GACS — Free Scam Checker & Anti-Fraud Shield

On iPhone, turn on Silence Unknown Callers in Settings > Phone. On Android, open the Phone app menu, then Caller ID & spam, and switch on spam filtering. Your carrier can also block flagged calls before they ring. The step-by-step guides cover iPhone, Android and each major US carrier.

Block Scam Likely calls — step by step

“Scam Likely” is a label your carrier adds before the call reaches you — it is not the caller's real name. T-Mobile, Metro and other networks compare the number against known robocall and spoofing patterns and tag it. The call can still ring, so the safest response is to let it go to voicemail and never call the number back.

What Scam Likely means

In the US, report money loss or online crime to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov, and report the scam itself to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Tell your bank or the exchange first if money moved. Canada uses the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre; the UK uses Action Fraud. File with your local police too if you need a report number for your bank or insurer.

Where to report a scam

You will usually not get a personal case update, and IC3 does not recover funds for you. Reports are pooled so investigators can link victims to the same network, and fast reports have helped freeze wire transfers through the FBI's recovery process. Treat it as evidence-building, not a refund route — your bank or the exchange is what can still reverse a payment.

How to report to the FTC and IC3

Almost always yes. Fake renewal invoices copy antivirus, tech-support and “Geek Squad” style branding, show a large charge, and give a phone number to “cancel”. There is no charge — the number connects to a scammer who asks for remote access to your computer or your bank login. Do not call it. Check your real bank statement, and check the sender against our email and phishing tools.

Check a phishing email or invoice

Brand impersonation is the most common scam opener: a call or email claiming a suspicious order, a locked account, or a refund owed. No real company asks you to move money, buy gift cards, install remote-access software, or read out a one-time code. Hang up and reach the company through its own app or the number on your card, never a number in the message.

Most impersonated brands

Real collectors will send written validation of the debt and let you verify them before you pay; US law gives you the right to request that in writing. Fakes push for instant payment by gift card, crypto or wire, threaten arrest, and refuse to identify the original creditor. Never pay from a call you did not initiate — hang up and call the original creditor yourself.

Payment-demand warning signs

Do not reply and do not tap STOP on a text you did not sign up for — a reply confirms the number is live. Report it to 7726 (SPAM), block the sender, and enable message filtering on your phone. Check any link in the text before you open it.

Stop spam texts and robocalls

Paste the address into the GACS Bitcoin address lookup. It checks the address against reported scam wallets in our registry, shows the reports attached to it, and flags patterns typical of investment, sextortion and giveaway scams before you send anything.

Bitcoin address lookup

Wallets are pseudonymous, so no tool can give you a verified name. What you can check is history: run the address through the GACS wallet checker to see reported scam links, the age and activity of the address, and whether it has been named in community reports.

Check a crypto wallet

Paste the address into the GACS website checker. It matches the domain against 410,000+ confirmed scam sites, then weighs domain age, WHOIS history, hosting and redirect chains, and community reports, and returns Safe, Caution or Danger with the exact signals listed.

Check if a website is legit

Capture screenshots and the profile URL first, then report the account to the platform and to GACS so future scans warn the people they contact. Warn your followers directly. Our impersonation walkthrough has the reporting links for X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.

Someone is impersonating me

Treat any upfront-fee recovery offer as a scam. Recovery fraud targets people who were already scammed, often using the same stolen contact lists. GACS never recovers funds and never charges for help. Real recovery only happens through your bank, the exchange, or law enforcement.

Recovery scam warning signs

Never use the link or number in the message. Close it and contact your bank using the number on your card or in the official app. Banks do not ask you to move money to a “safe account”, read out a one-time code, or install remote-access software.

Bank impersonation and fraud

Contact your bank or the exchange immediately and ask them to freeze or recall the payment; speed matters most in the first hour. Keep every message, receipt and address. Then report to your national fraud authority. The Panic Guide walks you through it in order.

Panic Guide — first hour after a scam

Yes. The scam checker, registry, alerts and guides are free and ad-free, with no ads, no deposits and no wallet access required. We use first-party analytics (Google Tag Manager, IP-hashed) to improve the product and never sell data.

Open the Social Shield on the homepage. The Social Profile Scan tab lets you enter any username, handle, or profile URL to check for impersonation patterns and scam signals. The Scan My Following tab audits who you follow on X for hidden impersonator or scam accounts.

A long-con romance/investment scam where the victim is groomed over weeks before being directed to a fake investment platform. GACS provides specific tooling and warnings for this pattern.

GACS does not recover funds and warns against any service that promises to. We provide a step-by-step Panic Guide and direct reporting links to the right authorities for your jurisdiction.

Anonymous scans are not tied to an account and are not retained beyond short-term abuse-prevention logs. If you create a free account, your scan history is saved only to your account so we can re-alert you when a verdict changes. We never sell data and we don't run third-party ad trackers.

GACS combines our public blacklist of 410,000+ confirmed scams, live community reports, on-chain wallet history, domain and WHOIS signals, social-account age and impersonation patterns, and known scam-template matches. Each verdict lists the specific signals that triggered it so you can audit the result.

Use the Report a Scam page to submit a URL, wallet, handle, or message with optional evidence. Reports are reviewed and, once corroborated, added to the public scam database so future scans warn other users automatically.

The consumer scam checker is free and always will be. GACS is funded by donations plus optional paid training (diplomas) and protection subscriptions — never by ads, and never by selling user data. Scam verdicts are completely separate from revenue: no one can pay to be removed from or kept off the blacklist. We will never ask for seed phrases or wallet access.

Choose a GACS diploma course, work through the free study book and practice drills at your own pace, then sit the online exam. Passing issues a diploma certificate with a public verification page you can link to on a CV or LinkedIn. There are no entry requirements, no interviews, and no fixed start dates.

Yes. Crypto Risk Certifications offers free fraud awareness training in scam typologies, OSINT, fraud prevention and blockchain investigation — the core skills employers list for fraud analyst jobs. All study material is free; graded exams lead to a verifiable fraud certification you can link on a CV or LinkedIn. Start at gacs.app/academy.

Most GACS diploma courses take 4 to 8 weeks of part-time study, but they are fully self-paced so you can finish faster. All study material, intro modules and practice drills are free; you only pay when you choose to sit the certified exam and claim the diploma.

Paste the address into the GACS website checker. We match it against 410,000+ confirmed scam domains, then weigh domain age and WHOIS history, hosting and redirect chains, community reports, and known scam-template matches. You get Safe, Caution or Danger with the exact signals listed, and you can report the site in one click if it is new to us.

Copy the link without opening it and run it through the GACS link checker. It expands shortened links, follows redirects, checks the final destination against the scam registry and known phishing-kit patterns, and flags lookalike domains that imitate a bank, courier or crypto exchange.

Use the GACS email checker: paste the sender address and the message. It checks the sender domain against known phishing and impersonation reports, inspects the links inside the message, and flags the classic pressure patterns — unpaid fee, account suspended, refund waiting, invoice attached.

Enter the number in the GACS scam phone number check. It matches reported scam and spoofed numbers, shows what other people said the caller claimed, and links the two-minute guides for blocking “Scam Likely” calls and stopping spam texts on iPhone and Android.

Look for urgency, lookalike domains, mismatched sender addresses, and links that don't match the claimed brand. Paste the URL or email into the GACS phishing checker to see if it matches known phishing kits, spoofed domains, or reported impersonation patterns.

Fake job scams ask for upfront fees, personal documents, or crypto payments before you start. Use the GACS fake job offer check to compare the company, recruiter, and payment request against reported employment scams and Telegram job-scam patterns.

A crypto investment scam promises guaranteed returns, fake trading profits, or exclusive token deals to push you into depositing funds. GACS flags these through the investment scam checker and crypto scam checker by matching wallet addresses, platforms, and known scam templates.

Romance scams build trust over days or weeks, then invent an emergency, investment opportunity, or crypto platform that needs your money. GACS offers a romance scam checker and warning-signs guide so you can verify a profile or story before sending anything.