Stop the Calls, Part 9: same pitch, new company name

9:40 A.m., Friday. "Your business was pre-approved for up to $150K in working capital. Do you have two minutes?"

You know this script. You heard it word for word on Tuesday, and you told that caller to stop. Same pitch, same "pre-approved," same time of morning. Only the company name is different. Is this the same outfit, or a new one? And does your stop request even reach them?

This is Part 9 of Stop the Calls. Part 1 gave you the phone script, Part 2 the written stop, Part 3 the call log, Part 6 the questions that trace who sold your number, and Part 8 the voicemail routine (all at https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/stop-the-calls). Today: the name swap, and the one sentence that asks for your stop request to cover it.

General information, not legal advice.

Why the name keeps changing

A lot of funding calls come from people working on behalf of someone else. One shop can pitch for several funders. One funder can buy leads from several shops. And a name on a call can be a brand, not the company that actually signs the deal. So Tuesday's name and Friday's name can be two companies, one company with two names, or two shops selling for the same funder. You usually can't tell from the call.

The rules care about exactly that question. Under the FCC's do-not-call rules, a stop request applies to the company making the call and the company the call is made for. It does not automatically reach affiliated companies, unless you'd reasonably expect them to be included from how the caller identified itself and what it was selling. But there's a phrase at the start of that rule worth reading twice: "in the absence of a specific request by the subscriber to the contrary." In other words, you can ask for more. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200 (47 CFR 64.1200(d)(5))

The tactic: the "on whose behalf" stop

Step 1: ask the three ID questions. A telemarketing caller has to give you the caller's name, the name of the company the call is being made for, and a phone number or address where that company can be reached (47 CFR 64.1200(d)(4)). So ask, in this order:

"What's your name? What company are you calling on behalf of? What's a number or address for that company?"

Write all three in your call log from Part 3. The second answer is the one that matters. The name the caller opened with might just be the shop. The company it's calling for is the one your request needs to reach.

Step 2: say the wide version of the stop. Read this, then hang up:

"Please put this number on your internal do-not-call list. This request covers your company, the company you're calling for, and any affiliate or anyone else calling on your behalf or theirs. Please don't call, text, or leave voicemails for this number again."

The FCC released FCC 26-67 on Oct 1, 2026, letting callers designate the opt-out method they'll accept, effective 30 days after it's published in the Federal Register, so the safe habit is to use the opt-out method the caller names, too, and log that you did.

Step 3: log the swap. When a new name shows up with the same pitch, add a note to the log row: "same script as [date], new name." If the company-on-whose-behalf answer matches an earlier row, mark it. A pattern of the same funder behind different names is exactly what a record is for.

Step 4: put it in writing. Use the same wide wording in your written stop from Part 2, and send it to the contact info they gave you in Step 1. The free letter template is at https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/cease-and-desist-letter.

How long a stop is supposed to last

The same rule says a company has to record your request when you make it, honor it within a reasonable time that can't be more than ten business days, and keep honoring it for five years (47 CFR 64.1200(d)(3) and (d)(6)). That's why the date in your log matters: it starts the clock.

Be honest about the limits. These rules are written for residential subscribers and extended to wireless numbers (47 CFR 64.1200(e)). A dedicated business landline or office phone system may be treated differently, and coverage depends on the call and the line. The National Do Not Call Registry is for personal numbers, not business lines. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/national-do-not-call-registry-faqs The TCPA itself is 47 U.S.C. 227. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227

A log that shows the same pitch from new names after a dated stop request is a record you can use to report calls at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html or to the FCC at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov. None of this promises an outcome. For the bigger picture, see Know Your Rights (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/know-your-rights) and the full guide to stopping broker calls (https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-mca-broker-calls).

This week

1. Add a column to your call log: "Calling on behalf of."
2. Next funding call: ask the three ID questions before anything else.
3. Use the wide stop sentence, word for word.
4. New name, same pitch? Note it, link it to the old row, and send the written version.
5. No log yet? Grab the free CSV: https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/call-log-template

Next part: what to do when the caller says you "already gave consent" on a form you don't remember.