Malwarebytes has introduced Malwarebytes Scam Link Check, a free web-based tool that allows users to determine whether a website link is safe before opening it. Users can paste a suspicious URL received through text messages, email, chat, or social media, and the tool provides a clear safety assessment within seconds, including an explanation of its findings and recommended next steps.
Malwarebytes Scam Link Check is available now at Malwarebytes.com. The service is completely free and requires no download, payment, or account login.
Scams have overtaken many traditional crimes in scale, with an estimated $442 billion lost to scams globally and roughly $21 billion lost by Americans alone in 2025. At the 2026 UN Fraud Summit, governments reported that cyber-enabled fraud run by organized crime now outweighs the global trade in weapons, drugs, and human trafficking combined. This is why Malwarebytes has committed to fighting scams and fraud with its anti-scam ecosystem.
Fake websites are the front door to much of that fraud. Malwarebytes research found that malicious websites such as phishing pages, counterfeit stores, and malicious ads, outnumber every other scam delivery method, ahead of email and text messages. Malwarebytes research also found that 85% of people say they can no longer reliably tell a scam from the real thing, up from 66% a year earlier.
“The thing most likely to drain your bank account today isn’t a virus. It is a link that looks like it came from your bank, a delivery service, or a friend,” said Mark Beare, Head of Consumer, Malwarebytes. “We’ve spent years asking people to become scam experts, and it hasn’t worked, because scams evolve faster than anyone can track. Instead, we flipped the model. Rather than asking people to spot the scam, we give them an expert. Paste the link, get a straight answer, and know what to do next—free, in seconds.”
How the Malwarebytes Scam Link Check works
The Malwarebytes Scam Link Check analyzes a submitted URL using the Malwarebytes threat intelligence ecosystem. It works like this:
- The user pastes or types the website URL into the tool at malwarebytes.com/scam-check/link.
- Malwarebytes scans the link and runs a deep analysis using its threat intelligence ecosystem, checking for malicious sites, phishing pages, freshly registered domains, and redirect chains that hide where a link really leads.
- Users receive a safety verdict such as safe, dangerous, or unknown, in seconds.
- Alongside the “Is this link safe” verdict, the tool shows:
- A screenshot of the website, so users can see the page without visiting it.
- The reasons behind the verdict, in plain language, so people learn why a link is considered safe or unsafe.
- Recommended next steps, including what to do if they’ve already clicked.
- An option to report a website, feeding new intelligence back to Malwarebytes to protect the next person.
- A direct entry point into Malwarebytes Scam Guard, the award-winning scam detection tool, for deeper help.
The Malwarebytes anti-scam ecosystem
The Scam Link Check is one entry point into a broader Malwarebytes anti-scam ecosystem that follows a simple arc, see what’s exposed, shrink the attack surface, and get a result in the moment.
- Malwarebytes Digital Footprint: A free scan that reveals what personal information is already exposed from breaches and the dark web, using just an email address.
- Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover: Finds personal data being sold across a network of data-broker and people-search sites and automates its removal.
- Malwarebytes Scam Number Check: Quickly identifies whether a phone number is safe or potentially harmful with this free tool. People also can report suspicious or scam numbers to help make their community safer.
- Malwarebytes Scam Guard: Scam detector embedded within the Windows, Mac, web and mobile solutions, making it quick and easy to check if something is a scam and get cybersecurity guidance. It pairs the ease of an AI chat bot with the deep Malwarebytes threat intelligence expertise for 24/7 help. Free on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS; in the Browser Guard extension; on the web; and inside ChatGPT and Claude, just ask “@Malwarebytes, is this a scam?”
The need for more tools to fight scams is measurable. Malwarebytes Scam Guard flags roughly one in five submissions as high-risk, meaning they could lead to a loss of at least $1,000 or other personal harm.
Frequently asked questions
- How can I check if a link is safe before I click it?
Paste the URL into the free Malwarebytes Scam Link Check at malwarebytes.com/scam-check/link. It scans the link against Malwarebytes threat intelligence and returns a safety verdict—safe, dangerous, or unknown—in seconds, along with a screenshot of the site and the reasons behind the verdict. No download or account is required. The site also will show a screenshot of website content. If the content is NSFW or not something a user wants to see, it will be blurred.
- How do I know if a URL is a phishing or scam website?
Warning signs include links from unexpected texts or emails, misspelled or unusual domain names, freshly registered domains, and links that redirect through several sites. The Malwarebytes Scam Link Check automatically checks for these signals and tells people in plain language why a link is considered safe or unsafe.
- How do I check where a shortened URL actually goes? Can I trust shortened URLs?
Shortened URLs can be useful for marketing and social media sharing, but they can also hide the final destination and make malicious links harder to spot. Before clicking a shortened URL, preview or expand it with a reputable link checker, such as Malwarebytes Scam Link Check, so you can see where it leads.
- How do I check a suspicious link on my phone?
You can screenshot or copy the link and share with the Malwarebytes Scam Link Check. On your phone, press and hold the link to preview or copy it without opening it. You can then paste the URL into Malwarebytes Scam Link Check to check where it leads before you tap.
- What should I do if I already clicked a suspicious link?
Don’t enter any information on the page. Malwarebytes Scam Link Check provides recommended next steps, and Scam Guard can walk you through what to do such as changing a password, contacting your bank, or freezing your credit, with no blame and no shame.
- What is the difference between the Scam Link Check and Scam Guard?
The Scam Link Check is a quick, free web tool for checking a single website URL. Scam Guard is the broader anti-scam assistant from Malwarebytes that also checks messages, phone numbers, and screenshots, and is available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, in the Browser Guard extension, on the web, and inside ChatGPT and Claude.
- Can I report a scam website to Malwarebytes?
Yes. The Scam Link Check includes an option to report a website. Reports feed back into Malwarebytes threat intelligence, so a scam caught by one person becomes an early warning for the next.
To check a link using Malwarebytes Scam Link Check, click here.
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