# Is this link safe? Check it without clicking

> Check a suspicious link without opening it, test whether an email came from its sender, spot scam red flags, and know what to do if you clicked or paid.

- Canonical URL: https://threatvetting.com/
- Source: [FTC, how to recognize and avoid phishing scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams)
- Checked: 2026-10-26
- Structured data: https://threatvetting.com/data/home.json

This page includes a free interactive tool that runs in the browser and sends no data. The figures and rules it uses are the ones stated on this page, with their sources.

Paste a link, a set of email headers or a description of a message into the checker above. The link is read as text and never opened, and nothing you paste leaves your browser.

## The habit that beats most scams

Do not act on the message itself. Whatever it says, reach the company through a channel you already trust: the number on your card, its app, or an address you type yourself. That is the FTC's core advice ([FTC](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams)), and it works even when a scam is too new for any checker to recognise.

When you do want to look at a link, the part that matters is the registrable domain, the name just before the public ending. The ending can have several parts (.co.uk) or belong to a hosting service where anyone can make a site (github.io, netlify.app), which is why our checker uses a simplified copy of the Public Suffix List instead of "the last two parts". The method is on [how to check a link is safe](https://threatvetting.com/how-to-check-a-link-is-safe/).

## Scams people search for most

| You received | Read |
|---|---|
| A text about an unpaid toll or a parcel | [Toll and parcel text scams](https://threatvetting.com/toll-and-parcel-text-scams/) |
| A QR code on a parking meter, flyer or email | [QR code scams](https://threatvetting.com/qr-code-scams/) |
| An ad for a shop with prices that look too good | [Is this website legit?](https://threatvetting.com/is-this-website-legit/) |
| An email that looks like your bank or a supplier | [Check if an email is real](https://threatvetting.com/check-if-an-email-is-real/) and [the red flags](https://threatvetting.com/signs-a-message-is-a-scam/) |

## Already clicked, paid or typed a password?

Go in this order: stop the money first ([by payment type](https://threatvetting.com/gave-my-details-to-a-scammer/)), then secure the device ([computer](https://threatvetting.com/i-clicked-a-phishing-link/), [iPhone](https://threatvetting.com/i-clicked-a-phishing-link-on-my-iphone/), [Android](https://threatvetting.com/i-clicked-a-phishing-link-on-android/)), then [report it](https://threatvetting.com/how-to-report-a-scam-email-or-text/). What each check looks for, and what none of them can see, is on the [sources page](https://threatvetting.com/sources/).

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Threat Vetting · Contact: contact@threatvetting.com