Email scam checker

Is this email a scam? Check it in one minute

Ask Claude or ChatGPT about the email in front of you. Desktop Steward checks it on your own computer: the real sender, where the links really go and whether the mail servers vouch for it, and the AI answers with a short verdict: danger, suspicious or likely OK.

Claude · Desktop Steward

Red flags you can check yourself

  • The sender's address does not match the company: paypa1-security.com instead of paypal.com, or a free mail address for a “bank”.
  • Pressure: your account will be closed, a payment failed, a parcel is stuck, act within 24 hours.
  • Links that lie: the text says one site, the real address (hover over it, or press and hold on a phone) is another, or a link shortener.
  • Requests for secrets or money: passwords, one-time codes, card details, gift cards, a “new” bank account.
  • Unexpected attachments, especially .zip, .html, .exe or Office files that ask to enable macros.
  • Replies go elsewhere: the Reply-To address differs from the sender.
  • A generic greeting (“Dear customer”) from a company that knows your name.

What Desktop Steward checks for you

  • Look-alike sender names and domains, and links whose text differs from their target.
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC: whether the sending servers are allowed to send for that domain.
  • Link shorteners and how new the sender's domain is.
  • Dangerous attachments: double extensions, HTML files, macros, programs.
  • Reply-To mismatches and pressure wording.

How to check an email

  1. Download Desktop Steward (free, Mac and Windows) and turn on Email check in its panel.
  2. Open the email in Apple Mail and ask Claude or ChatGPT: “Is the email I have open a scam?” From Gmail or Outlook on the web, download the message as an .eml file and ask about that file.
  3. Read the verdict and the reasons. If it is a scam, ask to flag it or move it to junk; nothing is deleted.

Step-by-step guide: check an email with Claude or ChatGPT →

FAQ

Is there a free email scam checker?

Yes. Desktop Steward is free in Claude Desktop. Using it from ChatGPT or from Claude on the web and phone goes through remote access: 7 days unlimited, then 300 tool calls a month for free, or unlimited with Pro.

Does it click the links or open the attachments?

No. Links are never visited and attachments are never opened; they are only inspected. The email text goes to Claude or ChatGPT the same way as text you paste into a chat, and the AI is told never to follow instructions inside the email.

Does it work with Gmail and Outlook?

On a Mac, any account added to Apple Mail works (iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, work mail). Otherwise download the email as an .eml file and ask about the file.

What should I do if it is a scam?

Don't click links, open attachments or reply. Move it to junk. If it pretends to be your bank or a service you use, contact them through their official app or website, not through the email.

Check your next suspicious email

Free for Mac and Windows. Works with Claude and ChatGPT.

Download for Mac or Windows