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Part of Scampedia's scam-database work — 121+ real, documented scams and counting — and the same real-time detection used in the VerifyGuard app. Every fact here that can go out of date (which tool to use, which number to call) is checked against its real, current source before it's published, and reviewed on a set schedule — the "Last reviewed" date on each lesson is real, not a deploy timestamp.
Where Did This Come From?
Before you look at anything else, notice one thing — did you go looking for this, or did it arrive on its own? Something you didn't ask for deserves a different level of attention than something you went and found yourself.
FreeReverse Image Search
Reverse image search shows you every other place a photo has shown up online — which reveals whether it's an old stock photo, a picture of someone else being used without their knowledge, or something that's been circulating for years before it landed in your message. It's free, takes under a minute, and works from your phone or a computer.
FreeWhat Is It Actually Asking You to Do?
Four things show up in almost every scam request — urgency, secrecy, an unusual payment method, and pressure to keep it from people who'd normally help — and they're not four separate warning signs, they're one system working together. A real photo or a familiar voice attached to a request shaped like that is still a scam.
FreeContent Credentials and C2PA
Some photos and videos now carry a real, checkable record of where they came from, called Content Credentials — but most images never had one, and a photo missing one is not more suspicious than any other ordinary photo. Presence can tell you something real; absence tells you nothing at all.
FreeWhy "Just Look at the Hands" Stopped Working
Counting fingers or looking for garbled text used to be a real way to catch an AI-generated image — it doesn't work reliably anymore. Every visual flaw that became well-known enough to teach is exactly the flaw a model's next version gets built to fix.
FreeWhat to Do When You're Not Sure
When you can't tell whether something's real, the fix isn't to look closer — it's to reach out a different way than the message reached you. Call the number already saved in your phone, not the one you were just given.