What are the telltale signs of a fake approval letter?
The clearest signs are approval without a review of your bank statements, a fee required to release funds, contact details that do not match the real company, and urgency. Smaller clues include generic greetings, spelling errors, a letter that does not name your legal business correctly and payment instructions pointing to an individual's account.
- Approval with no underwriting: you were approved after a short call or form, with no statements reviewed.
- Fee before funding: insurance, processing, a first payment or a transfer fee.
- Mismatched details: a free email address, a domain slightly different from the real company, or a phone number that does not appear on the official website.
- Urgency: the approval expires today.
- Unusual payment methods: wire to a personal account, gift cards, cryptocurrency or payment apps.
- Vague terms: a big approved amount but no total repayment, schedule or legal entity named.
Can a funder approve me without reviewing my bank statements?
Real approvals follow underwriting. Funders typically review bank statements or a bank connection, business details, identity and credit before offering terms. A letter announcing a specific approved amount and cost before any of that happened is not an approval; at best it is marketing, and at worst it is the first step of a scam.
Legitimate companies sometimes send pre-qualified offers, but those are clearly conditional on review. The difference is whether the letter asks you to do something irreversible, such as pay money or share banking credentials, based on an approval nobody has actually earned. See how to judge unsolicited offers.
What if the letter uses a well-known company's logo?
Assume nothing. Logos, letterheads and signatures are easy to copy. Scammers often impersonate real, reputable funders precisely because owners trust those names. Find the real company's website yourself, contact it through the details listed there and ask whether it issued the letter and whether the person who contacted you works there.
- Search the company name yourself and open its official website.
- Compare the letter's email domain, phone number and address with the official ones.
- Contact the company through its official channels, not the letter's.
- Ask whether a letter with this reference number and amount was issued to your business.
If the company confirms it is fake, it may want a copy so it can warn others.
How do I check whether an email domain really belongs to the company?
Compare the domain after the at sign, letter by letter, with the company's official website, which you should type yourself. Watch for extra words, swapped letters, different endings and free email services. A public domain lookup can show when a domain was registered; a domain created recently for a supposedly established funder is a strong warning sign.
- Look-alike examples include an added word such as funding or capital, a hyphen, a doubled letter or a different ending.
- Display names can be faked; check the actual address, not the name shown.
- Replies may go to a different address than the sender; check before responding.
Our guide on how to check a funding company covers registration and UCC checks too.
What should a real funding offer include?
A real offer names the legal entity providing the money, states the amount you will receive and any fees deducted, the total you will repay, the payment amount and schedule and the term. It comes with, or leads to, a full contract including guarantee, lien and default terms, and it gives you time to read it.
If a letter only states an approved amount and a fee to unlock it, it is missing everything that matters. Compare any genuine offer using our pre-signing questions, and check what you personally sign for.
What should I do if I received or acted on a fake letter?
Do not pay anything or send more information. If you already paid, contact your bank or payment service immediately about stopping or reversing the transaction. If you shared banking or identity details, change passwords, alert your bank and consider credit monitoring. Save the letter and messages, then report the scam to the authorities.
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission, to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center if it arrived online and to your state attorney general, each through its official website. Tell the impersonated company too. Be wary of follow-up contacts offering to recover your money for a fee; see upfront fee scams.
Frequently asked questions
Who should I report a fake approval letter to?
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission, to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center if it came online and to your state attorney general, using their official websites. If a real company was impersonated, notify that company as well.
Is a PDF approval letter more trustworthy than an email?
No. A PDF is just as easy to fake as an email. What matters is whether the details match a verifiable company and whether the offer behaves legitimately, with no fee due before funding.
Can a real approval require a deposit?
Legitimate costs are disclosed in a written contract from a verifiable company and are commonly deducted from the funds. A demand to send money before funding to release an approval is a classic scam pattern.
What if the letter has my correct business details?
Business details are often public through state filings and UCC records, so correct information does not prove the letter is real. Verify through the company's official channels.
Should I reply to the letter to ask questions?
It is safer to contact the company through details you found yourself. Replying to the sender confirms your contact is active and may lead to more pressure.
Real offers come with real contracts
Apply for free and review offers from our funding partners with every term in writing and nothing to pay upfront.
Updated September 14, 2026 · TrustedBizFunder Funding Team