Free tool
Check before you pay: is this money request real?
A call, voice note, video call, text or email asks you to pay, and it feels urgent. Answer five quick questions to see the warning signs in your answers, what to do next, a script for calling back and where to report it. Nothing you choose here is sent or stored.
Free, no sign-up. Your answers stay on this page: nothing is sent or saved.
Your answer
Answer the questions to see what to do.
Stop. Do not pay this request.
Your answers show a strong sign that this could be a scam. A genuine supplier, customer, colleague or family member will wait while you check. Pressure to pay now, or in a way you can't trace, is how scammers work.
- Don't pay, and don't share gift card numbers, crypto details, codes, passwords or card details, however urgent it sounds.
- End the call or stop replying. A real request will still be there after you've checked it.
- Call the person or company back on a number you already had, such as one saved in your phone, on an old invoice or on their official website. Never use a number or link the request gave you.
- If money or card details have already gone, call your bank or card provider straight away, using the number on your card or statement.
- Report it using the official links for your country below, and warn your staff in case the same people try again.
Hold the payment until you've checked it.
Nothing here proves it's a scam, but nothing proves it's real yet either. Take a few minutes to confirm it with the person directly before any money moves.
- Don't pay yet. A real request can wait the few minutes it takes to check.
- Call them back on a number you already had, not one from the call, the message or an email signature.
- Ask them to confirm the amount, who gets paid and where the money is going. If bank details have changed, confirm the new details on that call.
- If you can't reach them, or they push you to skip the check, treat it as a scam and don't pay.
- Only pay once they've confirmed it, and pay the way you normally pay them.
No warning signs in these answers.
You reached them on a number you already had and nothing in your answers looks like a scam. Still pay only through your normal process, and stop if anything changes.
- Pay the way you normally pay this person or business, with your usual checks and approvals.
- If they come back with new bank details, a new deadline or a different way to pay, stop and check again.
- Keep a short note of who asked, what they asked for and how you confirmed it.
What in your answers points this way
- Scammers ask for gift cards, crypto, wire or money transfer services and cash because once the money is sent it is very hard to trace or recover.
- If you can't reach them on a number you already had, you have no way to know who you are really dealing with.
- A sudden change to bank details or to who gets paid is one of the most common scams aimed at businesses, so confirm it by calling a number you already had.
- If you can't tell whether the payee or bank details have changed, compare them with your last invoice or payment before anything goes out.
- Rushing you or asking you to keep it quiet is the clearest warning sign, because it is meant to stop you from checking with anyone.
- If it feels even slightly rushed or secretive, slow down, because a genuine request can always wait while you check.
- You haven't confirmed it with them yet, and calling them back on a number you already had is the simplest way to find out if it's real.
- A familiar voice or face is not proof on its own, because AI can now copy a person's voice, and even their face on video, from short clips.
- Anyone can claim to be anyone in a text, chat or email, even when the name, logo or email address looks right.
- You confirmed it on a number you already had, which is the strongest check you can make.
What to say when you call back
End the call or chat first. Then call the person or company on a number you already had, such as one saved in your phone, on an old invoice or on their official website. Never use a number from the request. When they answer, you can read this out.
Hi, it's [your name] from [your business]. I've just had a [call / voice note / message / email] that said it was from you, asking me to pay [amount]. Before I pay anything, I'm checking it with you on the number I already have for you. Did you send that request? Can you confirm the amount, who the payment is to and the account it should go to? If anything has changed, I'll only use the details you give me on this call. Thanks. I check every payment request this way, so please don't take it personally. If they say they didn't send it: Thanks for telling me. I won't pay it, and I'll report it.
Where to report it
United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
Before you pay anyone: our rules
These rules apply to every payment request, including one that seems to come from the owner or a manager. Nobody here will be in trouble for stopping to check.
- We never pay with gift cards, crypto, a wire or money transfer service or cash because someone asked, whoever they say they are.
- Payment details only change after a call-back on a known number. Never use a number, link or email address from the request itself.
- If someone rushes you or asks you to keep a payment secret, stop and check with a second person here before doing anything.
- We have a staff code word, agreed in person and never written here or sent by message. Anyone asking for money in the owner's or a manager's name must say it. No code word, no payment.
- A familiar voice or face on a call is not proof. Hang up and call back on the number we already have.
- If money has already gone, tell the owner or a manager and call the bank straight away.
Plain AI Guides, plainaiguides.com/check-before-you-pay/