Independent scam help
Is this a scam? Find the exact thing that happened to you.
Most scam advice is written for nobody in particular. This site works the other way round: find the specific text, package, card, or call you just received, and get a straight answer about what it is and what to do next. Nothing here is trying to frighten you into buying anything.
Check a QR code without scanning it
Photograph the code and the checker decodes it inside your browser, so you see where it leads without your phone ever going there. Nothing is uploaded.
You got a text
Each of these covers one specific message, including the wording used and how to tell it from the real thing.
- Unpaid toll or E-ZPass text
- USPS redelivery fee text
- DMV or traffic ticket text
- Bank fraud alert asking YES or NO
- Zelle or Venmo message
- Netflix payment failed
- Apple ID or iCloud storage
- Driver needs your address
- A friendly wrong number
- Unsolicited job offer
You got a package you didn't order
It's almost certainly brushing, and the free gadget is the least interesting part. The card inside is what matters.
- "Scan to see who sent this gift"
- "Register your gift card"
- An Amazon package you didn't order
- Temu or Shein package
- Mystery seed packets
- Cheap rings and jewelry
You got a call
Voice cloning made the old emergency scripts far more convincing. The defence is a word only your family knows, and you can generate one here.
- How voice cloning scams work
- The grandparent scam call
- Medicare and benefits calls
- Task scams and paid-to-click work
Already clicked, scanned, or paid?
Work through the situation you're actually in. The honest news is that most outcomes are recoverable, and the ones that need speed are obvious once you know which they are.
Stop being an easy target
Nearly every scam on this site starts with someone buying your name, address, and phone number from a people-search site. Removing yourself is free, tedious, and genuinely effective. Start with the overview, or go straight to the site that's bothering you.
A note on how this site is written. Scam coverage tends to be either breathless or vague. We try to be neither. When something is genuinely dangerous we say so, and when a threat is smaller than the headlines suggest we say that too, because knowing the difference is what keeps you calm the next time your phone buzzes.