Scam Atlas

Am I being scammed?

Sixteen yes/no questions. It runs entirely in your browser — your answers are never sent anywhere, because there is nowhere for them to go. Answer honestly; the tool cannot see anything you were sent.

If money is moving right now

Do not finish this quiz first. Call your bank's fraud line on the number printed on your card, then come back. Reporting routes by country.

  1. 1 Did they contact you first — a message, call, email, pop-up or friend request you were not expecting?

    Includes a text that looked like a wrong number, a reply to something you posted, or a call that seemed to come from a company you use.

  2. 2 Were you told to keep this to yourself — not to tell family, or not to tell your bank what the money is for?

    Sometimes framed as confidentiality, an investigation you must not compromise, or a private opportunity.

  3. 3 Is there a deadline, a threat, or a reason this has to happen right now?

    Arrest today, account frozen within the hour, the price expires, the shipment is held.

  4. 4 Were you asked to pay by cryptocurrency, gift card, wire transfer, cash courier, or a payment app to someone you have not met?

    These are the rails with no reversal. Legitimate organisations do not ask for them.

  5. 5 Did someone claiming to be your bank, the police or a fraud team ask you to move your money to a "safe" or "secure" account?

    No bank, police force or government agency anywhere does this. Not one.

  6. 6 Were you asked to install software, share your screen, or let someone connect to your computer or phone?

    AnyDesk, TeamViewer, a "support tool", or a browser extension they sent you.

  7. 7 Did someone ask you to read out a code sent to you by text or app, or to approve a login or payment prompt?

    One-time passcodes, verification codes, or a push notification asking you to confirm something you did not start.

  8. 8 Are you investing through a platform, app or account that someone introduced you to?

    Including someone you met online, a group chat, a social media advert, or a "mentor".

  9. 9 Have you been asked to pay a tax, fee or deposit before you can withdraw money you are told you already have?

    Any fee payable only from new, outside money.

  10. 10 Is this someone you have only met online, who has never appeared on a normal video call?

    Refusals get creative. A brief or oddly-lit video call is not proof either — deepfaked calls exist.

  11. 11 Were you offered work where you deposit your own money, complete "tasks", or receive and forward payments?

    Including commission jobs, app-rating work, package reshipping, or being asked to receive money in your account.

  12. 12 Did you get a call or message from a family member in trouble, from a number or account you did not recognise?

    "Hi Mum, this is my new number", a grandchild in custody, a lawyer calling on their behalf.

  13. 13 Is someone threatening to publish images, messages or information about you unless you pay?

    Paying almost never ends it, and the images often do not exist.

  14. 14 Did someone contact you offering to recover money you have already lost?

    A "blockchain investigator", a lawyer, a government-sounding agency, an asset recovery firm.

  15. 15 Did you enter card, bank or login details on a page you reached from a link in a message?

    Including a QR code, a delivery notice, a toll charge, or a "verify your account" email.

  16. 16 Are you paying in advance for something you have not seen — a rental, a ticket, a puppy, a vehicle, a deposit?

    Especially if the seller wants a bank transfer and cannot meet or show it live.

How this works, and what it cannot do

Each question is a signal that turns up repeatedly in documented cases. Answering yes adds weight to the schemes that signal points at. Some answers — being asked to move money to a "safe account", being asked to read out a code, being asked to pay a fee to release funds you are told you already have — are strong enough on their own that the tool will say so regardless of the total.

The weights are editorial judgements, not probabilities. This is a prompt for the right questions, not a verdict. It cannot inspect a message, verify a company, or check a person, and a low score is not a clearance. When in doubt, the same answer always applies: stop, and verify independently on a number or address you found yourself.

Privacy: nothing you enter here is transmitted or stored. See privacy.