Ask Flggd

Tell Flggd what happened, in your own words, by voice.

What it does

Ask Flggd is for when there is no message to paste: a call, a conversation, a situation. Describe it, answer a question or two if Flggd needs more, and get one of Flggd's four flags with the steps that go with it.

How it works

Ask Flggd

How it works. Turn your sound on.

Play the film

Read the transcript

Rosa's grandson calls from a new number. He's in trouble, he needs money today, and he asks her not to tell anyone. There's no message to paste. Just a feeling.

Without somewhere to ask, Rosa has a chatbot she won't trust, a forum that answers in hours, or the caller himself, who has an answer for everything. So she pays.

Now with Ask Flggd. One button, and her own voice.

She presses the button and tells it what happened, in her own words. It listens to all of it.

If it needs to know more, it asks. Never more than three questions. A clear case gets none.

The answer is shown and spoken. A red flag: this is a scam. One sentence on why: a new number, money today and a request for secrecy are how this scam works. Then what to do: don't send any money, and call your grandson on the number you already have.

Every answer is one of four flags. Red is a scam. Yellow means don't do what it asks; check through a channel you already trust. Grey means don't reply at all. Green means no red flags found, and it never says guaranteed safe.

And if money has already moved, it tells you to call your bank first.

It's for anyone with a feeling and nothing to paste: a call from the bank, a man at the door, a grandchild with a new number. And for the family who worry about them.

Ask Flggd, in the Flggd mobile app. When it doesn't feel right, just ask.

Who is Ask Flggd for?

For the moment there is nothing to paste. A phone call from "the bank". A man at the door. A grandchild in trouble who called from a new number. Ask Flggd is for anyone who would rather explain than type, and for anyone who has never trusted a chatbot and never will.

How does it work?

Press one button and tell Flggd what happened, in your own words. If Flggd needs to know more it asks, at most three short questions, each one you can answer with a word or a tap. Clear cases get an answer straight away.

What do I get back?

One of Flggd's four flags, shown and spoken. A one-sentence reason. How this kind of scam works, so you recognise it next time. And next steps chosen for your situation and your country, not a generic list. If money has already moved, Ask Flggd tells you to contact your bank first.

What if Flggd is not sure?

It says so. When something could go either way and there is a link, a number or a form involved, the advice is to act on none of it and check through a route you already trust. Flggd never tells you something is guaranteed safe.

Why not just ask a chatbot?

A chatbot gives a long answer and leaves you to work out what to do. Ask Flggd gives one answer, sized to what you need, the right steps for where you live.

Scam types people describe most

Scam types this covers

Every example on this page is a real scam, recreated by Flggd
How we decide what is a scam