ScamSweep
Scam Message Detector for WhatsApp Web
A quiet warning under messages that look like a scam.
ScamSweep reads incoming messages on WhatsApp Web and flags the ones that look like fraud. It never sends, hides or deletes anything.
- Looks like a “family in trouble” scam. Call their old number before doing anything.
Hi Mum, I dropped my phone, this is my new number. Can you help me pay a bill today? I will pay you back tomorrow.
- Looks like a parcel-fee scam. Do not pay or click.
Your parcel is held at customs. Pay the £1.99 release fee here to avoid return.
- Nothing unusual
Running ten minutes late, save me a seat?
The problem
Scams moved to chat because people trust chat
A message from a new number claiming to be family, a job that pays for liking videos, a delivery fee. They work because they arrive next to real conversations. The people most at risk are often not the ones who would install a security tool, which is why this one is built to be installed for someone else.
Names the scam
Family in trouble, fake job, investment group, parcel fee, bank or tax impersonation, prize, romance.
Says what to do
One plain line: call the old number, do not pay, do not share the code.
Report links
Action Fraud, Scamwatch and the FTC, by country.
How it will work
Three steps, and you stay in charge.
- 1
Open WhatsApp Web
ScamSweep reads incoming messages as they appear on your screen.
- 2
Suspicious ones get a note
An amber or red line under the bubble, naming the kind of scam.
- 3
Nothing else changes
It never hides a message, never replies, never touches your contacts.
Where it will run
Where it will run
WhatsApp in a desktop browser.
- web.whatsapp.com
- In Chrome and other Chromium browsers.
- Not the phone app
- Browser extensions cannot run inside the WhatsApp mobile app.
Privacy, plainly
What it reads, and what it never does.
In 2025, researchers found over a hundred extensions abusing WhatsApp Web to send spam. This is the opposite kind of tool.
What it will read
- The text of incoming messages in the chat you have open
- Whether the sender is a saved contact, and the domains of any links
What it never touches
- Sends, forwards, replies to, hides or deletes any message
- Your contact list, photos, voice notes or calls
- Messages you write
Message text is sent to our server and on to the AI model that judges it. We will publish exactly how long each party keeps it before launch, and we will not launch until that answer is one we are comfortable putting in writing.
Planned pricing
Planned to be free.
Free
$0
- Warnings on incoming messages
- Scam type and what to do
- Report links by country
Later it may be bundled with PhishSweep for people who want both.
Is this allowed by WhatsApp?
WhatsApp’s rules target tools that automate or send messages. ScamSweep only reads what is on your screen and adds a note to the page you are looking at. If WhatsApp changes its rules, we will follow them.
Can I install it for a parent?
Yes, that is who it is for, provided they use WhatsApp Web in a browser.
Does it work in other languages?
It will be most accurate in English at launch.
When will it be ready?
It is in development. Join the waitlist and you get one email on launch day.
Know someone who would have paid that “customs fee”?
Leave your email and you will hear once, when it is ready.