Guides

Each guide explains what one group of our checks looks at, what a result means, its normal causes, and what you can do. Every check's "Find out more" link opens its section here.

• How to tell if a website is legit
  How to check whether a website or online shop is real before you buy: contact details, the padlock, trust badges, social links, template text and how you pay. No check proves a site is honest.
• How to check if a link is safe
  How to see where a link really goes, what link checkers and blocklists can and cannot tell you, and what to do if you already clicked a suspicious link.
• How old is a website?
  How to find when a website's address was registered, why a very new address is a warning sign, what an old address cannot prove, and how to see a site's past copies.
• Typosquatting and look-alike addresses
  Typosquatting explained: misspelled and look-alike web addresses that copy a brand, the common tricks, how to read an address, and how a password manager helps.
• How to spot a phishing email
  How to tell a phishing email from a real one: the sender's real address, look-alike domains, whether a From line can be faked, the pressure words, and what to do next.
• Scam text messages and calls
  How to spot a scam text (smishing): the pressure wording, the links, what kind of phone number it gives, how to check a message is real, and where to forward it in each country.
• Asked to pay by bank transfer, crypto or gift card
  Why a shop that takes only bank transfer, crypto, a payment app or gift cards is a warning sign, which ways to pay give you a way back, and what to do at once if you already paid.