What the scam checker looks at
- Phishing, malware and scam lists. More than 350,000 known phishing, malware and fake-shop domains, refreshed every four hours. The lists are built by the open-source Yuix-Networks/blocklists project from HaGeZi's threat intelligence feeds, the same lists that protect Macs running Tidy My Mac.
- The domain's age. We ask the registry when the name was registered. Most scam shops and phishing pages are days or weeks old.
- Borrowed brand names. Addresses like apple-id-verify.top or paypa1.com, and names written with look-alike letters from other alphabets.
- Other red flags. Link shorteners, free page hosts, a bare IP address, cheap endings scammers favour, and names that don't point to any server.
How can I tell if a website is a scam?
Check the site's real name in the address bar, how long its domain has existed, and whether it is on a phishing or scam list. This checker does all three, without opening the site.
Why does a new domain get a warning?
Most scam sites live only days or weeks before they are reported and replaced. A young domain isn't proof of a scam, but it is a reason to look more closely before you pay.
The site has a padlock. Isn't it safe?
No. The padlock means the connection is encrypted, not that the site is honest. Free SSL certificates mean nearly every phishing site has one.
Found a scam site?
Report it here. Every report is reviewed, and confirmed sites are added to the lists at their next update.
Read more about the app behind these lists in our post Tidy My Mac: a Mac cleaner with antivirus and Web Protection.