GACS Learn · Awareness guides
Spot the scam. Help the people who got one.
Short, honest guides for the moments that matter — a weird message to a parent, a wallet you're about to send to, a phishing email you need to report. Plain language first, depth and sources after.
My parent got a weird message — what now?
A 10-minute triage for family members: how to tell if a message to a relative is a scam, what to say in the first hour, and how to lock things down without taking away their independence.
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Which services actually help spot phishing scams in 2026
Honest comparison of free and paid tools — browser blocklists, URL scanners, message scanners, and reporting networks. Where GACS fits, where it doesn't, and what we'd use if we were starting from zero.
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Is this crypto wallet safe to send to?
The five checks every sender should run before signing or transferring — drainer signatures, sanctions lists, on-chain reputation, exchange ownership, and recent victim reports.
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How to report an online scam (by country)
Step-by-step reporting paths for the US, UK, Canada, Australia, EU, India, and the Philippines — plus what each agency actually does with your report and how to maximise recovery odds.
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Related hubs
- /scams — searchable database of confirmed scams
- /scam-alerts — newest threats this week
- /wallet-checker — check a crypto address
- /safe-scanner — scan a phone, handle or URL
- /panic-guide — it's happening right now, what do I do
- /report — file a scam report
Common questions
Who is the GACS Learn hub for?
Anyone who isn't sure whether a message, link, wallet or platform is safe — and the family members trying to protect them. Each article is written in plain language up front, with an analytical depth section for readers who want sources and reasoning.
How is this different from the scam database at /scams?
/scams lists confirmed bad actors — wallets, sites, brokers, tokens. /learn explains the patterns behind them: how to recognise a scam family, what to do in the first hour, and which tools and reporting paths actually work. Use Learn to build intuition; use /scams to check a specific entity.
Are these guides updated?
Yes. The articles carry a published date and we revise them when reporting paths, blocklists, or detection signals change materially. The underlying scam intelligence updates in real time at /scams and /scam-alerts.
Can I share these with elderly relatives?
That's the intended use. The 'plain intro' section of each article is written to be readable cold — no jargon, no fear-mongering, action-first. The 'family triage' article in particular is designed to be sent to a sibling group chat in one message.