SafeHop
About
About SafeHop
SafeHop is an independent project that helps people spot and avoid online scams. We make a free browser extension and a free message checker for everyone, and a paid scam-check API for businesses that want the same protection inside their own apps and websites.
Why we built it
Scams have moved faster than the tools meant to stop them. Fake delivery texts, "your account is at risk" calls, tax-refund messages and lookalike shopping sites now cost people billions every year across the UK, US, India, Japan and beyond. Most people only find out something was a scam after the money is gone. SafeHop exists to give a clear, honest answer before you click, pay or reply.
What we do
- Free browser extension. It checks links, pages and downloads as you browse and warns you about scam ads, fake-alert pages and malicious sites — including ones that hide their behaviour until you interact with them.
- Free message checker. Paste in a suspicious text, email or message and SafeHop reads the wording and where each link really goes, without opening anything. Your message is analysed in your browser and never leaves your device.
- Scam-Check API for businesses. The same engine, available to banks, marketplaces, fintechs and messaging apps so they can screen links and messages for their own users. This is how SafeHop pays for itself and keeps the consumer tools free.
How we approach it
SafeHop focuses on the techniques scammers use — urgency, fake payment pages, hidden page behaviour, lookalike links — not just a list of known bad websites. That lets it catch new scams that no blocklist has seen yet. We explain our reasoning in plain language in our scam guides, and we cite official sources such as national fraud bodies and law-enforcement figures so you can check the facts yourself.
Our principles
- Privacy first. The message checker runs in your browser; your messages aren't stored or sent to us.
- Free for people. The extension and checker are free, funded by the business API rather than by ads or selling data.
- Honest and careful. Our guides are general safety information, not legal or financial advice. We describe scams and the organisations scammers impersonate without accusing any named individual.
- Independent. SafeHop is not affiliated with any bank, courier, government body or other organisation named in our guides; those names appear only to show who scammers pretend to be.
Get in touch
Questions, a scam you'd like us to look at, or a business enquiry about the API? Email [email protected]. For businesses, see the Scam-Check API page.
Want protection right now? Get the free extension, or paste a suspicious message into the free checker — it tells you if it looks like a scam, without opening anything.