"FINAL NOTICE: Your funding file closes today at 5 PM. Reply YES now to keep your $62,000 approval."
It lands at 2:14 PM. Nobody told you a file was open, or that it could close. But now there's a clock, ticking in someone else's favor.
This is Part 23 of Stop the Calls. Part 22 traced a dollar amount to its source. Today: a four-step test that takes the clock away.
General information, not legal advice. The text above and Marrowfen Bakery (a made-up shop) below are invented examples.
Why the clock is the pitch
A deadline does one job: it cuts the time you'd spend checking. The FTC lists pressure to act immediately as a sign of a scam, and says real businesses give you time to decide (FTC: How to Avoid a Scam).
From the industry side: a real offer can expire, since it's often priced off recent bank statements. But a real one should come in writing, from a company you can name, about an application you sent. A text with no company name and a 5 PM cutoff is usually a sales script.
The only thing closing at 5 PM is their shift.
The tactic: the deadline test
Step 1: screenshot it. Sender, time, amount, deadline. Don't tap any link. Log it in your call log template.
Step 2: ask "what file?" Search your email for funding applications from the last 90 days.
Step 3: sort it.
- No application anywhere. There is no file. Reply STOP and nothing else (Part 7 explains why).
- You did apply somewhere. Don't answer the text. Contact that company at an email or number you already have (the Part 20 call-back test) and send the script below.
- A link, a fee, or a "verify your account" ask. Possible scam. Forward it to 7726 (SPAM) and block the number.
Step 4: set your own deadline. Brokers count on you not having one.
The script
Email this to the company you actually applied with:
"I received a text saying my file closes today at [time]. Please confirm in writing whether I have an open offer with you, the total payback amount, and the date any offer expires. I review written offers on [day you choose] and don't decide by text or phone. If you didn't send this text, please say so, and add [phone numbers] to your internal do-not-call list."
Marrowfen's owner sent it at 2:31 PM. The reply: no file was closing, and nobody there had sent a text.
How we use AI on this
When we help an owner, an AI sort reads every funding text first. It flags urgency words like "final notice" and "closes today," pulls out any company name, and checks it against the owner's list of applications. Flagged with no match means STOP. Try it in any AI chat:
Here is a business funding text I received. List any deadline or urgency words, any company name and any dollar amount. Then tell me what to verify before I believe the deadline.
The rules behind it, and where they stop
- A reply of STOP to a robotext is a reasonable way to revoke consent. The sender has to honor it within a reasonable time, no more than 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)): FCC robocall and robotext rules
- On telemarketing calls, the Telemarketing Sales Rule bars false or misleading statements to get you to pay (16 CFR 310.3(a)(4)). That part still applies to business-to-business calls (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)): Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR 310.3. Whether a given deadline crosses that line is for a regulator or a lawyer to say.
- The National Do Not Call Registry covers personal numbers, not business lines, and a dedicated business line gets less protection: FTC Do Not Call FAQs
None of this promises an outcome. A licensed attorney can tell you how these rules fit your line. Report unwanted calls on the FTC's Do Not Call complaint page. Report unwanted texts, or any call where money was lost, on the FTC fraud reporting site. More in Know Your Rights.
Your checklist
- Screenshot every deadline text.
- Ask "what file?" And check your email.
- No application means STOP. A real one means emailing that company.
- Pick your own review day, in writing.
- Log it, then check again after 10 business days.
Coming in Part 24: the caller who says "I'm not a broker, I'm the lender," and how to check.
