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Free UK scam checker

Is this a scam? Check a text, number or website

Paste a message, a phone number or a link. The checker shows which warning signs it has and why, what our visitors have reported, and the right place to report it.

We don’t save what you check. Only anonymous counts of which warning signs fired are kept.

How the checks work

Every result lists the exact rules that fired, with their points. There’s no black-box score. Four in ten (40%) UK mobile users said they'd received at least one suspicious message in the past three months (Ofcom, survey February 2026). Source

Texts and emails

  • Patterns of the common UK scams: parcel fees (Royal Mail, Evri, DPD), HMRC refunds, bank “safe accounts”, DVLA, NHS, energy rebates, “Hi Mum”, strangers asking to be added on WhatsApp, crypto, prizes, PCNs
  • Urgency, payment and passcode requests, secrecy, remote-access apps, gift cards
  • Every link: look-alike brand names, shortened links, fake GOV.UK addresses, cheap domain endings
  • Email senders that don’t match the brand
  • Matches with scam messages visitors have reported

Phone numbers

  • Ofcom’s numbering register: numbers in unallocated ranges can only appear with a faked caller ID
  • Premium and revenue-sharing ranges (09, 070, 118, 087, 084) with Ofcom’s call costs
  • International and satellite numbers used for one-ring “Wangiri” calls
  • Whether the number type fits who the caller said they were
  • Verdicts, community reports and scam texts visitors have linked to the number

Websites and links

  • Domain age from the registry (RDAP)
  • Look-alike and typo-squatted brand names, including subdomain tricks
  • Redirects, followed to the final site
  • HTTPS and certificate errors
  • The Phishing.Database public blocklist, refreshed daily
  • Links visitors have reported

Checks in the last 30 days

329 checks: 154 messages, 143 numbers and 32 links. 10% came out as very likely scams.

UK scams to know about

All scam guides

Recently reported scams

Browse all reported scams

Where to report a scam in the UK

Scam text
Forward it to 7726 (free)
Scam email
Forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk
Scam website
Report it to the NCSC
Scam call
Text the number to 7726
HMRC scam
Texts to 60599, emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk
Worried about your bank
Call 159
Lost money
Your bank, then Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (Scotland: Police Scotland, 101)
Sales calls
Telephone Preference Service (free)

Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025. Routes as published by Ofcom, the NCSC, HMRC, Stop Scams UK and Report Fraud, checked 26 September 2026.

Your privacy

  • What you check isn’t saved or logged. Only anonymous daily counts of which warning signs fired are kept.
  • Checking a number here doesn’t count as a lookup and isn’t added to our search statistics.
  • Scam reports are saved only when you send one, with names, other phone numbers, email addresses, postcodes and card or account numbers removed first.
  • To stop automated abuse, requests are rate-limited using a one-way hash of your IP address, kept for at most a day for checks and 30 days for reports.

Report a scam you received

Your report helps the next person who checks the same message, link or number. It’s published as a visitor report after our daily moderation.

What did you get?

Before saving we automatically remove names, phone numbers other than the scammer’s, email addresses, postcodes, street addresses, and card, sort-code and account numbers, and we keep only the host of any link. Please name only the organisation the scammer pretended to be; don’t accuse a real business or person. See our privacy notice.

Scam checker FAQs

Is the scam checker free?

Yes. There's no sign-up and no limit for normal use. The site is paid for by advertising.

Do you store what I paste into the checker?

No. The text, number or link you check is processed in memory and thrown away. We keep only anonymous daily counts of which warning signs fired, with no IP address, so we can publish figures like the ones on this page. Nothing is stored unless you choose to send a scam report.

How does the checker decide the risk level?

Each warning sign has a fixed number of points, shown next to it in the result: for example +4 for a look-alike link or a request for a one-time passcode, +2 for pressure to act within 24 hours. Reassuring signs, such as every link going to the brand's real website, subtract points. 7 or more is “very likely a scam”, 4 to 6 “signs of a scam”, 1 to 3 “be careful”. There is no AI model: the same input always gives the same result.

Can the checker tell me something is safe?

No. “No common scam signs found” means none of our rules fired, not that the message, number or site is genuine. Criminals copy real messages closely and caller ID can be faked, so contact the organisation yourself if anything asks for money or details.

Where do I report a scam text in the UK?

Forward it to 7726, which spells SPAM on a keypad. It's free on UK networks, and Ofcom says the service helps networks block scam senders. WhatsApp and other app messages can't usually go to 7726: use the app's own Report option.

How do I report a scam email?

Forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk, the National Cyber Security Centre's Suspicious Email Reporting Service. HMRC scam emails can also go to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk.

What happened to Action Fraud?

Report Fraud, run by City of London Police, replaced Action Fraud as the national service for reporting fraud and cyber crime on 4 December 2025. The phone number stayed the same: 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101.

How can I check if a website is a scam?

Paste the address into the Website tab. It checks whether the address imitates a known brand, how long ago the domain was registered, whether it redirects somewhere else, whether it's on a public phishing blocklist, and whether visitors have reported it. A brand-new domain pretending to be a bank or courier is the strongest warning sign.

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