SCARS Institute

IS IT A SCAM?

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

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

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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 a telephone call, voicemail, or voice message follows the recognized patterns of impersonation, financial fraud, identity theft, technical-support fraud, extortion, or social engineering. You can save your result to share with a trusted person, 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 a telephone call, voicemail, or voice message follows the recognized patterns of impersonation, financial fraud, identity theft, technical-support fraud, extortion, or social engineering.

Scammers use caller ID spoofing, stolen personal information, professional scripts, artificial intelligence, and cloned voices to appear legitimate. A familiar number, an official agency name, a local area code, a recognizable voice, or an accurate personal detail does not prove that the caller is genuine. This diagnostic looks at the caller's identity, methods, demands, instructions, and resistance to independent verification.

Answer alone. Do not ask the caller to help you answer, and do not stay on the line while you do this.

  1. Answer Yes when the behavior happened, even if the caller gave a convincing explanation.
  2. Answer No only when the behavior did not happen, or when you verified the caller's identity and claims yourself through contact information the caller did not provide.

The result is a Scam Risk Index from 0% to 100%. It measures how closely the call matches recognized phone-scam methods. It does not authenticate a caller or confirm whether any debt, problem, or investigation exists.

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 and not legal advice. A high score identifies a probable crime in progress. A low score does not prove that a caller is genuine.
Answer alone. Hang up before you answer, and do not ask the caller for explanations while you do this. 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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Phone Scam

— A phone scam is a fraud conducted through a live call, robocall, voicemail, or voice message in which a criminal impersonates a trusted person or organization to obtain money, information, account access, or control over a device. The caller may claim to represent a bank, government agency, police department, court, utility company, technology provider, employer, charity, hospital, delivery service, or distressed family member, and caller ID spoofing allows the displayed name and number to appear genuine. The criminal creates fear, urgency, secrecy, authority, or excitement while demanding payment, credentials, security codes, remote access, or immediate action, and artificial intelligence now allows criminals to imitate familiar voices with convincing emotional detail. A person confronted by such a call protects against manipulation by ending the conversation and contacting the claimed individual or organization through independently obtained information, because no legitimate caller needs to prevent verification, demand secrecy, or require unusual payment methods.

— Impersonation and Communication Fraud

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