Example result
A sample written for this page: "Your parcel could not be delivered because the address is incomplete. Confirm it within 24 hours and pay the $1.99 redelivery fee: https://parcel-redelivery-help.top/track"
- Assessment
- medium risk
- Confidence
- high (3 kinds of signal)
- Signals matched
- 3, score 4
- Signal 1
- Package delivery problem or a small fee to release it: parcel could not be delivered because the address is incomplete
- Signal 2
- Urgency or a short deadline: within 24 hours
- Signal 3
- A link ending in an uncommon domain ending such as .top or .xyz: parcel-redelivery-help.top
- First step
- Do not click links, open attachments or reply until you have checked it another way.
Captured 2026-10-19.
How it works
- Paste the whole text message into the box, links included. The limit is 4,000 characters.
- Press the button. The checker reads the text against its rules and adds up the weight of each pattern it finds.
- Read the risk band, the signals behind it and the steps for your result. Nothing is clicked or sent for you.
What the checker looks for
Pressure and threats: urgency or a short deadline; threat of arrest, legal action or a shutdown.
Impersonation: package delivery problem or a small fee to release it; unpaid toll, fine or violation; names a well-known organization and carries a link.
Account problems: account problem, suspicious activity or an expiring password.
Requests for codes and details: asks for a password, card number or other personal detail; asks you to send or read out a one-time code or PIN.
Payment demands: asks for payment or codes from gift cards; asks for a wire transfer, crypto or a payment app; asks for a fee up front before money or a loan is released; a charge or renewal you did not make, with a number to call.
Prizes, refunds and job offers: a prize, refund, inheritance or unclaimed money; a job that pays well for little or no experience.
Investment promises: guaranteed or very large investment returns.
Romance and wrong-number openers: a "wrong number" or "do I know you" opener; a romance story that ends in a request for money.
Moving you elsewhere: asks you to continue on WhatsApp, Telegram or another app; asks you to keep it secret; a "reply Y" or "reply STOP" prompt tied to a charge or a link; tells you to call a number about a charge, order or account.
Tech support and remote access: asks you to install or allow remote access software; a virus or hacking warning with a number to call.
Link tricks: a shortened link that hides the real address; a link that goes to a number address instead of a name; a link written with look-alike international characters; a link with an "@" that shows a trusted name before the real site; a link ending in an uncommon domain ending such as .top or .xyz; a link whose domain is spelled like a well-known brand; a very short message that is only a link.
How the result is worked out
Every rule that matches adds its weight, 1 to 3, to a total. A total of 0 reads "no indicators found", 1 to 2 reads "low risk", 3 to 5 reads "medium risk", and 6 or more reads "high risk".
A few rules carry a floor. Asking for gift card payment, an up-front fee to release money, or remote access to your device lifts any result to at least medium risk. Asking you to read out a one-time code does the same when the message also contains a link.
Confidence is a band, not a percentage. It counts how many different kinds of signal matched: one kind is low, two is medium, three or more is high. A result of "no indicators found" always has low confidence, because patterns cannot prove who sent a message.
The text is matched with fixed rules and runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the same text always gives the same result.
Why these patterns
The FTC names four signs of a scam: the sender pretends to be from an organization you know, says there is a problem or a prize, pressures you to act right away, and tells you to pay in a specific way such as a gift card, a wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a payment app. The rules above are built around those signs and the text message versions the FTC describes, such as fake delivery notices and warnings about suspicious activity on an account.
A result of "no scam indicators found" only means none of the rules matched. It does not say who sent the message. When a text asks for money, a code or personal details, check with the organization through a phone number or site you already know.
Every signal the text message checker reads, with its weight
| What it looks for | Kind of signal | Weight | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urgency or a short deadline | Pressure and threats | 1 of 3 | Scammers want you to act before you have time to think or check. A real organization gives you time to decide. | Pause. A deadline in a message is a reason to check, not to hurry. |
| Threat of arrest, legal action or a shutdown | Pressure and threats | 2 of 3 | Threats of arrest, a lawsuit or losing a service are used to scare people into paying or sharing details. | Do not respond to the threat. Contact the organization on a number or site you already know. |
| Package delivery problem or a small fee to release it | Impersonation | 2 of 3 | Fake delivery notices ask for a small fee or an address fix, which sends you to a page that collects card details. | Track the package from the carrier or store you ordered from, by typing its address yourself. |
| Unpaid toll, fine or violation | Impersonation | 2 of 3 | Messages about an unpaid toll, ticket or fine push you to a payment page before you can check whether you owe anything. | Look up the balance on the toll or court site you find yourself, never through the message. |
| Names a well-known organization and carries a link | Impersonation | 1 of 3 | Scammers borrow the name of a bank, carrier, government office or online store so the link looks expected. | Open the organization's own app or site by typing its address, then look for the same notice there. |
| Account problem, suspicious activity or an expiring password | Account problems | 2 of 3 | A made-up account problem is the most common way to get you to click a link and sign in on a fake page. | Do not sign in through the message. Open the real app or site yourself and look for alerts there. |
| Asks for a password, card number or other personal detail | Requests for codes and details | 2 of 3 | An organization that already holds your account does not ask for your password or full card details by message. | Never send these details in reply. If the request might be real, contact the organization through its own site or app. |
| Asks you to send or read out a one-time code or PIN | Requests for codes and details | 2 of 3, with a link lifts the result to at least medium | A one-time code proves it is you. Whoever gets it can sign in as you or approve a payment. | Never share a code with anyone who contacted you. Close the conversation and contact the service yourself. |
| Asks for payment or codes from gift cards | Payment demands | 3 of 3, lifts the result to at least medium | Gift card numbers work like cash and cannot be pulled back. The FTC lists gift cards among the ways scammers insist on being paid. | Do not buy gift cards for anyone who contacted you. If you already did, call the card company right away. |
| Asks for a wire transfer, crypto or a payment app | Payment demands | 2 of 3 | Wire transfers, cryptocurrency and payment apps are hard to reverse, which is why scammers ask for them. | Do not send money to anyone who contacted you first. Confirm the request with a person you already know. |
| Asks for a fee up front before money or a loan is released | Payment demands | 3 of 3, lifts the result to at least medium | The FTC describes advance-fee loan scams: you are told to pay a "processing" or similar fee first, and there is no loan. | Do not pay a fee to receive money or credit. Walk away and do not send anything. |
| A charge or renewal you did not make, with a number to call | Payment demands | 2 of 3 | Fake invoices and renewals make you worry about a charge, then send you to a phone number or page that asks for your details. | Check your real account or card statement. Do not call the number in the message. |
| A prize, refund, inheritance or unclaimed money | Prizes, refunds and job offers | 2 of 3 | The FTC lists a prize or a problem as a common first move. Winning something you never entered, or a refund you did not ask for, is a way in. | Do not pay anything to claim a prize or refund. Real winnings do not ask for money first. |
| A job that pays well for little or no experience | Prizes, refunds and job offers | 2 of 3 | Unsolicited job offers with high pay for simple tasks are used to recruit people into fake checks, payment handling or paid sign-ups. | Look the employer up yourself and apply through its own site. Never take a job that starts with you paying or moving money. |
| Guaranteed or very large investment returns | Investment promises | 2 of 3 | No honest investment can guarantee profit. Promises of fixed or huge returns are the hook of investment scams. | Do not move money. Check the firm with your state securities regulator before any deposit. |
| A "wrong number" or "do I know you" opener | Romance and wrong-number openers | 2 of 3 | A friendly message to the wrong number is a common way to start a conversation that later turns to romance or investing. | You do not need to reply. If you do, do not share personal details or move to another app. |
| A romance story that ends in a request for money | Romance and wrong-number openers | 2 of 3 | The FTC describes romance scams: a new partner far away, a hard-luck story, then a request for money for a ticket, a visa or surgery. | Never send money or gifts to someone you have not met in person. Talk to someone you trust. |
| Asks you to continue on WhatsApp, Telegram or another app | Moving you elsewhere | 2 of 3 | Moving you to a private app takes the conversation away from any filtering or reporting the first service offers. | Stay where you are, or end the conversation. Do not move a chat with a stranger to another app. |
| Asks you to keep it secret | Moving you elsewhere | 2 of 3 | Secrecy keeps the people who could stop the scam, such as family or your bank, from hearing about it. | Tell someone you trust right away. Anyone who asks for secrecy about money is a reason to stop. |
| A "reply Y" or "reply STOP" prompt tied to a charge or a link | Moving you elsewhere | 1 of 3 | Replying confirms your number is active and often unlocks the link, so more messages follow. | Do not reply to unexpected prompts. Forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) and delete it. |
| Tells you to call a number about a charge, order or account | Moving you elsewhere | 2 of 3 | A callback number in the message leads to a scammer, who can then ask for details over the phone. | Use the number printed on your card or the organization's own site, not the one in the message. |
| Asks you to install or allow remote access software | Tech support and remote access | 3 of 3, lifts the result to at least medium | The FTC describes tech support scams: the caller asks for remote access to your computer, then claims to find a problem to charge you for. | Do not install it or give access. Disconnect, and contact the company through the number on its own site. |
| A virus or hacking warning with a number to call | Tech support and remote access | 2 of 3 | Pop-ups and messages claiming your device is infected and telling you to call are how tech support scams start. | Close the page or restart the device. Do not call the number shown. |
| A shortened link that hides the real address | Link tricks | 1 of 3 | A short link hides where it goes until you open it. | Do not open it. Ask the sender for the full address, or look the organization up yourself. |
| A link that goes to a number address instead of a name | Link tricks | 3 of 3 | Real organizations use their own names in links. A bare number address is a sign the page was set up in a hurry. | Do not open it. |
| A link written with look-alike international characters | Link tricks | 2 of 3 | Domain names written with look-alike letters from other alphabets can read like a familiar name while pointing elsewhere. | Do not open it. Type the organization's address yourself. |
| A link with an "@" that shows a trusted name before the real site | Link tricks | 3 of 3 | In an address like trusted-name.com@other-site.com, everything before the @ is ignored and the real destination is the part after it. | Do not open it. |
| A link ending in an uncommon domain ending such as .top or .xyz | Link tricks | 1 of 3 | This is a weak signal on its own, since honest sites use these endings too. It adds weight when other signals are present. | Compare the address with the organization's real site before you open it. |
| A link whose domain is spelled like a well-known brand | Link tricks | 3 of 3 | One changed letter, a number in place of a letter, or a brand name with words added can pass for the real site at a glance. | Do not open it. Type the real site's address yourself. |
| A very short message that is only a link | Link tricks | 1 of 3 | A short note with nothing but a link gives you no way to tell who it is from or why it was sent. | Do not open links from numbers you do not know. |
Sources
- FTC Consumer Advice: How To Avoid a Scam read 2026-10-19
- FTC Consumer Advice: How To Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages read 2026-10-19
This tool is run by LookValid. It is not connected to any agency, company or service named on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Does the checker open the links in my text?
No. It reads the characters of each link to spot tricks such as a number in place of a name, look-alike letters, a hidden "@" or a link shortener. It never visits the address, so nothing on the page can run.
Is my message sent to a server or an AI model?
No. The rules run inside your browser and the page makes no request with your text. The checker is a fixed set of rules, and you can read every one of them in the table above.
Why does a result say "no scam indicators found" instead of calling the text fine?
Because patterns cannot prove who sent a message. A scam written in plain words with no link can match nothing. The result tells you what was found, and the best habit is still to check with the sender through a number or site you already know.
What should I do with a text I am sure is a scam?
The FTC says to forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) so your wireless provider can spot similar messages, and to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Do not reply, click or call the number in it.
Why did a normal text get a low risk band?
A low band means one or two weak signals matched, such as a shortened link. Honest messages can trigger those too. Judge it by context: were you expecting this message, and does it ask for money or details?