is this a scam?

Look for urgency ("act now!"), requests for personal information, suspicious links with misspelled domains, and messages from unknown numbers claiming to be banks, delivery services, or government agencies. Paste the message into suss. for an instant AI analysis that checks against 354 known scam patterns.

Act fast: contact your bank to freeze transactions, change passwords on any compromised accounts, report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and file a report with the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov. If you sent crypto, contact the exchange immediately. Document everything — screenshots, transaction IDs, phone numbers.

Generally no. Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, and wire transfers are designed for sending money to people you know and trust. Once sent, the money is usually gone. Banks may help with unauthorized transactions, but if you willingly sent the money (even under false pretenses), recovery is extremely difficult.

Through data breaches (check haveibeenpwned.com), social media profiles, public records, people-search sites, and purchased marketing lists. Some scammers use autodialers that call every possible number combination. You can reduce exposure by removing yourself from data broker sites and keeping your number off public profiles.

Phishing is when scammers impersonate a trusted entity (your bank, Amazon, the IRS) via email, text, or fake websites to steal your login credentials, credit card numbers, or personal information. Modern phishing messages look nearly identical to real ones — always verify by going directly to the company's official website instead of clicking links.

Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov, and your state attorney general. For phone scams, also report to the FCC. For email phishing, forward to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org. Reporting helps law enforcement track scam networks and warn others.