Alert for Small Business Owners Needing PPP Loans — Ponte Investments, LLC and the FTC

Summary

An alert for small business owners seeking Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loans offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration ("SBA"). The alert states that the FTC announced it filed a case against a company that allegedly claimed to offer PPP loans but is not affiliated with the SBA, and that, according to the FTC, the defendants, Ponte Investments, LLC, promoted an "SBA Loan Program" by calling business owners and following up with emails. The tips include going directly to an organization's website instead of clicking links in an email that looks like it is from the SBA or a bank. Reader comments dated April 17, 2020 and May 11, 2020 follow the alert.

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Alert for small business owners needing PPP loans

This is an alert for small business owners who are looking to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The loans help alleviate the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, but there are bad actors trying to get business owners to apply for the wrong program. Today, the FTC announced that it filed a case against a company that allegedly claimed to offer PPP loans — but, in reality, the company is not affiliated with the SBA and, the FTC says, it has been deceiving hundreds, if not thousands, of business owners.

According to the FTC, the defendants, Ponte Investments, LLC, promoted their “SBA Loan Program” and website “SBAloanprogram.com” by calling business owners and following up with emails that say things like “We are the SBALoanProgram.com and as mandated by the SBA, getting approved is easier than ever!” The callers claim to be representatives of the SBA working with the business’s bank and urge the business owners to apply for a PPP loan right away.

Business owners who’ve applied for loans through the defendant’s websites hoped for help from the federal government’s relief program but may be left empty-handed. Not only is this a waste of time and energy for them, and a loss for the businesses and their employees, but now someone else has their business information.

If you’re a business owner, go to sba.gov/coronavirus to find information about PPP loans. Once at sba.gov/coronavirus , go to Click here to learn more about available SBA loan and debt relief options. Here are a few more tips:

- If you get an email that looks like it’s from the SBA or your bank, don’t click on any links. Instead, go directly to the organization’s website for information.
- The government will not ask you to pay up front and it won’t call to ask for your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number.
- Be cautious about companies that offer to expedite or facilitate your ability to get PPP loans. If you’re considering using an online provider or lender, stick with those you already know and trust. Be wary of companies you’ve never heard of or that call or send you emails out of the blue.

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Shannon Horovsky

April 17, 2020

They should have just sent the money directly to Business owners so we didnt have to go through this. However from what I understand the funds are exhausted. Is that true?

Insanityniteli…

April 17, 2020

Why cant these people be arrested, you know who they are, why just a warning, this is fraud, this is a serious crime

Donnie

April 17, 2020

Does this apply to me

joan

April 17, 2020

Thank you!! you all so great at what you do!! stay safe, stay healthy

Kelly

May 11, 2020

We applied for the PPP over two weeks ago, received a brief email from our bank, US Bank, that the loan was approved on Thursday April 30th. Have not heard anything since. I keep getting "reassigned" to someone new every time I email the last person that I spoke with. I have been told it is still in process. We have 2 employees with our small construction business, plus myself, that have had no income since mid April.

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