https://utilforge.org/whats-new New free tools and changes from UtilForge. Tools that run on your own phone or computer. en Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT https://utilforge.org/learn/who-checks-the-advert-before-it-reaches-you utilforge-2026-10-26-who-checks-the-advert Mon, 26 Oct 2026 22:30:00 GMT A state lawsuit, a 2025 news report, Meta's replies and the Federal Trade Commission's figures on scams that begin on social media, with one habit that works whichever account proves right. https://utilforge.org/learn/the-safety-guide-that-works-when-the-phone-does-not utilforge-2026-10-26-safety-guide-print Mon, 26 Oct 2026 22:30:00 GMT Why a free, printable, large-print safety guide earns a place in a safer online world for all. https://utilforge.org/reports/digital-trust-deficit utilforge-2026-10-26-digital-trust-deficit Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT A digital inclusion report from UtilForge.org bringing together figures from 31 countries on who online scams reach, who is protected and who recovers, what has already cut losses, and twelve changes that would help. https://utilforge.org/learn/why-the-first-google-result-can-be-a-scam utilforge-2026-10-26-first-google-result Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT How search adverts, search engine optimisation and AI answers decide what you see first, where scams slip in, and eight checks for any search engine. New free checks: Is this the official government site? and Who sent this email? https://utilforge.org/creators utilforge-2026-10-26-lab-11 Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT A new creator playbook with a demo clip, script, captions, example messages, sources and a large-print handout. Advert Check now warns about phone numbers offered for support or refunds, and the charities guide has a new section of free help. https://utilforge.org/creators utilforge-2026-10-25-creator-library Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT 400 example scam messages made safe, where to report a scam country by country, 30 sourced figures with charts, and a production guide. https://utilforge.org/accessibility utilforge-2026-10-25-accessibility Sun, 25 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT How accessibility is approached for disabled people, older people and everyone else, against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA. https://utilforge.org/learn/eighty-years-of-inventions-and-what-they-tell-us-about-ai utilforge-2026-10-25-history-of-ai Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT From a 27-tonne room-sized calculator in 1946 to the chatbot in your pocket: how earlier inventions arrived, what AI is in plain words, and four habits for using an AI assistant. https://utilforge.org/tools/advert-check utilforge-2026-10-24-release-1063-advert-check Sat, 24 Oct 2026 20:30:00 GMT A new free tool reads the words of a Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp advert, and the signs you tick, for nine groups of warning signs, with what to do instead for each. It runs on your own phone or computer, never says an advert is genuine, and lists what it cannot do. https://utilforge.org/sectors utilforge-2026-10-24-release-1056-audiences Sat, 24 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT Five new guides, for families, carers of older relatives, charities and community groups, social media creators, and libraries and educators, plus a rewritten guide for companies and small businesses. Each sets out the risks that audience meets most, with dated sources, the free tools that fit and the pack that suits it. Every free tool page now begins with four steps ending with what that check cannot do, and pricing shows what is free, what the paid version adds and one flat price: https://utilforge.org/sectors https://utilforge.org/tools/vpn-check utilforge-2026-10-23-release-1052-vpn Fri, 23 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT A new free tool answers two questions on your own phone or computer: would a virtual private network (VPN) help with what you are worried about, and does a VPN app's description, advert or permissions list show warning signs? A new guide sets out what a VPN protects, what it does not fix (scam messages, fake shops, AI apps such as DeepSeek, and flaws on websites' own servers such as PHP2Shell), what researchers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation found in free VPN apps, and how to choose one: https://utilforge.org/learn/do-i-need-a-vpn https://utilforge.org/festive utilforge-2026-10-23-release-1051-festive Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT A festive season section with the dates from Halloween on 31 October 2026 to Lunar New Year on 6 February 2027, the check for each seasonal harm, a checklist to print, and help for families and small online shops. Four new free tools run on your own phone: a delivery and toll text check, a shop check, a gift card request check, and a first-hour guide by country for anyone who has already paid a scammer. https://utilforge.org/learn/hidden-instructions-in-web-pages-and-emails utilforge-2026-10-19-guide-hidden-instructions Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT How web pages, emails and documents can hide instructions for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Copilot, what the National Cyber Security Centre, the Open Worldwide Application Security Project and Google's security team say, and two free checks that run on your own phone or computer. With two short demonstration videos. https://utilforge.org/tools/prompt-injection-check#limits utilforge-2026-10-19-release-1041 Mon, 19 Oct 2026 05:00:00 GMT The Prompt injection checker now catches words broken up with invisible characters, look-alike letters or numbers, common rewordings and six other languages, and keeps web addresses whole in the cleaned copy. The Invisible character remover now keeps emoji and Persian, Arabic and Hindi spelling intact and catches fake web addresses written in look-alike letters. Both pages now list what they catch and what they miss. https://utilforge.org/tools/prompt-injection-check utilforge-2026-10-18-release-1040 Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:00:00 GMT Check text for hidden instructions before you give it to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or any artificial intelligence, and find and remove invisible characters, hidden messages and tracking codes in copied text. Both run on your own phone or computer. The homepage now leads with Hide names from artificial intelligence. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1027 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 23:50:00 GMT Is It Really Blacked Out? and Release Check now find words under a black box that covers only part of a line, and Release Check's free check starts again. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1026 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 23:30:00 GMT The scam text check and Before You Pay now warn about messages that claim to come from a family member and ask for money, describe an emergency, or ask you to keep it secret. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1024 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT The tools list is grouped by the job you came to do, tool names start with the words people search for, and the PDF tools now keep working if the signal drops after the page opens. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1023 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT Five free tools that run on your own device: fill in and sign a PDF, PDF to Word, find the real email in a sign-up flood, driving data request letters and a printable phone safety checklist. A guide on telling whether a debt collector is real, and three more checks in the assistant plugin. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1022 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT Merge, split, rotate and reorder PDF files, turn PDF pages into pictures and pictures into PDF files, remove the location from photos and check a text message for scam signs, all on your own device. Seven guides, a Larger text button on every page and improvements to Hide Names from AI. https://utilforge.org/tools/remove-pdf-metadata utilforge-2026-10-17-release-1021 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT See the author, program, dates, comments, attachments and photo locations hidden inside a PDF file, then remove them. It runs in your browser and the file is not uploaded. Pages now use the words people search for, and the Compress PDF page was corrected. https://utilforge.org/learn/php2shell-what-website-owners-and-visitors-should-do utilforge-2026-10-22-php2shell Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT What happened, what is reported about attacks, why government websites went offline, and what website owners and visitors should do. https://utilforge.org/learn/deepseek-federal-order-what-to-keep-out-of-an-ai-assistant utilforge-2026-10-22-deepseek Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT What the order of 20 October 2026 covers and what it does not, with four steps for households and organisations. https://utilforge.org/learn/a-safer-online-world-cybersecurity-awareness-month utilforge-2026-10-16-release-1017 Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT An opinion piece for Cybersecurity Awareness Month by Lindsay McDonald, UtilForge spokesperson, on the groups online criminals target most and where help, free tools and reporting can do the most good. https://utilforge.org/learn/i-pasted-private-details-into-an-ai-assistant utilforge-2026-10-15-release-1016 Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT What to do after pasting private details into an artificial intelligence assistant, subscription renewal rights in the United Kingdom and European Union with a sample letter, and how big a file the tools can check. Worked examples on three tools, clearer Careful mode wording, and Check First 0.2.0 with short answers. https://utilforge.org/learn/speaking-to-an-ai-assistant utilforge-2026-10-09-voice-guide Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Five habits for talking to an assistant, and what ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude say they do with voice recordings, read on 9 October 2026. https://utilforge.org/ai-plugin utilforge-2026-10-09-ai-plugin Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT A free plugin brings seven UtilForge checks into Claude: fake verify you are human commands, scam messages, payment pages, what to do next, hiding names and a family safe word. What you type stays on your phone or computer. https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-paste-a-command utilforge-2026-10-08-before-you-paste-a-command Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT A page says verify you are human, then tells you to press keys and paste something? Check the writing or command for warning signs first. It never runs what you paste, and it runs on your own device. https://utilforge.org/what-to-do-next utilforge-2026-10-08-what-to-do-next Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Four situations and the first thing to do in each. https://utilforge.org/tools/ utilforge-2026-10-07-all-tools Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT One page now lists every free UtilForge tool and what each does. Site Control's five website tools are named on the pricing page. https://utilforge.org/pricing utilforge-2026-10-06-pricing-clean-up Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT Artificial Intelligence Tools for Work is $119 everywhere. Release Check is $29 for one person, and a team of up to ten gets it inside the $119 pack. Site Control's five website tools are now a free download. Colleges, charities, public offices and people working alone can ask for a reduced price. https://utilforge.org/tools/password-habits-check utilforge-2026-10-05-password-habits-check Mon, 05 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Six yes or no questions about password habits, set against National Cybersecurity Alliance guidance, with nothing typed and nothing sent, plus guides on passwords, two-step login, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a four-week plan and a volunteer code of conduct. https://utilforge.org/learn/how-to-report-a-suspicious-text-or-call utilforge-2026-10-05-report-text-money-rule Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT How to report a suspicious text or call in the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa, and one rule to use before money moves. The free Check first field guide has grown. https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-reply-to-a-recruiter utilforge-2026-10-05-recruiter Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT A free check for a message from a recruiter, with guides on telling whether a recruiter is real, what to do after sending identity to one, and a hiring promise an organisation can publish. https://utilforge.org/check-first-guide utilforge-2026-10-05-field-guide Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT A PDF (Portable Document Format) file on the five moments to check first, with sources and dates on every page, a quick response code for every tool, and a card to fill in. No sign-up. https://utilforge.org/learn/what-is-a-family-safe-word utilforge-2026-10-04-three-guides Sun, 04 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT What a family safe word is and how to make one, what a link checker can and cannot tell you, and how to test a redacted PDF file yourself. https://utilforge.org/learn/clicked-a-link-in-a-text utilforge-2026-10-04-clicked-a-link Sun, 04 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT What to do after tapping a link in a text, depending on what happened next, from NCSC and the Federal Trade Commission advice. https://utilforge.org/check-first-reader-card utilforge-2026-10-04-team-cards Sun, 04 Oct 2026 10:00:00 GMT A one-page card to print or keep, with the five moments and what to do with a link or code in an unexpected message. https://utilforge.org/check-first-poster utilforge-2026-10-03-check-first-poster Sat, 03 Oct 2026 10:00:00 GMT A one-page poster for a home, classroom or workplace shows the five moments to check first, and a new guide explains how a team can make them a shared routine. https://utilforge.org/about utilforge-2026-10-03-mission-short-answers Sat, 03 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT The home page, About and Press pages now say why UtilForge exists, every tool opens with a short answer, and two new guides cover the people-search sites that show a court notice and how to tell whether a tool uploads your file. https://utilforge.org/tools/delete-my-details utilforge-2026-10-03-delete-my-details-links Sat, 03 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT All removal pages were opened on 3 October 2026. Three data brokers lost their sites to a court order, five entries now point to the right pages, and two explain which choice removes a listing. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-10-02-one-look Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:30:00 GMT The older calculators and file tools now share the black-and-yellow look of the safety tools, with plain-language words and questions answered on every page. https://utilforge.org/tools/overtime-pay-calculator utilforge-2026-10-02-overtime-salary-fix Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:20:00 GMT In salary mode the calculator divides the weekly salary and any bonus by the hours worked. Hourly mode is unchanged. https://utilforge.org/learn/ utilforge-2026-10-02-five-guides Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT What to do when a relative phones asking for money, seven questions before an investment offer, how recovery scams work, what happens to what you paste into an artificial intelligence, and how to ask an artificial intelligence about real people without sharing their details. https://utilforge.org/add-to-home-screen utilforge-2026-10-02-add-to-home-screen Fri, 02 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT A banner on the home page and a step-by-step page for iPhone, Android and computers. A new button saves every tool on the device so they work with no signal. https://utilforge.org/tools/release-check#faq utilforge-2026-10-02-tool-faqs Fri, 02 Oct 2026 21:30:00 GMT The fifteen safety tools now answer the questions people ask, in plain words, on the page. https://utilforge.org/learn/ utilforge-2026-10-02-related-links Fri, 02 Oct 2026 21:00:00 GMT Every page now shows where you are, and each tool links to related guides, related tools and the pages for your kind of work. https://utilforge.org/whats-new#email utilforge-2026-10-02-email-updates Fri, 02 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT An optional sign-up for a note when a new tool is added or one is improved. The website never asks for your email address: the sign-up is on Gumroad, which keeps it. https://utilforge.org/pricing#why-pack utilforge-2026-10-02-why-pack Fri, 02 Oct 2026 19:30:00 GMT The pricing page now shows what the free tools, Family Safety Tools and artificial intelligence Tools for Work each include, and who each one is for. https://utilforge.org/official-help utilforge-2026-10-official-help Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT A page that links to guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity and to official reporting bodies in 20 countries and territories, for anyone who has lost money to fraud online. https://utilforge.org/packs/for-work utilforge-2026-10-private-files-retired Thu, 01 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT Its tools, Redaction Studio, Compress PDF files and iPhone Photo Converter, are in artificial intelligence Tools for Work and Family Safety Tools. https://utilforge.org/tools/release-check utilforge-2026-09-29-release-check Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Checks PDF files, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files before release. Free to check; $29 for the full version. https://utilforge.org/packs/for-work utilforge-2026-09-29-packs Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:00:00 GMT Every tool in one download, arranged by team for organisations ($119) or by need for families and students (pay what you want). https://utilforge.org/sectors utilforge-2026-09-28-sectors Mon, 28 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT Tools for your work now covers publishers, public relations and communications, social media creators, tourism and travel, education technology, humanitarian organisations and fintech. Before You Pay now spots fake recruiters who move to WhatsApp, pay-first jobs, fake brand deals and holiday rentals that ask you to pay away from the booking site. Before You Buy a Course now spots keyword sales, income requirements and pushy call bookings. https://utilforge.org/whats-new utilforge-2026-09-28-names Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:00:00 GMT Swap and Return is now Hide Names from artificial intelligence, Check before you send it to an artificial intelligence is now Before You Paste into artificial intelligence, Did the black boxes work? is now Is It Really Blacked Out?, Omelette is now Sort My Saved-for-Later Reading, and the Take-Down Kit is now Delete My Details. Old links still work. https://utilforge.org/tools/sort-my-reading https://utilforge.org/tools/omelette Sun, 27 Sep 2026 19:00:00 GMT Paste or open your newsletters, saved emails, bookmarks and notes, and get one document sorted by the topics you choose, with repeats removed and a list of newsletters you could unsubscribe from. https://utilforge.org/for/insurance https://utilforge.org/for/insurance Sun, 27 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT New sections for insurance and financial advice, accountants and bookkeepers, and property and letting agents, and a full page for insurance. https://utilforge.org/tools/subscription-check https://utilforge.org/tools/subscription-check Sun, 27 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT Paste your own bank statement, or type your subscriptions, to find every repeat payment, the yearly total, overlaps, price rises and payments nobody agreed to, and how to cancel. https://utilforge.org/for/healthcare utilforge-2026-09-27-for-pages Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:30:00 GMT What the tools do for healthcare staff, human resources and people teams and small businesses, and what they cannot do. https://utilforge.org/whats-new https://utilforge.org/whats-new Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:00:00 GMT A page and a feed, so you can follow new tools without giving anyone an email address. https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-buy-a-course https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-buy-a-course Sun, 27 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Check a money-making course, coaching offer, side hustle or trading academy for the warning signs consumer regulators describe, see how many sales it takes to earn the price back, and get help with a refund if you have already paid. https://utilforge.org/tools/can-i-afford-this https://utilforge.org/tools/can-i-afford-this Sun, 27 Sep 2026 11:00:00 GMT See what a loan, a credit card or buy now pay later really costs, plan your pay around your bills, compare two ways of paying off debts, and find free debt help where you live. https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-invest https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-invest Sun, 27 Sep 2026 10:00:00 GMT Check a trading app, crypto coin, forex course, loan or pension offer for the tricks financial regulators warn about, and find the official register of firms in your country. https://utilforge.org/tools/before-you-pay utilforge-2026-09-before-you-pay-messages Paste a text, email or WhatsApp that asks you to pay a fee, tap a link, send a code or move money, and it points out the signs of a scam. https://utilforge.org/tools/hide-names-from-ai utilforge-2026-09-swap-international Phone numbers, number plates, identity numbers and currencies from English-speaking countries across North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Europe and Africa, plus health, hotel room and booking numbers. https://utilforge.org/sectors https://utilforge.org/sectors How the tools help people in healthcare, legal work, retail, hospitality, colleges, universities, the arts, museums, journalism, charities, government, investing and families, and what they cannot do.