What Our Tool Can and Can't Do

Most website safety tools don't tell you their limitations. They show you a green tick or a score and leave you to assume that means the website is safe. We think that's a disservice to users — because the gap between what a tool can confirm and what users think it's confirming can lead to real harm.

This page exists because we believe you should understand exactly what you're getting when you use our checker. Informed users make better decisions than users who trust a result without understanding what went into it.

The Core Limitation: Automatic Systems Check Data, Not Reality

Our free checker queries public databases: threat feeds, domain registration records, and SSL certificate authorities. These are real, useful signals — but they're data, not reality. A website can have a clean record in every database we check and still be running a dishonest operation. A new website with no data history could be completely legitimate.

This is not a flaw in our system specifically — it's a fundamental limitation of any automatic tool. Databases track history. They don't know what a website owner intends to do tomorrow. They don't read product descriptions for accuracy. They don't verify whether the business behind the website is registered, has real employees, or will fulfill orders. Those are the gaps our eligibility check is designed to close.

The Lag Problem: Scam Sites Exist Before They're Reported

When a new phishing site goes live, it doesn't immediately appear in threat databases. Researchers need to detect it, analyze it, and submit it to the relevant feeds. That process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. During that window, a scam site would show as "New / Unknown" on our tool — a yellow result — rather than the red it deserves.

We can't eliminate this lag. What we can do is make sure users understand it exists. If you're checking a website that you found through an unsolicited link — a forwarded message, a social media ad, an email you didn't expect — treat even a yellow result with caution, not confidence.

Why the Verified Badge Program Goes Beyond Automatic Checks

The Verified Badge Program exists precisely because we know automatic checks have limits. When a website owner applies for verification, their application is checked against a standardized, published set of criteria — business information, terms of service, working contact details — before their monitoring subscription begins. That's a fundamentally higher standard than automatic checks alone can produce.

We're not claiming that a Verified badge means a website is perfect or that its owners are saints. It means the site passed our published eligibility criteria and found no obvious red flags at the time of review. The owner also continues paying for monthly automated monitoring — creating ongoing accountability that's absent from automatic checks alone.

Our Commitment to Accuracy Over Optimism

Some website safety tools seem designed to reassure users rather than inform them. They show green results generously because scared users don't keep using tools. We've made the deliberate choice to be more conservative — to show yellow when we're uncertain rather than defaulting to green, and to be explicit about what our results can and cannot tell you.

That means some legitimate websites show as "New / Unknown" on our tool, and their owners sometimes contact us frustrated. We understand that frustration. The answer isn't to lower our accuracy standards — it's to offer a path to verified status for legitimate sites that want to demonstrate they've been reviewed by a human. The yellow result is honest, not hostile.

What This Means for How You Use Our Tool

Use our results as one input among several, not as the final word. A green result should make you comfortable proceeding with normal caution — not throw all caution out the window. A yellow result should prompt you to do a bit more research before sharing payment details. A red result should stop you entirely until you can verify independently that the site is legitimate.

The best online safety practice is layered: use our tool, check independent reviews, look for verifiable contact information, and pay attention to your instincts. Our checker handles one layer of that — the technical data layer. The rest is judgment that belongs to you.