Small Business Association Grant

Victim Location 43102

Type of a scam Government Grant

These guys created a Instagram account and then started messaging me about this (SBA) government grant. I don’t have a ton of interaction with my friend but he is a well known businessman, so i took this very seriously until the lady (who said she was an agent for my friend) who texted me via (310)307-1136 would not let me call her to ask for more details. She was very pushy and just wanted to hurry push everything through. What alerted me was when she demanded a photo of my drivers license to unlock the delivery form, i told her i need to research this grant more before i would fill out the form. Then i messaged my friend and told him i have a ton of questions before i’m ready to jump into the program. I told him i wanted to call him and when that message never got a response all afternoon, tonight it all of the sudden hit me this could be a hacked Instagram account. Immediately, i message my friend on Facebook and sure enough, someone had created a fake account. I’m warning you if you smell a dead rat, do not participate, cross check with your friend via phone, email or social media. These folks are slick, they didn’t do as much damage as they could have, but they got my full personal and business names, my birth date, my business email, and my cellphone. Folks if it doesn’t seem legit, friends or not, do not assume it is your friend. Also, if your account has been hacked please let your friends know, do not let them find out the hard way.