Cybersecurity for SMBs: What to Know Before Acting on a Funding Offer

A practical guide to recognizing, verifying, and responding to suspicious financial communications.

Before You Act

If you've received an unexpected funding offer, pause and verify before responding. Legitimate lenders will never ask for upfront fees, payments through personal accounts like Venmo or Zelle, or primary communications from outside their official domain. When in doubt, contact the lender directly using the phone number or email listed on their official website — not the details provided in the suspicious message.

Cybersecurity threats targeting small and mid-sized businesses are growing in both volume and sophistication. In 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 1 million complaints for the first time in its history, with reported losses reaching $20.9 billion — a 26% increase over the prior year. Business email compromise (BEC) and impersonation schemes alone accounted for $3.05 billion in reported losses, making them one of the costliest categories of cybercrime.

For business owners actively seeking capital, the funding process has become a particular target. Scammers exploit urgency, impersonate established lenders, and prey on the time pressure that often accompanies the search for capital. Understanding the broader threat landscape, and what reputable lenders will and won't do, is the most effective form of protection.

What Are the Most Common Cyber Threats Facing SMBs?

Cyber-enabled fraud accounted for roughly 85% of all losses reported to IC3 in 2025, and the tactics targeting businesses continue to evolve. The most common threats SMBs encounter include:

• Brand and lender impersonation — bad actors using the names, logos, and staff identities of legitimate companies to appear credible
• Phishing and spoofing — fraudulent emails, texts, or calls designed to extract financial credentials or trigger payments (the most-reported crime type by complaint count in 2025)
• Business email compromise (BEC) — sophisticated schemes where attackers pose as executives, vendors, or partners to redirect payments
• Social engineering — manipulation tactics that exploit urgency, authority, or familiarity to pressure business owners into acting before verifying
• Emerging AI-enabled fraud — including voice cloning, deepfakes, and AI-generated communications. The FBI reported 22,364 AI-related complaints in 2025, totaling $893 million in losses

What makes these threats particularly effective is that they don't require sophisticated technology to succeed. Most rely on a single moment of misplaced trust: a convincing email, a familiar logo, a well-timed phone call.

Why Are Funding Communications a Target for Scammers?

Business owners actively seeking capital are often working against deadlines: payroll, inventory, expansion, a closing window. That urgency is exactly what bad actors exploit. A "pre-approved" offer arriving at the right moment can feel like a lifeline, and that's precisely the conditions under which due diligence tends to slip.

Legitimate lenders understand this. Reputable funding processes are documented, transparent, and never hinge on speed at the expense of verification. As a point of reference, Libertas Funding* operates within strict boundaries that reflect industry best practices.

What Will a Legitimate Funding Provider Never Ask You to Do?

Libertas Funding* Will NEVER:

• Collect fees via personal accounts
• Request upfront broker payments before loan documents are signed and reviewed
• Initiate primary communications from any email address outside of @libertasfunding.com
• Require payment before formal documentation has been executed

What Are the Warning Signs of a Funding Scam?

Suspicious funding communications tend to share recognizable patterns:

• Unsolicited approvals — loan offers presented without a prior application, sometimes for amounts never requested
• Upfront fees — payments framed as broker fees, processing charges, or insurance deposits required before any documents are issued
• Personal payment channels — requests to send funds via Venmo, Zelle, or peer-to-peer apps rather than verified business accounts
• Domain irregularities — emails from free services, slightly altered domains, or any address outside of the company's official domain
• Pressure to act quickly — urgency designed to bypass the recipient's normal due diligence

How Do I Verify a Suspicious Funding Communication?

When something feels off, three steps will resolve almost any uncertainty:

1. Verify the sender's email domain. Primary communications from Libertas Funding originate from @libertasfunding.com.
2. Confirm contact information independently. Use the phone number or email listed on the lender's official website — never the contact details provided in the suspicious message itself.
3. Take time to review. Any lender that pressures you to act before reading documentation is a cause for concern, not a sign of opportunity.

What Should I Do If I've Already Responded to a Suspicious Message?

If you've received a communication claiming to be from Libertas Funding that you were unable to verify, contact our security team directly at security@libertasfunding.com. If you've already shared financial account information with an unverified party, contact your financial institution promptly. You can also file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

We're always available to confirm whether an offer, call, or email originated from our team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I tell if an email is really from Libertas Funding? A: All primary communications from Libertas Funding originate from a @libertasfunding.com email address. If you receive something outside that domain and weren't expecting it, verify directly with our team before acting.

Q: Does Libertas Funding ever ask for upfront fees? A: No. Libertas Funding will never request upfront broker payments or fees before loan documents are signed and reviewed.

Q: Can scammers really fake phone calls and voices? A: Yes. AI-enabled voice cloning and deepfakes are a growing threat. The FBI reported 22,364 AI-related fraud complaints in 2025. Always verify unexpected calls through an independent channel.

Q: Where do I report a suspected funding scam? A: Report suspected scams to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. If the scam impersonated Libertas Funding, also notify our security team at security@libertasfunding.com.

Contact Libertas Funding to Verify

Security inquiries: security@libertasfunding.com

Scammers often include fake contact details in their messages. Always verify using the information above, not anything provided in the suspicious communication.

Think you've received a suspicious funding offer claiming to be from Libertas? Contact our security team directly at security@libertasfunding.com to verify before taking any action. We'll confirm in minutes whether the communication came from us.

Not in that situation? Share this article with a business owner in your network — awareness is the most effective protection against funding fraud.

Source: FBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report

* Term Loans are issued by WebBank and serviced by Libertas pursuant to our partnership with the Bank.

This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Libertas Funding does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. Please consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.