Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Scammers.com ("we", "us") handles information when you visit the Site, report a scam or send us a message. If you have a question about it, use our contact page.

• We collect what you choose to send us (scam reports and messages) and basic usage data through Google Analytics and our hosting provider.
• Scam reports are reviewed before they are published. Your contact email is never published.
• We do not sell personal information, and we do not show ads.
• You can ask us to correct or delete information about you.

Scam reports. When you use Report a scam, we collect:

• whether it is your own experience or a published source you are sharing (and, if so, the source link and its date);
• the scam type, a headline and your description of what happened;
• the identifiers involved, such as a phone number, website, email address or other username or handle;
• optionally, the amount lost; and
• optionally, your email address, so we can follow up about your report.

Reports are stored in our database and are not shown publicly until our team has reviewed them. We may edit a report for clarity or safety, merge it with matching reports, or decline to publish it. If a report is published, its headline, description, scam type, identifiers and amount lost may be visible to anyone. Please don't include your own personal details, or anyone else's, beyond what is needed to describe the scam.

Contact messages. When you use the contact form, we collect your name, email address, the topic, an optional page link and your message. We use them to reply and to handle corrections and removal requests. Messages are not published.

Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics 4 (property G-Y71B2GX2FD) to understand how many people visit, which pages they read and how they found us. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technology and collects information such as the pages you view, the time of your visit, your browser and device type, approximate location derived from your IP address, and the referring page. Google provides this service to us and processes this data on our behalf. We do not use it to identify you personally, and we have not turned on Google advertising features. You can learn more in How Google uses information from sites that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy.

Hosting logs. The Site is hosted on Vercel. Like most web hosts, Vercel automatically records technical information about requests, such as IP address, the page requested, date and time, browser user agent and response status, to deliver the Site, keep it secure and diagnose problems.

Spam and abuse protection. To limit abuse of the contact form, we keep a one-way hashed form of the sender's IP address (not the address itself) and their browser user agent with each message, and we limit how many messages can be sent in an hour.

Images from other sites. Some reports and articles show an image credited to the original publisher. Most are served through our own site, but a few may load directly from that publisher, which would then receive your IP address and browser details as part of the request.

• Analytics cookies set by Google Analytics (names starting with _ga). They distinguish visitors and sessions and can last up to two years. You can block or delete them in your browser, or use the opt-out described below.
• Admin session cookie. If you sign in to our admin area (staff only), we set a strictly necessary, secure, HTTP-only cookie that keeps you signed in for up to 8 hours. Staff sign-ins also record the IP address and browser used, for security. Ordinary visitors never receive this cookie.

We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

• to review, publish and maintain scam reports and to power search;
• to reply to messages and handle corrections and removal requests;
• to understand how the Site is used and improve it;
• to keep the Site secure and prevent spam, fraud and abuse; and
• to comply with the law and respond to valid legal requests.

We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising. We do not run ads on the Site.

We share information only:

• with service providers that run the Site for us: Vercel (hosting), Neon (our database, provided through Vercel) and Google (analytics);
• publicly, for the parts of a scam report we publish after review;
• if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety or security of our users, the public or the Site; and
• as part of a merger, sale or transfer of the Site, in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information.

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes above. Published reports stay up while they remain useful for warning others, unless they are corrected or removed. Unpublished reports, contact messages and security records are kept for as long as needed to handle them and protect the Site, then deleted or anonymised. Google Analytics data is kept according to the retention setting in our Google Analytics account, and hosting logs according to Vercel's standard retention.

We use reasonable safeguards, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted, password-protected admin access and limits on form submissions. No website can be perfectly secure, so please don't send us sensitive information such as passwords, full bank or card numbers, or ID documents.

• Access, correction and deletion. You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, including a report you submitted or personal details about you that appear in someone else's report. Use the contact page. We may need to confirm your identity, and we may keep some information where the law requires or allows it.
• Opting out of Google Analytics. Install Google's Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, block cookies in your browser, or use a content blocker.
• California residents. Depending on how California privacy law applies to us, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request deletion or correction, and not to be discriminated against for using these rights. We do not sell or "share" personal information as those terms are defined in California law.
• Visitors in the UK, EU and EEA. You may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict use of your personal data, to object to certain uses, to data portability, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Where these laws apply, we rely on our legitimate interests in running and protecting a public-interest scam-awareness service, on your consent where you give it (for example by submitting a report or message), and on legal obligations.

We will respond to requests within the time required by applicable law.

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

We and our service providers are based in, or process data in, the United States and possibly other countries. Data protection laws there may differ from those where you live.

We may update this policy as the Site changes. We will post the new version here and update the effective date above. If we make significant changes, we will make that clear on the Site.

For privacy questions or requests, please use our contact page. See also our Terms of Use.