How do I check if a message is a scam?

Open isitascam.app on your phone, drop a screenshot of the SMS, WhatsApp chat, DM or email, or paste the text. In a few seconds you get a verdict, a risk score, and the exact words from your message that look like a trap. Nothing leaves the phone.

Is this SMS from my bank or courier a scam in India?

If it asks you to pay a small fee, tap a short link, update KYC, share an OTP, or install an app, treat it as high risk until you verify on the official site or app you open yourself. This checker looks for those patterns: customs fees, KYC expiry, electricity disconnection, digital arrest, UPI collect QR codes and lookalike bank links.

Is digital arrest real?

No. Indian police, the CBI, ED or RBI cannot arrest you on a WhatsApp or Skype video call or make you transfer money to a “safe” or “escrow” account. Hang up. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in if money already moved.

Will a real bank ask for my OTP?

No. A genuine bank SMS sends you an OTP. It never asks you to reply with it, share it, or type it into a random link. If someone claiming to be support wants the code, it is a scam.

Does isitascam.app upload my screenshot?

No. There is no account, no server copy, no database. Reading happens in your browser with on-device OCR. That is why it also works on aeroplane mode after the page has loaded.

Can I check a WhatsApp forward or an email too?

Yes. Screenshot the thread or paste the text. The same rules catch courier phishing, lottery and job-fee lures, IRS tax-refund texts, Netflix billing lookalikes, and gift-card or crypto payment asks.

What should I do if the verdict is SCAM?

Do not pay, do not tap the link, do not install remote-access apps. Open the company website yourself. Call a number you look up, not the number in the message. Share the verdict card with family so they see the quoted words.

Is a UPI collect request or QR from a stranger a scam?

A collect request takes money from you. Decline it unless you started the payment in the official app. Scammers send QR codes after fake refunds, jobs, or courier messages. This checker flags collect-now, scan-to-pay and “pay to verify” language.

Does LOOKS FINE mean the message is safe?

No. It means the text did not match the high-risk patterns we scan for. If money, KYC, OTP or a download is involved, still verify with the company on a number you look up yourself.

Can I use this outside India?

Yes. The same screenshot check catches PayPal, IRS, Netflix, USPS, Apple ID, crypto wallet and gift-card lures used in the US, UK, EU, Australia and elsewhere — plus Indian KYC, courier and digital-arrest texts.

How to check if a WhatsApp or SMS message is a scam

isitascam.app is a free, in-browser tool. You drop in a suspicious SMS, WhatsApp message, DM or email. You get a verdict, a score, and the exact words that look like a scam. Nothing is uploaded.

1. Pick a screenshot

From Photos or Files. Use Camera only if the message is still on the other phone.

2. Or paste the text

If the screenshot is blurry, paste the SMS, WhatsApp message, DM or email instead.

3. Read the quoted flags

Each red flag is a phrase from your message, not generic advice. That is the point.

4. Open reported-scam links

When it matches a known racket — courier fees, KYC, digital arrest, OTP harvest — we show public write-ups of the same pattern. Then share the card on WhatsApp if a parent needs to see it.

Green is not a promise. If money is involved, still call the company on a number you look up yourself.

How to use this scam checker

1. Pick a screenshot

2. Or paste the text

3. Read the quoted flags

4. Open reported-scam links