applied.

If you or your business is billed for an SBA EIDL loan you don’t owe:

• Report the problem right away to the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance and follow their guidance on what to do.
• While the SBA processes your identity theft report, you may still get monthly invoices. Keep these invoices until the SBA has finished reviewing your identity theft report.

If you run into other problems caused by the misuse of your personal information:

• Visit IdentityTheft.gov/steps, which will guide you through placing a free, one-year fraud alert on your credit, checking your free credit reports for other accounts you didn’t open, closing fraudulent accounts opened in your name, and adding a free extended fraud alert or credit freeze to your credit report.
• Report on IdentityTheft.gov all instances of fraudulent accounts that you find, including the SBA loan. You will get an Identity Theft Report that you can use to clear fraudulent information from your credit reports. Your personal credit may be affected by the identity theft. Keep a close eye on what’s in your credit report by checking it regularly. Visit annualcreditreport.com to get a free credit report every year from each of the three national credit agencies.