Checking a scam link 3 free tools, 30 seconds to an answer

The email that almost worked

In Aug 2026, someone in my family got an email titled "transaction record". Her name was right, her phone number was right, her email was right. It said she had placed an order for NT$16,710 on a shopping platform, paid with a "3-month interest-free installment" plan, and that the money would be taken today. It also said the case would be "reported to the Joint Credit Information Center". At the bottom sat a big "Cancel order" button, and next to it, "Contact our official LINE support".

She had never placed that order. Her first thought was: has my card been stolen?

No. This is a phishing email. It knows your name because your details leaked from some shopping site a long time ago and got sold to a scam ring in bulk. What it actually wants is for you to panic, hit "Cancel order", add that LINE "support" account, and then hand over your card number step by step.If you never interact, the act has nowhere to go.

So how do you confirm it is fake in 30 seconds? Check the link.

First tool: check the link's "birth date"

Scam sites almost always use throwaway domains, used once and dumped, so they live a very short life. A shopping platform that claims years of history but has a domain registered days ago, that alone closes the case.

Go to the official ICANN lookup page (lookup.icann.org), paste the link in, and look at the Registration date:

The real lookup: the "shopping platform" domain from that email
Creation Date: 2026-08-16(born two days before the email reached my family) Registrant: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY (anonymous registration) Domain ending: .top (a cheap TLD scam rings love)

Three signals showing up together, freshly registered, anonymous, cheap domain, and there is nothing left to wonder about.

Second tool: check whether it has been reported

The 165 anti-fraud dashboard(165dashboard.tw) is the official site of Taiwan's police 165 anti-fraud hotline. You can look up a link or a phone number and see whether the public has reported it, and it also shows the scam tactics trending lately.

No result does not mean safe, a brand new scam site may simply not be reported yet. But a hit is proof.

Third tool: check the trust score

Two international tools. Paste the link in and they answer:

4 tells you can spot with no tools at all

1｜It has nothing on you.The page in this case said it itself: "Billing account: no payment provider specified". Translation: it does not have your card number and cannot take a cent, which is exactly why it has to put on a show and get you to hand it over.

2｜It scares you with official-sounding institutions."Reported to the Joint Credit Information Center" and "referred for prosecution" are just lines. A shopping site has no such power. A real financial institution never handles a dispute through a button inside an email.

3｜Support exists only on LINE.A legitimate platform has a support phone number and an order page behind a login on its own site. When all you get is one LINE button, adding it is where the script starts.

4｜It pushes you to act right now."Today is the contract billing date", "late payment will affect your credit". Manufacturing urgency so you have no time to think is the shared recipe of every scam.

Got an email like this? Do it in this order

Do not click, do not add, do not reply.No cancel button, no LINE account, no reply. Delete it, or report it as phishing.

Want to be sure? Check the link with the tools above, or call the 165 anti-fraud hotline and read the link out to them. Report it through the official channel: 165.npa.gov.tw.

Change your email password and turn on two-step verification.Your address is already on a leaked list. This is the cheapest way to stop the bleeding.

Stay alert for the next few weeks.The same list usually gets used a second time. If someone calls claiming to be your bank, a support agent or the police and says your full name, hang up and call 165 to verify.

Remember one thing. They only have your contact details, not your money. The money leaves your account only if you move it yourself.

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