Frequently asked questions

Scamwise is a free app built to protect you and the people you care about from spam and scams — across calls, texts, and voicemail.

It combines a scam checker, text protection, voicemail, and On-Call scam detection into one app that goes well beyond your phone's built-in protection. Whether you're protecting your own phone or looking out for an aging parent, Scamwise flags scams before they can cause harm — and clears the junk out of your way.

Scamwise is made by Savi Security.

Scamwise protects you from scams across calls, texts, and voicemail. It has four core features:

• Scamwise Voicemail — Scamwise acts as your smarter, safer voicemail. When you miss a call, Scamwise takes the message, identifies who's real, and filters spam and scam attempts so you only see what's worth your attention.
• Text Protection — Automatically filters scam and spam SMS, MMS, and RCS messages to junk before you ever see them. iPhone only; iMessage is not filtered.
• Scamwise On-Call — Bring Scamwise into a live call for a real-time read on whether something is a scam.
• Scam checker — Submit any suspicious message, link, image, or situation and get a clear verdict instantly.

Yes. Every feature is free — Scamwise Voicemail, Text Protection, Scamwise On-Call, and the Scamwise scam checker. No subscription, no trial, no credit card.

iPhone (iOS): Full protection — Scamwise Voicemail, Text Protection (filters SMS, MMS, and RCS; iMessage is not filtered), Scamwise On-Call, and the Scamwise scam checker.

Android: Scamwise Voicemail, Scamwise On-Call, and the Scamwise scam checker. Text Protection is available on iPhone only at launch — Android is not covered at launch.

Web: Visit scamwise.com to use the scam checker in any browser on desktop, mobile, or tablet. No account needed.

The Scamwise app is not available on tablet or desktop at this time.

Scamwise works with most major US carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. If your carrier supports conditional call forwarding — and most do — Scamwise will work.

During setup, the app detects your carrier automatically and walks you through activation. Some prepaid or smaller carriers may not support call forwarding. If that's the case, the app will let you know, and the Scamwise scam checker will still work without any carrier dependency.

Not sure about your carrier? Contact us at support@savisecurity.com and we'll check for you.

Scamwise is currently available in the United States only, in English. We're focused on getting the US experience right before expanding. If you're interested in international availability, let us know — it helps us prioritize what's next.

Almost anything that feels suspicious. Common examples:

• Unusual texts or emails
• Requests for payment or personal information
• Delivery or account verification alerts
• Direct messages on social media
• Unknown or shortened links
• A strange phone call or voicemail you're unsure about
• An image of mail or a bill you don't recognize

You can submit content as text, screenshots, or images, or just describe a situation in your own words.

Scam detection is a complex, evolving problem — especially as AI makes scams more convincing every day. Scamwise analyzes the content and behavioral patterns behind calls and messages to identify likely threats, and the engine keeps improving as new patterns emerge.

The goal isn't to be infallible. It's to give you a fast, informed second opinion before you engage, so you can make a confident decision even when something sounds legitimate.

No tool can promise absolute certainty, and we'd rather be honest about that than overpromise. Scam tactics keep evolving, and some are genuinely hard to detect.

What Scamwise gives you is a fast, thorough second opinion based on patterns commonly associated with scams. If something still feels off after checking, trust that instinct: don't click links, don't share personal information, and verify through official channels before responding.

Scamwise is a mobile app, so the full experience requires a smartphone. If someone you're helping only has a landline, point them to the free scam checker at scamwise.com — they can use it any time, in any browser, to get a second opinion on anything that feels suspicious.

1. Download Scamwise from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Create a free account.
3. Follow the in-app setup to activate Scamwise Voicemail and Text Protection (iPhone only). This takes about 5 minutes.

There's nothing to buy and no trial to start — everything is free from the moment you sign up.

If you'd like help getting set up, our support team is here to help — use the chat in the app or email support@savisecurity.com.

After you create your account, you'll be guided through activating Scamwise Voicemail. This involves setting up call forwarding so that Scamwise can act as your smarter, safer voicemail.

Once activated, unanswered calls are routed to Scamwise Voicemail. Scamwise listens to the message, transcribes it, and tells you whether it's a scam, spam, or legitimate and worth your time.

To set up Scamwise Voicemail, open the Scamwise app > Profile > Settings > Scamwise Voicemail. You'll be guided through setup from there. It takes about 3 minutes. If you run into trouble, our support team can walk you through it.

After you create your account, Scamwise walks you through setting up Text Protection. It's available on iPhone only at launch — Android is not covered at launch.

Once set up, your texts are automatically filtered and organized into folders, so the ones that matter reach you and junk gets sorted away — similar to your email inbox.

Setup takes about 2 minutes. If you run into trouble, our support team can walk you through it.

No — Scamwise Voicemail replaces your carrier's built-in voicemail. When you set up Scamwise, your phone uses Call Forwarding to route unanswered calls to Scamwise's voicemail instead of your carrier's voicemail box. That means callers will hear Scamwise's voicemail greeting rather than the one you may have recorded through your carrier.

Once a caller leaves a message, Scamwise transcribes it, classifies it (scam, spam, or legitimate), and delivers it to your Voicemail inbox in the Scamwise app — so you can quickly see what's worth your time.

You can. Scamwise Voicemail only handles calls that go unanswered — it doesn't block or silence anyone. Every call still rings your phone normally. If an unknown number calls and you want to pick up, just answer it. Scamwise only steps in when a call goes unanswered and the caller leaves a voicemail.

Behind the scenes, Scamwise uses your contacts to tell known callers from unknown ones. That distinction is only used to sort voicemails — known callers land in your Inbox, while spam and scam messages from unknown numbers are filed silently in the Junk tab.

If your phone is set to Silence Unknown Callers (an iPhone setting), that's separate from Scamwise. You can turn it off in Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers so that all calls ring through. Scamwise Voicemail will still catch and analyze any calls you don't answer.

Yes — and since Scamwise is free, there's nothing to add them to and nothing to pay.

Scamwise protects one phone per account, so the person you're helping needs Scamwise installed and set up on their own phone, with their own account. The quickest way is to open Scamwise and tap Share Scamwise to send them a link, then help them through the setup steps on their phone. Or, you can simply download Scamwise from the App or Google Play store.

If you're on a call you're not sure about, you can bring Scamwise in for a real-time read.

• Add Scamwise to your contacts
• When a questionable call comes in, add Scamwise to the call the same way you'd add a third person
• Scamwise listens and tells you whether the call looks like a scam, and what to do next

On-Call works on both iPhone and Android. It only ever runs when you start it — Scamwise can't join a call on its own. Your call isn't recorded; the audio is analyzed as it happens and isn't kept.

Yes. We take security, privacy and user trust seriously. With your permission we collect only the minimum information needed to provide accurate detection and to improve our protection over time. For full details, see our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

Scammers use AI to make scams more convincing, more personalized, and harder to detect. Scamwise uses AI to fight back.

Scamwise analyzes messages for scam signals and patterns that go beyond the built-in features of your phone, and flags threats before they can cause harm. We carefully vet our AI partners for security and privacy, and the providers we use are specifically prohibited from training their models on your information.

You can delete your account from inside the app: open Profile and choose Delete account. You'll be asked why, and you can skip that if you'd rather not say.

Turn off call forwarding first. The app reminds you, and it matters — call forwarding is a setting on your phone line, not something inside the app, so deleting your account doesn't switch it off. If you skip that step, unanswered calls keep forwarding. The app gives you the code to dial.

If you'd rather we did it for you, or you've already deleted your account and calls are still forwarding, email support@savisecurity.com and we'll sort it out.

Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

Check these first:

• Open Scamwise and go to Profile → Scamwise Voicemail
• Tap Run a test call to check whether it's working
• Tap Update Call Settings and follow the on-screen steps to make sure your phone settings are configured to let Scamwise act as your voicemail
• Confirm the Phone number listed on the Scamwise Voicemail screen is your current number

If you recently switched carriers or changed your phone number, you'll need to re-run setup. Go to Profile → Scamwise Voicemail → Set up Scamwise Voicemail and complete the carrier call to re-enable call forwarding on your new number or carrier.

If none of that helps, contact our support team via the in-app chat or at support@savisecurity.com.

Scamwise doesn't delete calls or messages on your behalf. It flags and filters them so they're not taking up unnecessary space and attention.

For voicemails: Once you've set up call protection, your voicemails are found in the Scamwise app. Legitimate voicemails appear in your Voicemail inbox, while spam and scams are placed in Junk.

For texts: On iPhone, messages from unknown senders are sorted into the Transactions, Promotions, and Junk tabs in your Messages app — nothing is deleted. Messages from your contacts appear as usual and are never filtered. See How do I know Text Protection is working properly? below for what lands where.

Everything remains accessible should you need to locate any message.

The easiest way to check is to look at how your texts are organized in the Messages app. Once Text Protection is active, texts from unknown senders are sorted into three tabs: Transactions (bank codes, delivery alerts, appointment reminders), Promotions (marketing and coupons), and Junk (scams and spam).

If you're seeing messages from unknown numbers sorted into those tabs, it's working. If everything is still in a single list, double-check two things: first, make sure Filter Unknown Senders is on in your iPhone settings (Settings > Apps > Messages on iOS 18+), and that Scamwise is selected as your Text Message Filter. You can also confirm it's enabled in the Scamwise app under Profile > Settings > Text Protection.

Text Protection filters SMS, MMS, and RCS messages — it does not filter iMessage. It also only applies to senders who aren't in your contacts and whom you haven't replied to. If you just set it up, it may take a few incoming messages before the filtering becomes visible.

A note on notifications: By default, filtered categories (Transactions, Promotions, and Junk) arrive silently. To get notifications for specific categories, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Unknown Senders > Allow Notifications and toggle on the ones you want — for example, Transactions if you want bank alerts and delivery updates to ping you.

You can also save important senders as contacts — any sender in your Contacts is treated as a Known Sender and always notifies normally.

The Scamwise app has a built-in test. Open Profile > Settings > Scamwise Voicemail and tap Run a test call. Scamwise will call your line — don't answer it. If the test passes, your call forwarding is active and voicemails will route to Scamwise.

You can also test it yourself: call your phone from another number and let it ring to voicemail. Leave a short message, then open the Scamwise app. Within a minute or two, you should see the voicemail appear in your Voicemail inbox with a transcription and a classification (scam, spam, or legitimate).

If the voicemail doesn't show up, your call forwarding may need to be re-activated. Go to Profile > Settings > Scamwise Voicemail — it will walk you through the setup again. If you're still having trouble, our support team can help sort it out.

That's completely normal, and human support is available if you'd rather have someone confirm it for you. Scamwise uses multiple outbound phone numbers for system calls. Our monitoring system periodically places short probe calls to verify that your call forwarding is set up correctly and working as expected. These calls may come from different numbers than our main contact number, but they are all from Scamwise and are part of how we keep your protection active.

These test calls are brief and automated — they're how we make sure calls are routing to Scamwise properly so you stay protected.

If you're seeing calls you don't recognize and want to confirm they're from us, feel free to reach out to our support team and we can verify them for you.

Human support is available if you need it — for every user, at no cost.

In the app: Open Scamwise and tap the chat icon.

By email: Write to support@savisecurity.com.

On the website: Use the contact form on our Contact page. We respond within 48 hours on weekdays.

If you're helping someone else get set up and would rather we walked them through it, ask and we'll arrange it.

Two reasons, and we'd rather be upfront about both.

Platform limits. Apple and Android control what data apps like Scamwise can access. If a text contains only an image and no text, Apple doesn't give us enough to analyze it, so it may slip through unfiltered. We work within what the platform allows and push as hard as we can inside those limits.

Scammers adapt. Much as email spam evolved to get around filters, scam tactics constantly change to evade detection. That's why the engine keeps improving as new patterns emerge, and why there are extra layers like the scam checker and On-Call.

If something suspicious does get through, submit it to the scam checker for an instant read before you engage.

• Do not click any links
• Do not reply
• Do not send money or share personal information
• Block the sender if possible
• Submit it to Scamwise for a verdict and specific guidance
• Consider reporting it to your email provider, phone carrier, or the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov

Legitimate companies and people will always give you time to verify. When in doubt, pause before responding.