How ScamBlock works
What happens when someone opens a site
Three things happen in a fraction of a second.
Step 1 of 3 · On mobile data, out of the house · Example, made-up site names
Someone in the family taps a parcel SMS link on mobile data. The phone asks where courier-fee.example is.
The request reaches ScamBlock and is checked against known scam delivery links.
ScamBlock blocks the scam before it loads. The phone gets a block page instead of the site.
What is a lookup?
Before your phone, tablet or laptop can open a website, it has to ask where that website lives. It sends a short question, something like “where is example.com?”, and gets an answer back. That question is a DNS lookup. Every site, app and link triggers one. Your device normally asks whoever runs your Wi-Fi or mobile network. With ScamBlock, it asks ScamBlock instead.
What gets blocked
ScamBlock checks each lookup before it is answered. We block:
- known scam and fake websites: fake banks, couriers, shops and investment sites, before they load;
- known malware sites;
- lookups that carry an ID number, card number or bank account number out of a family device, and alert you when this happens.
No filter catches everything. ScamBlock can't stop a scam phone call or someone being talked into sharing a PIN. It stops the fake websites those scams send you to.
What happens when something is blocked
Instead of the dangerous page, you see a simple block page. It says that ScamBlock stopped the site and gives the reason, for example that it is a known scam or fake website. The page never loads, so nothing from it reaches your device.
See it block a scam
Pick an example, then watch what happens on the phone, step by step. Click any step to look at it for as long as you like.
Example - no real sites are visited
A parcel SMS arrives with a link. Watch what happens between the tap and the page.
The link in the message leads to a made-up parcel fee page. ScamBlock answers the lookup before the page can load.
Today
What we see, and what we don't
What we see
- The website name your device asked for, and when.
- What we did with it: allowed or blocked, and why.
- Your device by the label you chose, such as “Mom's phone”.
- Masked number-leak alerts, if found.
What we don't see
- The pages you read or what you type on them.
- Your WhatsApp chats, SMSes, emails or files.
- Your passwords.
- Anything on a device that is not using your ScamBlock address.
Lookup records are hashed and kept according to our retention rules. We do not sell your information. Full details are in the privacy policy.
If ScamBlock can't be reached
ScamBlock works by answering your device's lookups, so your device needs to be able to reach it. On Android, if Private DNS is set to a hostname and your device cannot reach the server, lookups stop until it can reach ScamBlock again. Switching Private DNS back to Automatic restores normal internet straight away. Our setup guides show how to switch ScamBlock off on each device.
Where it works
Because the protection is set on each phone, tablet and laptop itself, it works at home, at work and on mobile data — with no hardware and no router changes.