Reality Check Desk guidebooks turn pressure into a slower decision. Use them when a message, call, image, listing, video, fundraiser, invoice, or account alert wants you to act faster than you can verify.
Heads up
Verification boundary
These guidebooks help with recognition, source checks, evidence notes, reporting, and recovery habits. They do not determine authenticity for every file, investigate crimes, recover money, replace professional advice, or teach people how to create scams or deepfakes.
For quick practice between articles, use the Reality Check Desk game track .
Start Here
- Reality Check Quickstart: Verify Before You React
- Known-Channel Callback: The Simplest Scam Filter
- Family Safe Word for AI Voice Scams
- Suspicious Texts: Toll, Bank, Package, Utility, and Government Imposters
- Government, Court, and Police Notice Verification
- Phishing Links Without Panic: Hovering, Previews, Domains, and Safe Checks
- QR Code and Payment Link Checks: Scan Slowly Before You Pay
- Payment App and Bank Transfer Request Verification
- Subscription Renewal and Fake Receipt Checks
- Fake Customer Support Checks: Pop-Ups, Search Results, and Remote Access
- Document Attachment and E-Signature Verification
- Verification Notes: Keep Evidence Without Making a Mess
- AI Image Detection: What Tools Can and Cannot Tell You
- Reverse Image Search: A Practical Verification Workflow
- Screenshot Verification: Crops, Receipts, Context, and Fake Posts
- Deepfake Video Call Red Flags Without Overconfidence
- AI Voice Clones: What Makes Them Convincing
- Content Credentials and C2PA Explained for Normal People
- SynthID, Watermarks, and AI Provenance: What They Mean
- Viral Claim Check: Before You Repost
- Public Figure Deepfakes and Fake Endorsements
- Marketplace Seller Check: Photos, Payment, Pickup, and Pressure
- Vehicle Listing, Title, and VIN Verification
- Marketplace Buyer Checks: Overpayments, Couriers, and Pickup Pressure
- Watch, Sneaker, Ticket, and Collectible Listing Verification
- Pet, Breeder, and Rescue Listing Scams
- Contractor, Solar, Battery, and Home Rebate Scam Checks
- Rental Listing and Roommate Verification Without Panic
- Charity and Disaster Donation Verification
- Travel Booking and Vacation Rental Verification
- Romance Scam Boundaries: When the Conversation Turns to Money
- Crypto, Investment, and Guaranteed Return Verification
- Prize, Grant, and Refund Fee Verification
- Job Offer and Recruiter Scam Checks
- Student Loan, Scholarship, and Tuition Payment Verification
- Small Business Invoice and Vendor Impersonation Checks
- Payroll and Direct-Deposit Change Verification
- Medical Bill and Insurance Call Verification
- ID Document, Selfie, and Verification Upload Requests
- School, Synagogue, Church, and Community Rumor Verification
- Cloned Profile and Friend-Message Verification
- Teen Deepfake Safety: Group Chats, Photos, and Takedowns
- What To Do If Someone Made a Deepfake of You
- Creator Likeness Protection: Channels, Ads, and Fake Profiles
- What To Do If You Sent Money to a Scammer
- What To Do If You Shared a Code, Password, or Account Access
- Recovery Scams: When Help Becomes the Second Trap
- The Verification Kit: Password Managers, Passkeys, Security Keys, and Records
- AI Detectors, Browser Extensions, and Trust Tools: Buying Without Hype
- The Pressure Script: Urgency, Secrecy, Shame, and Scarcity
- Reporting Map: FTC, IC3, Platforms, Banks, and Local Channels
- Reality Check Desk Glossary: Provenance, Spoofing, Smishing, Deepfakes, and More
