Method and Limits

Do you have the message in front of you?

Check a suspicious SMS, email, link or call with the fraud checker.

Open the checker

Useful strengths

• Fast detection of recurring Belgian scam patterns.
• Immediate advice suitable for everyday use by citizens.

Limits to accept

• A page or a message can change after it has been published.
• The site does not replace official support, your bank, the police or a legal professional.

Calibration method

• The rules are tested against fraudulent and legitimate cases to measure false positives, false negatives and consistency across SMS, email, calls and URLs.
• A new case does not become a general rule based on a single example. It is added as a regression when it reveals a defensible and repeatable mechanism.

Known limits

• Very short content, a purely spoken conversation or a relationship scam with no link may provide few technical clues. The quality of the result depends on the elements actually described.
• The engine does not access private accounts, does not see bank transactions and cannot confirm the civil identity of a contact.

What to do now

• If you have not acted, do not click further and open the named service's official channel yourself.
• If you clicked, close the page, enter nothing else and note what information was shown or requested.
• If you shared a code, card, password or payment, contact your bank or the relevant official service immediately.
• Keep the message, time, link used and any useful screenshots. Share them only with an official reporting channel or a trusted helper.

Limits of this page

• This page does not prove that a message is safe and does not replace your bank, the police, Safeonweb, a platform or a public service.
• A scam may be new, very well written or described with too little context. Use the result as decision support, not as absolute certainty.
• Before taking a final action, checking through the official channel matters more than the appearance of the received message.

Check through an official channel

• Type the service address yourself or open the official app. Do not use a phone number, link or QR code from the suspicious message to verify the situation.
• When money, card details, a code or account access are involved, the safety action comes first. The analysis can then help organise the evidence.

How to read the result

• A low number of signals does not mean that everything is safe. It only means that this page or analysis did not find decisive evidence with the information available.
• Focus on the requested action: paying, sharing a code, installing an app, approving a bank action or leaving an official platform. That action matters more than a logo, sender name or polished wording.
• If the situation feels urgent, step away from the received message first. Then check calmly through a channel you already trusted before the message arrived.

Belgian reading of this situation

• For this this method and limits situation situation, focus on the relevant Belgian next step: open the official channel yourself, contact the bank, use Safeonweb or preserve evidence.
• The right décision for this this method and limits situation situation depends on what has already happened. Reading a message is not the same as clicking, paying, sharing a code or granting remote access.

How to use this page

• Use this page about this method and limits situation to understand what StopArnaques can show, what still needs vérification and which information is still missing before a public launch.
• This is not marketing proof. It helps assess trust, method, data protection and contact options honestly.

What to do with this page

• If you have a suspicious message, use the detector or a practical fraud page. If you want to assess the project, focus here on method, limits and correction channels.
• When légal or organisational information is missing, that gap remains visible instead of being hidden.

Evidence still needed

• A nationally credible project page shows sources, corrections, responsible parties, data use and limits without promising more than the system can actually prove.
• Missing légal, organisational or operational details remain visible as open points until they are completed by a real décision.

Limits of this project page

• This page does not replace a légal notice, privacy audit, official recognition or partnership. It only explains how the project works and where users should remain cautious.
• If someone already shared money, codes, card data or account access, they should not stay on this project page: use the action guides and contact the relevant service.

What the reader can verify

• Check whether the page clearly states who is speaking, which sources are used, what data may be processed and which promise is not being made.
• A public project page is strong only when a non-technical reader understands how an error can be reported, how information is updated and why the analysis remains cautious.

Frequently asked questions

Useful official sources

• SPF Économie - Victime d'une arnaque ? Que faire ? - link checked on 2026-10-26
• Centre pour la Cybersécurité Belgique - Collaboration avec la Police Judiciaire Fédérale contre le phishing - link checked on 2026-10-26
• ConsumerConnect - Message suspect concernant votre compte ou carte bancaire - link checked on 2026-10-26
• Safeonweb - Au secours, j'ai cliqué sur un faux lien - link checked on 2026-10-26
• Safeonweb - Un appel de Card Stop ? Attention, arnaque - link checked on 2026-10-26

Transparency and Sources

Last updated

2026-10-22

Latest recorded source check

2026-10-26

Content status

information published with visible sources and clear limits

Official sources cited

5

Editorial responsibility

StopArnaques

StopArnaques is an independent Belgian service. It is not a public authority and does not speak on behalf of the organisations cited.

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