Email safety, in plain English

Not sure if an email is real? Forward it. We'll tell you.

Forward anything that looks off. Within minutes you'll get a plain-English reply — a clear verdict and the exact reasons we landed on it.

Get startedSee real examples

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  • Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL
  • Reply in minutes
  • Verified numbers for banks, retailers & agencies
7
Scam emails detected
32
Emails checked

Updated regularly. We share these totals so you can see the service in use — we never share who forwarded what.

Anatomy of a reply

Every reply, broken down

Three parts, every time. Here's what each one looks like up close.

A clear verdict

Safe, Suspicious, or Likely scam. One short answer at the top, so you can stop reading there if you want.

Safe
Suspicious
Likely scam

Why, in plain bullets

A short list of the exact things in the email that led us to the answer.

Why we think so

  • The sender's address doesn't match the real bank.
  • The link goes somewhere different than it claims.
  • The urgent tone is unusual for a real bank.

The real number to call

When the email pretends to be from a well-known company, we include the verified number and website we keep on file.

Real bank phone number

1-800-555-0142
Verified from the bank's own website

Getting started

How it works

Three steps. The whole thing takes a couple of minutes, and you only do step 1 once.

Forward the email. Within minutes, the reply lands in your inbox.

Sign up — once

Create your account with your email address and pick a plan. You can cancel any time. We give you a personal forwarding address (it looks like a long email address).

Forward a suspicious email

When something looks off, forward it to your personal address. You can do this from your phone, tablet, or computer.

Read our reply

Within a few minutes, you'll get a reply in the same inbox. It will say whether the email is safe and, if not, what to do next.

See the full step-by-step

Real examples

What our replies look like

Three real replies — one for each kind of verdict we send.

hello@mail.tro-net.com
Re: Likely scam — Fwd: REMINDER - Important information about your online security
To: you@example.com

TRO-NET CHECK

We think this email is a scam.

This is a sextortion scam — a very common fraud where criminals send scary, fake claims about hacking your devices to frighten you into sending Bitcoin. The threats are almost certainly false. Do not pay and do not reply.

Why we think so

  • This is a classic 'sextortion' scam. The sender claims to have hacked your devices and recorded you, then demands money to stay quiet.
  • These claims are almost certainly completely false. This is a mass-produced scam email sent to thousands of people at once.
  • The sender demands $2,000 in Bitcoin — a payment method that cannot be traced or reversed, which is a major scam warning sign.
  • The email uses extreme pressure tactics: a 48-hour deadline, threats to share embarrassing videos, and instructions not to contact police.
  • The email came from a random personal address with no connection to any legitimate organization.
  • The technical signals show that the sending address details do not line up consistently, which is a sign of a suspicious or spoofed sender.
  • The instruction 'Do not contact the police' is itself a red flag — legitimate senders never try to stop you from seeking help.
  • No real hacking group would warn you in advance before acting; the goal is simply to frighten you into paying.

What to do now

  • Do NOT send any money. This is a scam, and paying will not make it go away — it often leads to more demands.
  • Do NOT reply to this email.
  • Do not be embarrassed or frightened — this email was likely sent to thousands of people and the claims about recordings are almost certainly fake.
  • You may report this email to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and to your email provider as spam.
  • If you are worried about your online accounts, it is a good idea to update your passwords as a general precaution.
  • Talk to a trusted family member, friend, or local law enforcement if you feel unsafe or unsure what to do next.

How to reach the real company

If this email claims to be from a company you do business with, contact them using a phone number or website you trust:

Questions about this check? Reply to this email, or contact help@tro-net.com

1 of 3: We think this email is a scam.

Six checks. One reply.

What we look at — and where

Here's a real-looking scam email, with each thing we check pointed to on the part of the email it lives in.

Inbox
From
Bank Security Alerts<alerts@secure-bank-update.tk>
SubjectUrgent: Your account has been locked

Dear Customer,

We detected unusual activity on your account. Please confirm your identity within 24 hours, or your account will be suspended.

Verify now:bit.ly/account-verify-7821

Attached
statement.pdf.exe
Reply-Tono-reply@randomdomain-xyz.ru
Forwarded to us 2,341 times this week

  1. Who really sent it

    We verify the hidden delivery signatures every email carries — the same ones your mail program quietly checks behind the scenes.

  2. Who they're pretending to be

    If the email mentions a well-known name — a bank, a government agency, a shipping company — we check whether it was really sent from their real web address.

  3. What's attached

    We look inside attachments — not just at the name — to spot programs hiding as PDFs or other harmless-looking files.

  4. Where the links go

    We follow every link — even shortened ones — to its real destination, then check it against known scam-site lists.

  5. How it's put together

    Mismatched reply-to addresses, missing identifiers and other small things scammers tend to leave behind all get flagged.

  6. Whether we've seen it before

    If many other people have already forwarded the same scam, we recognize it right away.

Pattern recognition

After a few weeks, you start spotting the same tricks on your own.

Every reply explains the specific clues that gave the email away — the fake-looking address, the urgent tone, the link going to the wrong place. Forwarding stops feeling like a first resort and starts feeling like a safety net.

Safer unsubscribe

Quit the marketing emails you didn't ask for.

When an email is real but it's marketing you'd like to stop, our reply includes a safe unsubscribe link pulled from the email itself. We only offer this on safe emails — clicking unsubscribe on a scam just tells the scammer your address is real.

Our promises

What you can count on

Promises baked into how the service is built — not fine print.

We will never ask for your password

Not for your bank, not for your email, not for anything. If a reply ever asks you to type a password, it isn't from us.

Plain English, every time

No jargon. No code. Each reply tells you what's going on and what to do next, in clear sentences.

Cancel any time

No phone tree, no hold music. You can cancel from your account page whenever you like.

Your forwards are private

We use what you forward to answer you — and nothing else. We don't sell, mine or share it.

Ready when the next strange email arrives?

Two minutes to set up. Forward your first email and see what comes back.

Get startedSee how it works

Frequently asked questions

What does it cost? Will you read my private email? What if I forward the wrong thing? Plain answers to all of it.

Read the FAQ

How does it work?

A step-by-step walkthrough: signing up, finding the Forward button in your email program, and what our reply looks like.

See the full walkthrough