"Hi, I'm calling from your funder. You've paid down enough, so you qualify for your renewal today."
Maybe that's true. You did sign with a funder last spring, and a renewal call is normal. But this is the third "renewal team" this week, and none of them could say how many payments you have left. The real one would know.
This is Part 20 of Stop the Calls. Part 4 showed why brokers already know your funder's name: the UCC filing is public. Part 9 gave you the three ID questions, and Part 19 closed the quote-form window (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/stop-the-calls). Today: a two-minute test that tells a real renewal call from a broker borrowing your funder's name.
General information, not legal advice.
What owners are seeing
The caller opens with your funder's name, or something close to it. They mention "your renewal" or "your existing position." Then the questions start. Who's your funder again? What's your balance? How many payments are left? Can you send three months of bank statements to this email?
That order is the tell. Your own funder already has your contract, your balance and your payment history. A broker using its name has a public filing and a script.
The tactic: the call-back test
Step 1: save the real number today. Pull your funder's phone number and email from your signed contract or your funder's online account, not from a caller or a search result. Save it as a contact, and add it to the whitelist from Part 13 (https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-13-carrier-whitelist).
Step 2: ask before you answer. On any renewal call, start with the Part 9 questions:
"What's your name? What company are you calling on behalf of? What's a number or address for that company?"
FCC rules say a telemarketing caller has to give you all three (47 CFR 64.1200(d)(4)).
Step 3: say the call-back line.
"Thanks. I'll call my funder back at the number on my contract. If this is real, they'll have the offer."
A real funder is fine with that. A broker borrowing the name usually pushes: "the offer expires today," "I can only hold it on this call." Write down which one you got.
Step 4: send nothing to an inbound caller. No bank statements, no logins, no voided check, and no signature on a link they text you. If the call checks out, send documents through the contact you saved in Step 1.
Step 5: ask your funder who is allowed to call. Some funders work with outside brokers, so a renewal call from another company is not automatically fake. Ask once, in writing:
"Please confirm in writing which companies, if any, are authorized to contact me about a renewal on your behalf. I'm getting calls that use your name. Calls about my existing account are fine at this number."
Step 6: log it. Add two columns to your call log (https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/call-log-template): "Said they were my funder" and "Confirmed by call-back: yes or no."
The rules behind it, and where they stop
Under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, telemarketers may not misrepresent their affiliation with, or endorsement by, another company (16 CFR 310.3(a)(2)(vii)). Since 2024 that ban reaches business-to-business calls too (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.3
The FTC's Impersonation Rule bars falsely posing as a business or misrepresenting affiliation with one (16 CFR 461.3): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461
Your real funder may have an "established business relationship" with you, based on a transaction within the 18 months before the call (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(5)). That rule is written for residential and wireless numbers. If you don't want renewal sales calls even from your funder, a do-not-call request to that funder ends the relationship for telemarketing, even while your account stays open (64.1200(f)(5)(I)): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
The TCPA itself is 47 U.S.C. 227: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227. Coverage depends on the call and the line. A dedicated business landline gets less protection, and the National Do Not Call Registry covers personal numbers, not business lines: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/national-do-not-call-registry-faqs
Your call log is a record you can use to report calls. Report unwanted calls at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html, or at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov if money was lost. None of this promises an outcome, and a licensed attorney can tell you how these rules fit your line. More: https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/know-your-rights and https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-mca-broker-calls
Your checklist
Save your funder's number from your contract, not from a caller.
Ask the three ID questions on every renewal call.
Say the call-back line, then hang up and dial the saved number.
Send documents only through the contact you saved.
Ask your funder, in writing, who may call for it.
Log "said they were my funder" and the call-back result.
Coming in Part 21: the "consolidation" pitch that offers to pay off your current advance, and the questions to ask before you say yes.