By Gerri Detweiler
It can be difficult to spot or completely prevent identity theft.
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As of August 2021, the Small Business Administration reported it had received 1.2 million complaints of loan identity theft for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. That means over a million business owners believe their business identities have been used to apply for Covid relief loans administered by the SBA.
I am one of those victims. Here’s what happened to me, along with steps I’m taking that you can also use to help protect your business.
Business identity theft: How I found out I was a victim
I learned about the fraudulent loan application because my personal Experian credit report lists an inquiry from “SBA ODA,” but I’ve never applied for a loan from the SBA.
I’ve written extensively about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program since it was launched in March 2020 to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus. So when I…
