Fraud, Scams, and Ransomware Impose a $131 Billion "Hidden Tax" on America's Small Businesses
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
As we celebrate National Small Business Week, PPSI's first-of-its-kind national survey, expert briefing, and op-ed in Fortune highlight an urgent and underreported threat to Main Street.
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the country celebrates National Small Business Week (May 3–9, 2026), the Public Private Strategies Institute (PPSI) is sharing recent body of work that puts a hard number on a massive threat to America's entrepreneurs: fraud, scams, and ransomware.
A first-of-its-kind national survey, expert briefing, and firsthand account published in Fortune reveal the size, scope and real-world consequences to businesses and the US economy.
The Survey: $131B Hidden Tax on Small Business
The survey of more than 500 small business owners conducted by Morning Consult for PPSI, is the first to quantify the financial toll of fraud, scams, and ransomware on the small businesses and the economy.
"When nearly three in four small businesses experience fraud or ransomware in a single year, this is no longer an isolated risk. It has become a routine cost of doing business."
— Tammy Halevy, Executive Director, Reimagine Main Street, a project of PPSI
Findings include:
"This survey makes one thing clear: small businesses are doing their part, but as AI and other disruptive technologies emerge they cannot fight this battle alone. Reducing this hidden tax on entrepreneurship will require stronger coordination between the private sector and policymakers. When small businesses are protected, they can focus on what they do best — creating jobs, serving customers, and driving growth."
— Rhett Buttle, President, Public Private Strategies Institute.
Read the full report: ppsi.org/insights/fraud-scams-ransomware-survey
The Briefing: Experts Weigh In on What the Data Means
Following the survey's release, PPSI convened an expert briefing bringing together leaders from across the policy, technology, and nonprofit sectors alongside a small business owner with firsthand experience to examine the findings and chart a path forward.
Participants included:
Themes from the discussion:
Watch the full briefing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkreFMsAb-k&t=3s
In the Press: Walt Rowen's Story in Fortune
In a widely read op-ed published in Fortune, Susquehanna Glass Company CEO Walt Rowen put a human face on the data — describing in vivid detail how a million-dollar ransom demand and $100,000 in cleanup costs nearly ended a 116-year-old family business during its busiest season of the year.
"While being a responsible, tax-paying citizen, these costs resulting from the ransomware attack essentially became a new, unsolicited tax — something I won't forget as we pay our annual taxes this year."
— Walter Rowen, Fortune, April 16, 2026
Rowen's experience reinforces the survey's central finding: no business is too small, too established, or too careful to be targeted. His advice to other owners to get cyber insurance, build a trusted IT relationship, and maintain fully isolated backups reflects the survey's finding that the tools which work are the ones least often used.
Read the op-ed in Fortune: fortune.com
About the Public Private Strategies Institute
The Public Private Strategies Institute (PPSI) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to bridging the public and private sectors, with a special focus on amplifying the voices of small businesses in policy conversations at the local, state, and federal level. Through research, insights, and engagement, PPSI works to ensure that small business owners — and the communities they serve — are represented where decisions are made.
Learn more: ppsi.org
SOURCE Public Private Strategies Institute