Trick collection

Every trick on one page

See what scammers try, learn how it works, and practise spotting it.

Each card links to where you can read about a trick, practise spotting it, or check something for it. Recognising a trick makes it easier to stop and check; it does not make anyone immune, and some tricks are not on this list.

Reading every card or using every check does not make anyone safe. It gives you more moments to pause and check.

These marks only show what you have finished on this browser. They don’t mean you are protected from these tricks.

Techniques the scanner looks for

Signs the scanner can find in messages, tokens and addresses. A clean scan is not proof that none of them are present.

• Asking for your secrets

  A message asks for a recovery phrase, password, code or other private detail that no genuine service needs from you.

  • Read the guide
  • Practise: The job offer with a link to sign in
  • Check a message

• A link that hides where it goes

  The visible text or a familiar name points one way; the address underneath leads somewhere the sender chose.

  • Read the guide
  • Practise: Just €1.80?
  • Practise: Park. Scan. Pay?
  • Practise: The job offer with a link to sign in
  • Check a message

• Text you can’t see

  Invisible or look-alike characters and hidden markup make text say something different from what it shows.

  • Read the guide
  • Check a message

• Instructions planted for an AI

  Pasted or fetched content carries orders that an AI assistant may follow instead of yours.

  • Read the guide
  • Check a message

• A token you can buy but not sell

  The contract lets money in and blocks or taxes it on the way out.

  • Read the guide
  • Check a token

• A flagged or sanctioned address

  The address has been reported as malicious or appears on a sanctions list.

  • Read the guide
  • Check an address before you pay

• Pressure to act now

  A deadline, a threat or an emotional push leaves no time to check through a route you trust.

  • Practise: The job that asks for a deposit
  • Practise: The call about a “safe account”
  • Practise: The job offer with a link to sign in
  • Practise: Just €1.80?
  • Practise: It sounds like them
  • Practise: Close it—or call?
  • Check a message

• An address that looks like yours

  A look-alike address planted in your history so that a quick copy pays the attacker.

  • Read the guide
  • Check an address before you pay

• A signature that hands over your tokens

  An approval or permit signature lets someone else move your tokens later.

  • Read the guide
  • Check what a site wants you to sign

• A domain that looks right

  A web address that copies a real one closely enough to pass a glance.

  • Read the guide
  • Check a message

• Chatbot leftovers

  Template or assistant filler left in a message, a sign it was produced in bulk rather than written to you.

  • Read the guide
  • Check a message

Everyday scams in Spot the Trap

The situations the challenges are built around. These are for practice: no scanner can see a phone call or a payment screenshot for you.

A trick with no scanner check is not less important. The scanner simply does not check for it at the moment.

• A job that makes you pay to get paid

  Easy online work shows a growing balance, then asks for a deposit before you can withdraw it.

  • Practise: The job that asks for a deposit

• A fake bank call about a “safe account”

  A caller posing as your bank asks you to move your money to protect it.

  • Practise: The call about a “safe account”

• A fake “I’m not a robot” check that runs code

  A fake verification step asks you to paste and run something on your own computer.

  • Practise: The human check that asks you to run something

• A job offer that steals your login

  An offer you didn’t apply for leads to a sign-in page, an attachment or a card form.

  • Practise: The job offer with a link to sign in

• A fake parcel fee sent by text

  A delivery message asks for a small payment through a link it supplies.

  • Practise: Just €1.80?

• A fake payment screenshot

  A screenshot or message says money was sent; your account is the only proof that counts.

  • Practise: Paid. Can I collect?

• A cloned voice asking for urgent help

  A voice that sounds like someone you know asks for urgent help from a number you don’t have saved.

  • Practise: It sounds like them

• A fake virus warning with a phone number

  A web page imitates a security alert and gives a number or a button to fix it.

  • Practise: Close it—or call?

• A fake QR sticker on a payment sign

  A sticker over a real QR code sends your payment to a page chosen by whoever placed it.

  • Practise: Park. Scan. Pay?

• A paid offer to recover lost money

  Someone offers to recover money you lost, for a fee paid in advance.

  • Practise: A second chance?