SCARS Institute

IS IT A SCAM?

A SCARS Institute Scam Detection Diagnostic: Email Scams
25 Yes-or-No Questions

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We never see your identity

Your answers are processed in your browser. Only you see any identifying information about you. Nothing about you, or about the email or sender you are assessing, is stored.

De-identified data supports research

With your permission and your identity removed, your de-identified answers are sent to the SCARS Institute for scientific research only. Data is never shared with third parties.

Save your work and return later

You have the option to save your work and return later as you wish. Each finished section is saved to the SCARS Institute under a resume code, without your identity. Your resume code is the only way to bring your answers back, so keep it somewhere safe and treat it like a password.

The SCARS Institute provides this diagnostic to help you find out whether an email follows the recognized patterns of phishing, impersonation, credential theft, malicious software delivery, financial fraud, business email compromise, payment diversion, identity theft, or social engineering. You can save your result to share with a trusted person, your employer, your bank, or law enforcement.

Start or Continue

Twenty-five Yes-or-No questions in five sections. Most people finish in ten minutes. If you need to stop, your answers are saved at the end of each section under a resume code.

Start the diagnostic

You will receive a resume code so you can stop and return on any device.

Enter a resume code

Pick up where you stopped, or bring back a finished result from the past 90 days.

Before You Begin

This diagnostic checks whether an email follows the recognized patterns of phishing, impersonation, credential theft, malicious software delivery, financial fraud, business email compromise, payment diversion, identity theft, or social engineering.

A fraudulent email can appear to come from a bank, government agency, employer, executive, coworker, vendor, attorney, delivery company, technology provider, charity, or family member. Criminals forge sender information, imitate real domains, take over real email accounts, copy authentic branding, and use details gathered from public sources and data breaches. Correct spelling, professional formatting, accurate personal information, and a familiar sender address do not prove an email is genuine.

Answer alone. Do not reply to the email or ask the sender to help you answer.

  1. Answer Yes when the behavior or condition is present, even if the message gives a reasonable explanation.
  2. Answer No only when the condition is absent, or when you verified the sender and the request yourself through a channel not supplied in the email.

The result is a Scam Risk Index from 0% to 100%. It measures how closely the email matches recognized email scam patterns. It does not authenticate the sender or tell you whether a device has been infected.

Please Note. This diagnostic was developed by the SCARS Institute from its work with tens of thousands of scam victims. It is a crime-detection screening tool, not a psychological assessment, not a security audit, and not legal advice. A high score identifies a probable crime in progress. A low score does not prove that an email is genuine.
Answer alone. Do not reply to the email, click its links, or open its attachments while you answer. Your answers are saved in this browser as you go and to the SCARS Institute at the end of each section.
Why this matters
Answer Yes or No to continue
Save this result before leaving the page. Use the "Save My Results" button below. Your resume code also brings this result back for 90 days.
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Email Scam

— An email scam is a fraudulent communication sent to deceive a recipient into revealing information, transferring money, opening a harmful attachment, visiting a fraudulent website, or performing an action that benefits a criminal. The message commonly impersonates a financial institution, government agency, employer, executive, delivery service, technology company, charity, vendor, or familiar contact while using copied logos, forged sender information, false invoices, account warnings, fabricated emergencies, or promises of refunds and rewards. Criminals create urgency and direct the recipient toward links, attachments, telephone numbers, payment instructions, or changed banking details that remain under criminal control, and sophisticated messages frequently contain accurate personal or organizational information obtained through research, data breaches, or compromised accounts. A recipient protects against the scheme by refusing to use the contact information within the message and independently contacting the claimed sender through a trusted website, known telephone number, or established business channel before responding or taking action.

— Cybercrime and Communication Fraud

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