Before you pay a website, an invoice or a new set of bank details, find out four things: who is being paid, how much today, what happens after today, and how to stop it. If any of the four is hidden, or you are being hurried, stop and check another way.
The free Before You Pay goes through these questions with you on your own phone or computer. It cannot tell you that a page is safe. It shows what to look for.
Is this website real?
1. Who is selling? Look for a company name, an address and a way to contact them that is more than a form.
2. What will I pay today? Is the amount clear, and in a currency you expect?
3. What happens after today? A small first payment or a free trial often becomes a weekly or monthly charge, and the terms are sometimes in small print under the button.
4. How do I cancel? You should be able to find this before you pay.
5. How did I get here? A message, an advert or a link someone sent you needs more care than a site you went to yourself. Type the address in yourself, or use the app you already have.
6. Am I being rushed? A countdown clock or “only today” is a reason to slow down.
A padlock in the address bar means the connection to the page is encrypted. It does not mean the seller is honest.
Is this invoice real?
Read the sender’s address one character at a time, not only the name shown beside it. Look-alike addresses add, drop or swap a letter.
If the invoice gives new bank details, phone the supplier on a number you already had, such as an earlier invoice, a contract or their own website typed in by you. Do not use a number from the new message. A genuine supplier is used to being asked.
Compare the amount, the invoice number and the work or goods with what you expected. An invoice for something nobody ordered is a reason to ask who in the organisation did.
Is this text or email from my bank real?
Do not use the link or the phone number in the message. Use the number printed on your card, or the banking app you already have. No genuine bank asks you to move your money to a “safe account”, and no genuine bank needs you to read out a one-time code to someone who called you.
How you pay changes what you can get back
Card payments often come with a way to dispute a charge. Bank transfers are usually hard to reverse once sent. The rules differ by country and by card, so ask your bank which applies to you before you send a large amount.
If you already paid
Call your bank first, on the number printed on your card. Then find any repeating charge with Subscription Check and stop it with Cancel and Keep Proof, which keeps the record. To report what happened, use official help, country by country.
What the numbers say
The United States Federal Trade Commission’s December 2025 report on older consumers says losses reported by people aged 60 and over rose from about $600 million in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2024. That is United States data. The Federal Trade Commission’s report is the source.
Watch: the short video
Free
Check first.
Pay after.
Before You Pay runs on your own phone or computer. What you type stays on your phone or computer.