Scam Message Checker
Paste a text, email or chat message you are not sure about. It points out the warning signs scammers rely on — pressure, secrecy, gift cards, requests for codes, and links that are not what they seem — explains each one in plain words, and tells you what to do next.
Paste a message above, or try an example, to see what it finds.
If you already clicked, replied or paid
Act quickly — it can make a real difference. Start with whichever of these happened.
You paid by card
Call the bank or company that issued the card, say the payment was fraud, and ask them to reverse it.
Money left your bank account
Call your bank on the number on your card or statement and ask them to stop or reverse the transfer.
You used a payment app
Report it in the app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal and others) and ask for it to be reversed. If a card is linked, call the card issuer too.
You bought gift cards
Contact the company that issued the cards straight away, tell them they were used in a scam and ask for a refund. Keep the cards and the receipts.
You sent a wire transfer or crypto
Contact the transfer company or the exchange you used, report the fraud and ask them to reverse it. This is often hard to undo, so do it now.
You gave a password or a code
Change that password now, and anywhere else you used it. Turn on two-step verification, and check the account for changes you did not make.
You gave personal details
In the US, go to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan. Anywhere, watch your accounts and consider freezing your credit.
You let someone onto your computer
Disconnect it from the internet, run the security software you already have, and remove anything it finds. Then change important passwords from a different device.
Report it
Reporting helps stop the same message reaching other people. Then block the sender and delete the message.
United States
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM), and use your messaging app's “Report junk” option.
United Kingdom
- Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.
- Forward scam texts to 7726.
- If you lost money or gave details, contact your bank, then report it at Report Fraud or on 0300 123 2040.
Everywhere else
- Your national consumer protection agency or the police take scam reports.
- On WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and similar apps, use the app's own Report option.
What it looks for, and what it cannot tell you
It reads the message for the things scams have in common: a rush to act, being told to keep it secret, payment by gift card, crypto or wire transfer, requests for passwords or verification codes, threats of arrest or a closed account, a relative in trouble on a new number, prizes you did not enter, and offers of easy money. It also takes every link apart to see where it really goes — a company's name inside someone else's address, a letter swapped for a look-alike, a shortened link, or words that show one address while the link leads to another.
It never says a message is safe. Scammers change their wording constantly, and a well-written scam can have none of these signs. If a message asks you to do anything, the dependable check is always the same: contact the company or the person yourself, using a number or website you already trust — never the one in the message.
How the links are checked
Links are read as text; none is opened or looked up. The checker finds the part of the address that decides who owns the site (for secure.paypal.com.example.top that is example.top), then compares it with the official addresses of about forty companies people are often impersonated as — banks, delivery firms, shops, tech companies and tax offices. When you paste from an open email, the addresses hidden behind the words are read from the pasted formatting, so a link that says one thing and goes somewhere else is caught.
Advice drawn from the US Federal Trade Commission's What To Do if You Were Scammed and How To Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages, and the UK National Cyber Security Centre's phishing guidance. General information, not legal or financial advice.