Check first: a free field guide.
This is a free PDF (Portable Document Format) file guide to five moments when a short pause protects you and the people close to you: when you pay, paste, sign, send or share. It needs no sign-up and no email address.
Download the guide (PDF file, about 1 megabyte)
Version 1, 5 October 2026. Pages are A5 with large text, so it reads on a phone and prints on A4 or United States Letter.
What is inside
- The five moments to check first: pay, paste, sign, send, share.
- A family safe word, and what to do when a relative phones asking for money.
- Links and texts: what a link checker can and cannot tell you, and what to do after clicking.
- Paying: a payment page, an invoice, a message from your bank, offers to get money back, and investment offers.
- Cancelling a subscription and keeping proof.
- Using an artificial intelligence: what happens to what you paste, and asking about real people privately.
- Documents: why a black box does not hide text, how to test a redacted PDF file, and whether a tool uploads your file.
- Where to report and get help in the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa, with a page to record what happened.
- The free tools with a quick response code for each, a card to fill in, and a list of words used.
How it is made
- Every page stands on its own, so you can print one page and hand it on.
- Every page names its sources and the date it was last checked. Advice changes, so the newest version is always on this page.
- To print on A4 or United States Letter, choose “Fit to page” or two pages per sheet in your print window.
- You are welcome to print and share the guide, whole and unchanged.
For groups and clinics
Care homes, libraries and community groups can use the guide in a free 45-minute session. See the session plan.
Found something out of date? Write to support@utilforge.org.
Tools supplied free by UtilForge. We were not paid to recommend them. The checks run on each device and nothing is uploaded.