Terms & Conditions
Use the checker as guidance, not a guarantee.
By accessing or using Scam Ba ’To?, you agree to these Terms & Conditions. If you do not agree, do not use the service.
1. Service purpose
Scam Ba ’To? is an independent public-interest technology project that provides decision-support guidance for suspicious digital messages. It is intended to help users identify warning signals, understand requested actions, evaluate links and contextual evidence, and reach independently verified official channels when available.
2. No guarantee of authenticity or fraud
Red, Yellow, and Green results are risk guidance based on the message submitted, available organization intelligence, verified destinations, and system rules. A Green result does not prove that a sender or transaction is authentic. A Red result is not a legal finding that fraud or a crime occurred. A Yellow result means additional verification is appropriate. Results can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong.
3. High-stakes decisions
Do not use Scam Ba ’To? as the sole basis for sending money, disclosing credentials, approving transactions, changing account security, responding to legal demands, or making other high-stakes financial, identity, legal, or cybersecurity decisions. Verify sensitive matters through an official channel obtained independently from the suspicious message.
4. OTPs and transaction messages
The presence of an OTP, amount, merchant, account warning, or urgent language does not automatically make a message fraudulent. Users remain responsible for checking whether they initiated or expected the underlying action. Never provide an OTP, PIN, password, CVV/CVC, recovery phrase, or similar credential to another person or through an unverified destination.
5. User responsibility
You are responsible for the content you submit and for your decisions after receiving a result. The service is not a substitute for advice or confirmation from a bank, e-wallet, government agency, school, telecommunications provider, utility, courier, platform, law-enforcement authority, lawyer, financial professional, or cybersecurity professional.
6. Prohibited submissions and use
Do not intentionally submit passwords, OTPs, PINs, CVV/CVC values, full card numbers, recovery phrases, stolen personal data, unlawfully obtained databases, malware, or content you are not permitted to process. Do not use the service to facilitate fraud, phishing, harassment, credential theft, unlawful surveillance, automated flooding, security bypass, or attacks against the service or third parties.
7. Rate limits and protective measures
The project may apply request limits, block abusive traffic, suspend features, or take other reasonable technical measures to protect users, infrastructure, verified data, and service availability.
8. Official and external links
Verified destinations are curated to help users leave a suspicious workflow and reach an independently identified official channel. External websites and services are operated by third parties. Scam Ba ’To? does not control their availability, security, content, transactions, privacy practices, or terms, and a destination may change after verification.
9. Dataset and technical information
Public dataset counts, benchmarks, adversarial tests, and technical reports describe the project’s validation process and should be read with their stated scope and limitations. Controlled or synthetic benchmark cases are not represented as independent real-world victim reports.
10. Availability and changes
The service may be updated, corrected, limited, suspended, or discontinued at any time. Features, datasets, verified destinations, classifications, interfaces, and policies may change as threats, organizations, infrastructure, and evidence evolve. Continuous or error-free availability is not guaranteed.
11. Intellectual property and third-party rights
Scam Ba ’To? retains rights in its original software, interface, documentation, project branding, and original materials subject to any published license. Names, trademarks, logos, advisories, websites, and other third-party materials remain the property of their respective owners. Reference to an organization does not imply sponsorship, partnership, or endorsement.
12. National University affiliation
John Clement S. Escobañez is academically affiliated with National University - Manila. That affiliation is provided for professional and biographical identification. Scam Ba ’To? is independently developed and is not represented as an official National University product, service, endorsement, or legal responsibility unless the University separately states otherwise.
13. Disclaimer of warranties
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the service is provided on an “as available” basis without warranties of absolute accuracy, completeness, timeliness, uninterrupted operation, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Nothing in these terms excludes rights or obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded.
14. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the developer is not liable for losses arising solely from reliance on a checker result, inability to access the service, changes to external sites, or actions taken on third-party platforms. This limitation does not apply where liability cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
15. Privacy
Use of the service is also subject to the Privacy Notice, which explains the project’s current handling of submitted text, technical information, browser storage, safeguards, and privacy rights.
16. Governing law
These terms are intended to operate consistently with applicable laws and regulations of the Republic of the Philippines. Mandatory rights and remedies under applicable law remain unaffected.
17. Changes to these terms
These terms may be updated when the service, risks, legal requirements, or operating practices materially change. The effective or last-updated date will be revised when a material update is published. Continued use after publication of revised terms constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by law.
18. Contact
Questions about these terms or the project may be sent to jsescobanez@national-u.edu.ph.