You don't have to get suspicious of everybody.

You add one step.

Scammers are not beating people because people are foolish. They are beating people because they are good at their jobs, and because they arrive when you are tired, or busy, or worried about someone you love.

So we are not going to ask you to be smarter than a professional. We are going to ask you to be slower than one.

The three steps

Before any money moves, before any code is read out loud, before anyone touches your computer:

1. Look up the number yourself. Not the number they gave you. The one on your card, your statement, the back of your bill.

2. Call the person yourself. Hang up first. Then call. If it was real, they will still be there.

3. Wait a day. Real problems survive a night's sleep. Scams do not.

That's the whole method. Everything else on this site is these three steps applied to a specific situation.

What kind of call did you get?

Pick the one closest to what's happening. Each page tells you exactly what to do next.

A grandchild in troubleThe bail money call Someone says they've kidnapped my familyScreaming on the phone, a twenty-minute clock Someone I met onlineAsking for money, never met in person A scary popup on my screenFake virus warning, a number to call "Microsoft" or my bank called meUnsolicited tech support or bank calls Someone from the governmentIRS, Social Security, police impersonators A text about a package or tollDelivery, toll, or recall texts A suspicious email or textPhishing — links, "verify your account" A job wants me to pay firstFake recruiters, work-from-home offers An investment that sounds too goodCrypto and investment schemes It sounded exactly like themAI-cloned voices Someone at my door about repairsHome repair and contractor scams Someone offering to get my money backRecovery scams, for people already scammed once

I already sent money. What do I do?

Nothing is happening — I want to be ready

Someone I love is being targeted

Why "trust but verify"

It's an old translation of a Russian proverb — doveryai, no proveryai — and it was said so often in the 1980s that most Americans over sixty can finish the phrase without being prompted.

We chose it for what it does not say. It does not say trust nobody. It does not say the world is full of liars and you're a fool for not seeing it. It says: go ahead and trust. Then check. The two were never in conflict.

What this is

A volunteer project. Free, and staying free. No products, no sponsors, no advertising, no mailing list, no donation button. No cookies, no accounts, nothing sold or shared. We keep one anonymous number — how many people visited each page — with no way to trace it back to you. A website about not getting your information taken should say plainly what little it keeps, and it does.

Everything here can be printed, copied, translated, read aloud, or handed to a neighbor without asking us. That's the point.

Read this in: Español · Tiếng Việt · 中文 · Русский · 한국어 · Tagalog · हिन्दी · বাংলা · العربية · اردو · فارسی · پښتو · Հայերեն · አማርኛ · Shqip · 日本語 · Deutsch · Français · Português · Polski · Română · Українська · Bahasa Indonesia

All of these are AI translations and no native speaker has checked them yet. Each one says so at the top, in its own language, and none of them should be printed until someone has. If you speak one of them, an hour of your time would fix that.