Warning for other small business owners and landlords — learn from my last two weeks.

Since I started looking into a business line of credit, my business line has been flooded with unsolicited "funding" texts and calls — sometimes five a day. The pattern is almost always the same:

1. They text from a random number promising money TODAY — "$100K, payback only $112K," "approved, no fees."

2. When you ask for the basic terms in writing — amount, APR, term, ALL fees, prepayment penalty, collateral, personal guarantee — plus their full name and company, they refuse. Every time. "We can't quote without your financials." "That gets reviewed inside the application."

3. Then the push: "What's the best email to send the application?" They want your documents, bank info, and EIN before they'll put a single number in writing.

4. Some are merchant cash advances dressed up as loans — daily or weekly payments at effective rates no legitimate lender charges.

What I do now, and what I'd tell anyone:

- Real lenders put terms in writing. No written terms, no conversation.

- Get their first AND last name and company before anything else. A real lender isn't afraid to say who they are.

- Never send statements, documents, or your EIN to a stranger who texted you out of the blue.

- Report them. I report every single one: FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov), FCC (consumercomplaints.fcc.gov), and Wisconsin DATCP, plus BBB and Google reviews where the company has a real profile. Two examples from this morning alone: FTC reports #209792890 and #209790412 — both filed today, $0 lost because I never sent them anything.

They count on you being too busy to push back. Push back.

— A Wisconsin small business owner