Paste a link, a text message, or a phone number — or just tell it what happened. One tool figures out what you have, sends you to the exact check, then to the official regulator to verify. Free, anonymous, nothing to install.
🛡 No account, no payment, nothing to install — and we never ask you to send money or pay a fee to “recover” anything. This is free education, not a recovery service.
The short answer
To check whether something is a scam, start with what you have. Paste a website to see its real safety signals — Google Safe Browsing status, domain age, and HTTPS. Paste a suspicious text or a phone number, or say what happened, and this tool sends you to the exact check for your situation, then to the official regulator or your bank to verify. The most reliable tells across every scam: unexpected contact, pressure to act fast, and a demand to pay by gift card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer.
// PASTE ANYTHINGONE BOX · THE RIGHT CHECK
Paste something above, or tap an example — it sends you to the exact check.
What kind of scam are you checking?
Whatever you have, there’s a check built for it. Pick the one that fits — each takes you to the right tool and the official body to verify with.
Check your real odds of a refund and the exact mechanism, by payment method and country.
Investigate a website directly
Paste a web address to see the real, public safety signals for it.
// INVESTIGATE A WEBSITEFACTS · NOT A VERDICT
Or — prefer to answer questions?
Check your situation instead
Got a message, an offer, or a “relationship” that feels off? Answer a few questions about what’s happening.
// SCAM RISK ASSESSMENTQuestion 1 of 7
How did this person or company first contact you?
How to tell if something is a scam
While every scam is different, they share common patterns that Tutela Digitalis has documented across hundreds of cases. The most reliable indicators include: unsolicited contact from someone you don't know, urgency or pressure to act immediately, requests for unusual payment methods (gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers), refusal to meet in person or video call, and offers that seem too good to be true.
In 2025, Americans reported losing $20.9 billion to cyber-enabled crime to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The costliest categories were investment fraud ($8.65 billion), business email compromise ($3.05 billion), and tech support scams ($2.13 billion). Romance scams accounted for $929 million in reported losses, though the actual figure is likely much higher — these crimes are heavily underreported.
If something feels wrong, trust your instincts. Use the scam checker above for a quick assessment, or explore our in-depth guides for specific scam types.
And if the thing you checked was a website that came back suspicious, the next step is worth taking even when you have lost nothing: report the site and get it taken down. You do not need to be certain, and you do not need to be a victim — the browser safe-lists accept a plain report of a suspicious URL and do the assessment themselves, which is what puts a red warning page in front of the next person.
Start with what you have. Paste a website to see its real safety signals — Google Safe Browsing status, domain age, and HTTPS. Paste a suspicious text or a phone number, or describe what happened, and Tutela Digitalis routes you to the exact check for your situation, then to the official regulator or your bank to verify. It's free, anonymous, and there's nothing to install.
How can I tell if a text message is a scam?
Real banks and government agencies do not text you a link to pay a fee or 'verify' your account. If a message creates urgency and pushes you toward a link, treat it as a scam: contact the organisation using a number you already had, and forward the text to 7726 (in the US, UK, and Australia). Our text-message checker walks you through it by claimed sender.
I think I've just been scammed — what should I do first?
Speed matters most in the first hour. Contact your bank immediately to freeze the payment and attempt a recall, then report it — in the US, that's ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3.gov. Never pay anyone who offers to 'recover' your money for a fee; that is always a second scam. Our emergency guide sorts the next steps by how you paid.
Is it a scam if they ask me to pay with gift cards, crypto, or a wire transfer?
Almost certainly. The FTC is explicit that no legitimate business or government agency demands payment in gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer — those methods are chosen because they're hard to reverse. The payment method a scammer insists on is often the clearest tell.
Is the scam checker free?
Yes — completely free and anonymous. There's no account, nothing to install, and we never ask you to send money or pay a fee to 'recover' anything. This is free education, not a recovery service.
Need a deeper analysis?
Send us the suspicious email, message, or link and get an expert read on it, one to one. It is free.