SmallBusinessNewz

It's hard to say "no" to free money under any circumstances.  If the offer's coming in the form of an official-looking letter, as opposed to an untrustworthy email, it may be even more difficult to ignore.  But it's at least wise to do some research before reaching out, as a new scam is making the rounds.

Mitch Lipka writes, "The Small Business Administration reported last week that letters are being sent out on stationery purporting to be from the SBA telling small-business owners they might be eligible for tax rebates under the stimulus plan.  The letter asks the business owner to send in bank account information."

Only doing so will result in an unpleasant surprise - think big withdrawals.

So if you receive some proposal, contact the SBA at OIGHotline@sba.gov or use a phone number listed on the official site.  Email addresses and numbers provided by scammers are likely to lead back to them, after all.

Then hopefully you'll get the all-clear and a whopper of a check.  If not, you can at least annoy the scammers by giving them details about an account with a balance of zero.