Check a message

Nothing leaves your browser, and the tool never opens a link. It looks for warning signs. It cannot tell you a message is safe.

How do I use it?

  1. Paste the message. Copy it from your phone, email or chat app. Do not tap the link first.
  2. Press “Check the message”. The warning signs appear with the matching words highlighted and a plain reason for each.
  3. Read the link section. Each web address is shown in a safe, inactive form with notes on anything odd.
  4. Follow the next steps. They are the same steps in the sources below: do not click, verify through an official channel, report, and block.

Try one of the four made-up examples first. They are written for practice and use no real company, person or address.

What warning signs does it look for?

  • Payment in hard-to-trace ways. Gift cards, crypto, wire transfers and payment apps are hard to reverse.
  • Requests for codes or personal numbers. Verification codes, passwords and Social Security numbers should not be sent by message.
  • Secrecy and isolation. Being told not to tell anyone or not to hang up.
  • Remote access. Being asked to install an app that lets someone control your device.
  • Investment pitches. Guaranteed returns and trading platforms from a stranger.
  • Threats and deadlines. Arrest, suspension, late fees and "final notice" language.
  • Delivery, toll, ticket and DMV lures. The most common themes in text scams.
  • Named brands and agencies. Scammers borrow trusted names.
  • Wrong-number openers. A friendly mistake that starts a long con.
  • Easy-money jobs, prizes and refunds. Rewards for something you never did.
  • Sextortion threats. A demand for money to stop images being shared.
  • Link tricks. Shorteners, bare IP addresses, encoded look-alike names, an @ sign hiding the real site, and a brand name inside an unrelated domain.

These match patterns that the FTC, the Postal Inspection Service and the FBI describe in their scam warnings FTC: How To Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages (read 16 Oct 2026) U.S. Postal Inspection Service: Smishing (updated 19 May 2025) FBI IC3: Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services (April 2024). The rules are our own simplification, not an official test.

What are the limits?

Rules find patterns, not intent. A real bank alert can mention a deadline, and a scam can be written calmly.

  • No score means nothing. A clean result is not a green light.
  • Links are not opened. The tool cannot see where a shortened link ends or whether a site is live. Our website legitimacy checker covers a site you want to look into further.
  • QR codes hide addresses. If the message has a QR image, read it with the QR decoder and paste the address here.
  • English only. Translate other languages first with the optional button below the results.

What should I do with a suspicious message?

Do not click, reply or call the number in it. Contact the real company or agency through a website or phone number you find yourself.

Our text-message and QR code scams guide has the full steps and sources.

How does the optional AI help, and how is it kept honest?

It explains the tactics in plain language, and it is told never to say a message is safe. Chrome’s Prompt API lets a page use a model that Chrome runs on your device. It is listed from Chrome 148 for the web, desktop only, and the first use downloads the model Chrome for Developers: Prompt API (read 22 Oct 2026).

  • Safe wording only. Any sentence that calls the message safe, legitimate or trustworthy is removed.
  • Second opinion. The explanation sits below the rule results and is labelled as unverified.
  • Where it works. Desktop Chrome with enough disk and a capable GPU or 16 GB of RAM. Elsewhere the button explains why it is unavailable and the rules still work.

How does translation work?

Chrome can detect and translate on your device, with no server. The Language Detector and Translator APIs are listed from Chrome 138 on desktop Chrome for Developers: Translator API (read 22 Oct 2026) Chrome for Developers: Language Detector API (read 22 Oct 2026). The first use of a language pair may download a language pack. If your browser lacks them, paste the text into your phone’s translate feature and check the result.

Sources

  1. FTC: How To Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages (read 16 Oct 2026)
  2. FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov (checked 21 Oct 2026)
  3. FBI IC3 (checked 16 Oct 2026)
  4. U.S. Postal Inspection Service: Smishing (updated 19 May 2025)
  5. FTC Consumer Advice: Got a text about unpaid tolls? (17 Jan 2025)
  6. FBI IC3: Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services (April 2024)
  7. FBI: Financially Motivated Sextortion (updated 26 Aug 2026)
  8. NCMEC: Take It Down (read 16 Oct 2026)
  9. Chrome for Developers: Prompt API (read 22 Oct 2026)
  10. Chrome for Developers: Translator API (read 22 Oct 2026)
  11. Chrome for Developers: Language Detector API (read 22 Oct 2026)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Suspicious Message Checker do?

It reads a message you paste and lists the warning signs it finds, such as a payment demand, a deadline, a threat, a code request or a link that does not match the brand named. It also checks the web addresses in the message for tricks like shorteners and look-alike names, without opening them.

Can it tell me a message is safe?

No. It only finds warning signs. A message with none can still be a scam, and a real message can trip a few. When in doubt, contact the company or agency through a website or phone number you find yourself, not one in the message.

Is the message sent anywhere?

No. The text is checked in your browser and the tool never opens a link. The optional AI explanation also runs on your device. Even so, remove names, account numbers and codes before you paste anything you would not want on screen.

What should I do if I already clicked or paid?

Call your bank or card issuer right away, change any password you typed, and watch your statements. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and at ic3.gov if money was lost. Our text-message scams guide has the full steps.

What if the message threatens to share intimate images?

Do not pay, and stop replying. Save the messages, block the sender and report it. If the person is under 18, report it to the FBI, the police or NCMEC. The checker shows a short care note when it sees this pattern, and our sextortion guide covers removal steps.

Does it work on messages that are not in English?

The warning signs are matched in English. On desktop Chrome 138 or later, an optional button detects the language and translates the message on your device, then you can check the translation.

Does it use AI?

The checking is rules-based and works in every browser. An optional button asks your browser’s built-in model, in desktop Chrome 148 or later, to explain the tactics in plain language. It is told never to call a message safe, and it can still be wrong, so treat it as a second opinion.

Next step

Want the whole picture? Read the text-message and QR code scams guide. Checking a website instead of a message? Use the website legitimacy checker.

Text-message and QR code scams Pig-butchering scam guide Sextortion and image removal Website legitimacy checker QR decoder