Scam proof
How to avoid, report, and prevent scams
No phone or day or screen or site stays safe from scammers all the time. But knowing what to avoid—and how to check when you’re unsure—can keep your money, time, and trust intact.
Got a suspicious call?
Check if a phone number is safe with Malwarebytes Scam Number Check. Identify spam and uncover scams for free.
Can you find the scams lurking inside?
Test your scam knowledge by playing “Scam or safe” and sort through real scam messages designed to fool, lure, and scare people into handing over their info, logins, and money.
What is the kill chain?
The dark web hides dark work within, but the path your data takes from discovery to theft to sale to abuse follows a predictable framework called the “kill chain.” In mapping cybercriminal tactics and motives along the chain, Malwarebytes can better identify, intercept, and stop threats.
Where do scammers
find your information?
Across dark web forums and message boards, your data is readily available for purchase, and it can include everything from your Social Security Number to your account logins to your credit card details. These pieces of data are originally stolen through data breaches against companies of all sizes, and cybercriminals later advertise this stolen data on the dark web for sale.
But sometimes, a low-effort scammer can avoid the dark web entirely, searching for your name online to find your info through public “people search sites.”
To find where your data has already been breached, and to start removing your personal information from the web, you can use our free Digital Footprint scanner and sign up for our Personal Data Remover service.
Top tips to see through scams
A scammer can buy your data, spoof a phone number, and clone a website to look just right—but all that means nothing without you making a mistake. So before you click, reply, trust, or pay, practice these four habits to keep yourself safe.
Tip 1
Tip 2
Tip 3
Tip 4
Guard your information
No real bank, government agency, or delivery service will ask you to pay in gift cards, and none will ask for your password. And if someone unexpectedly asks you for any of these, they’re almost certainly running a scam.
Verify the source
Caller ID lies. So do email addresses, logos, and the phone number inside a text. You should only trust contact information you find on the back of your card, on your last statement, or the site you typed in.
Use anti-scam tools
Some scams require a second opinion. Send any text, link, email, number, or image to Malwarebytes Scam Guard to get free, 24/7 assessments and guidance. It takes just seconds and it can save you everything.
Slow down
A favorite tool of any scammer is urgency. But the hasty deadlines, the impending account closures, and the packages stuck in postal limbo are all fake. Slow down, take a breath, and step outside the bluff.
Working with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance
Malwarebytes is a supporting member of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), aligning with organizations worldwide focused on reducing online scams. This membership reflects our broader commitment to scam research and consumer protection, alongside tools like Malwarebytes Scam Guard, our free scam detector built and operated by Malwarebytes.
Free Malwarebytes tools
Scams don’t start with the message you receive. They start with your data—breached, sold, and searched long before anyone reaches out. That’s why our free tools cover the whole chain: find out what’s already exposed, learn how to take it down, block the sites and links scammers send you, check anything that looks off, and clean up whatever gets through
Digital
Footprint Scanner
See which of your accounts and details have turned up in a breach.
Personal
Data Remover
Find where your name, address, and phone number are listed on people-search sites and receive free DIY guides to remove your info.