Pause. Ask. Confirm.
A scam needs you to do something: click, reply, pay, read out a code or let someone in. This habit helps you stop before you do what the scam asks.
Do nothing yet
If a message rushes you, treat the rush as a warning sign. A real bank, a real delivery company and a real grandchild can all wait ten minutes.
Check it first
Forward the message to a service that checks it or ask a person you trust. Do not ask the person who sent it.
Check it a way you found yourself
Use the number on the back of your card, the app you already have or the website you typed in. Never use the link or number in the message.
The habit helps only when a message needs you to act
Someone needs you to act
Use the habit before you do what the message asks.
A weak setting can be used without any message
A reused password, a phone that stopped getting updates or a recovery number that is no longer yours can be used with no message at all. The habit does not help here. Stronger settings do, and the first of the five stages sets them up.
Neither the habit nor stronger settings removes all risk.
Is This A Scam?
A service that checks a message for you before you act on it.
Is This A Scam? is AI-powered scam detection for the whole family. You email the service a suspicious text, email, voicemail, document or QR code. Any time, day or night, the AI replies in plain language with what it found and what to do.
It gives advice only. It does not move or recover money, it does not call anyone for you, and it does not replace your bank, a lawyer, emergency services or the police. If money has already moved, contact your bank and the authorities first.
Talk to a cybersecurity expert
For some problems, checking one message is not enough: an account that may already be taken over, a message you have already acted on or a conversation that has gone on for weeks. For those, FortifiedWall offers a one-on-one video consultation with a cybersecurity expert. The consultation gives general guidance. It is not legal, financial or law-enforcement advice.
Start with a workshop.
The one-hour workshop walks through the five stages. Ask to host one or come to one, and we will reply with the details.