Common questions about Backgrounder, and what to do if something has already gone wrong.
Money or details already gone?Go straight to victim support→What you should do depends on what happened after the click. If you only opened the page and did not enter information or download anything, close it and avoid returning to the link. If you entered a password, change it immediately from a trusted device, sign out of active sessions, and enable multi-factor authentication. If you downloaded or opened a file, run your device's security checks and avoid using the file. If you entered financial information or sent money, contact the bank or payment provider immediately.
Preserve the message and link so Carmen Monitor, Carmen Email or Carmen Guardian can analyze the phishing attempt in the channel where you encountered it and help identify what may have been exposed.
Call your bank, card issuer or payment provider now and ask whether the payment can be stopped, recalled or disputed. Keep everything: receipts, messages, usernames, numbers, addresses, links, screenshots. Change any password you shared. Report it to the police fraud line where you live. Carmen can check the messages and the people involved and give you a clear record of what happened.
Change the password from a device you trust, sign out of every other session, turn on two step sign in, and check the recovery email and phone number. Look for forwarding rules, filters or sent messages you did not create. If you used that password anywhere else, change it there too. Carmen Email can then watch the inbox for anything that follows.
Look for unexpected urgency, suspicious links, requests for money or credentials, unusual payment instructions, impersonation, sender or domain mismatches, and a story that does not match what you already know. Do not rely on a single clue: sophisticated scams can use polished language and legitimate-looking accounts.
Carmen Email can analyze suspicious email, Carmen Guardian can analyze suspicious texts and mobile interactions, and Carmen Monitor can analyze suspicious content on supported web, messaging and social experiences, each with a plain-language assessment of what looks suspicious, why, and what to do next.
Do not judge a site by how it looks. Check how old the address is, whether the address matches the brand it claims, whether the contact details are real, what the site asks you to type in, and whether the prices are too good to be true. Carmen checks these and gives you a plain answer before you enter a card number.
Do not rely on one thing on its own, such as a photo, a number or a profile. Carmen checks the name, the number, the email address and the public record together and points out where they do not line up. For a stranger asking you for money, that is usually enough.
Use unique passwords, turn on two step sign in, keep your devices updated, and pause before any unexpected link, payment request or person in a hurry. Carmen Email watches the inbox, Carmen Monitor watches the browser and Carmen Guardian watches the phone, and you can ask Carmen about anything else.
Carmen is the AI that runs every Backgrounder check. Carmen reads what you send it, checks what can be verified, reads the rest the way a fraud team would, and gives you Low, Medium or High risk, the reasons, and one thing to do. If you want a person on it, expert help from the Backgrounder team is available as an add-on.
Emails, text messages, social messages, links, websites, phone numbers, people, payment requests, crypto wallets, screenshots and photos of letters. If you are unsure about something, you can send it.
A risk level of Low, Medium or High, the reasons in plain words (“the sender’s address is 11 days old and is not the one your bank uses”), and the next step (“do not click, and report it to your bank”).
It can be. When Carmen cannot verify something it says so and gives you Medium risk instead of guessing safe. Backgrounder gives you a second opinion and cannot guarantee a result.
No. Your spam filter catches what it already knows. Carmen checks the messages that still get through and tells you what to do about them.
Ask Carmen is the web app, where you paste anything and get a check. Carmen Monitor is the browser extension, Carmen Email is the inbox integration, and Carmen Guardian is the mobile app. They are four separate products and they all come with one subscription.
Yes. We do not sell data and we do not use what you send for anything except answering you. Messages Carmen screens are checked and discarded. When a domain or number turns out to be a scam, that fact helps the next person’s check.
No. Backgrounder is not built or licensed for decisions about employment, credit, housing or insurance, and it must not be used for them. It answers one question: is this thing that reached you likely a scam?
No. Anyone who promises they can is running a second scam. We can help you act quickly while your bank can still do something. Check the message with Carmen, then call the number on your card.
No. Carmen is for checking whether a stranger asking you for money is real. We decline checks on private people you know, such as a neighbour, an ex or an employee.
Carmen can tell you whether the message that started it was a scam and what to lock down first. Full identity restoration, including credit bureaus and disputed accounts, is a different service. We will tell you so and point you to the right one.
Free is 5 quick checks a month in Ask Carmen, no card. Personal is $5.99 a month: unlimited automatic screening in the browser, the inbox and on the phone, plus 650 credits a month for checks you choose to run. Business is $9.99 a seat.
Automatic screening never uses them. Credits are only used when you ask Carmen for something: Carmen Light is 5, Carmen Basic 25, Carmen Advanced (a look into a person or company) 250, a full written report 500. Personal includes 650 a month.
Screening keeps running. You get a warning as your credits run low, then you can buy a pack or wait for next month. Packs last your subscription year.
Yes, any time.
No. Carmen only checks the address and the message, so pages open as normal, and your contacts’ texts are never touched.