How to avoid a small business grant scam

Financial scams have become more convincing and common over the years, causing every phone call and email from an unknown contact to be greeted with justified suspicion. But if your small business has been cash-strapped, an out-of-the-blue offer for free funding might feel like a wish come true and break through your skepticism.

Don’t let it. Yes, small business grants offering money to help you grow your business exist. Unfortunately, so are grant scams that promise funding but actually steal your financial information. Here are some tips to help you avoid falling for a small business grant scam.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just have money fall in your lap and not have to put in any work for it? Grant applications can be so tedious that some organizations hire professionals whose sole job is to write applications for grant funding.

Unfortunately, you’ll never win a grant you didn’t have to apply for. So if someone is reaching out to say you won a grant — and you know you never submitted an application for it — it’s probably a scam.

Legitimate grant providers won’t ask you to pay them so they can pay you. But this is a common tactic used by scammers to try to make a quick buck off of you by promising thousands in exchange for a payment.

Grants also don’t have to be paid back so if your “grant provider” is telling you you’ll need to pay back the grant money they provide, it’s not a real grant and is likely a scam.

This is where you might need to do a little detective work (which is worth it if it means you’ll keep your financial and business information safe from fraudsters). A tell-tale sign that the grant is a scam is that the agency isn’t a real grant agency at all.

It can be easier to confirm the legitimacy of a federal grantor by making sure you see it listed on grants.gov. However, non-federal organizations can also offer grants and these might be a little tougher to verify.

Some red flags to watch out for may include websites that were recently created and contain significant misspellings (sometimes scammers may try to mimic the look and feel of a well-known organization but have tiny, hard-to-catch misspellings in the name). Also, search the agency online to see if there are any reviews on it or if others have encountered it and believe it to be a scam.

Receiving (legitimate) grants can help your business grow without needing to pay the money back like you would with a loan.

Here are some of the more popular, well-known grants for small businesses:

If your business can afford it, you may also consider a small business loan to cover some expenses. One lender, Kiva, offers microloans of up to $15,000 and you won’t have to pay interest on the loan if you apply for its U.S.-based loan program since Kiva is a nonprofit.

If you need more than just $15,000, though, consider other lenders like OnDeck. It offers funding amounts as high as $250,000 and the minimum credit score requirement is just 625. Of course, with any loan option, you’ll want to make sure your business has the cash flow to pay the monthly bill over the designated loan term.

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