Is this email a scam? Check it with Claude or ChatGPT in one minute

Step 1: turn it on

Email check is opt-in because it sends the text of one email to the AI. Open the Desktop Steward panel (menu bar or tray icon → Open panel, or ask Claude to “open the panel”), scroll to Features and switch on Email check. You can switch it off any time.

Step 2: point at the email

On a Mac, click the email in Apple Mail so it is selected. The first time, macOS asks whether Desktop Steward may control Mail; allow it. On Windows, or if you read mail in a browser, save the email as a file: in Gmail open the ⋮ menu → Show original → Download original, then move the .eml file into Downloads.

To sweep the inbox instead of one message, ask “check my last 10 emails for phishing”: you get one line per message (ok / suspicious / danger with the main reason) and details only for the flagged ones. On a Mac this reads the most recent inbox messages in Apple Mail, up to 25 at a time.

What the check looks at

• Who really sent it. The display name against the real address, reply-to addresses on other domains, look-alike domains (paypa1.com, apple.com.secure-login.ru, non-Latin characters).
• The mail server's own checks. SPF, DKIM and DMARC results from the headers: whether the sending server was allowed to use that domain.
• Where links go. Link text that shows one site while the address goes to another, URL shorteners, bare IP addresses, logins hidden in links.
• How old the domains are. A domain registered days ago is a strong sign; real companies' domains are years old.
• Attachments. Programs and scripts, web pages (fake login forms), archives, Office files with macros, fake double extensions.
• The wording. Urgency, threats to lock the account, requests for codes, passwords, gift cards or transfers, “keep this confidential”, generic greetings. The technical checks come from Desktop Steward; the reading of the request itself comes from the AI.

The verdict is Danger, Suspicious or Likely genuine, always with the reasons. “Likely genuine” means the technical side holds up; whether the request makes sense is still your call, and the AI will say so.

Step 3: act, carefully

On a Mac you can say “flag it” or “mark it as junk”. A confirmation window opens on your computer before anything changes, and nothing is ever deleted: junk mail stays in the Junk mailbox. If the email is from someone you know, call them on a number you already have, not one from the email.

Why not just rely on the spam filter?

Filters stop the mass mailings. The ones that reach you are the targeted ones: your name, your bank, a plausible invoice. Email check is a second opinion for exactly those, and it explains itself, so you learn what to look for next time. It is not an antivirus and it does not scan your mailbox; it only reads the email you ask about.

Questions