PDF guide · Edition 2 · October 2026
Before You Pay: the 10-Minute Scam Check
A 23-page guide that shows you how to check a contractor, landlord, online seller, website, or “official” caller before your money leaves your hands, using free public tools.
- Instant download after card payment
- 30-day, no-questions refund
- Every figure cited to the FTC, FBI, CFPB, or Illinois agencies
Why a few minutes of checking matters
$15.9 billion
in fraud losses reported to the FTC by U.S. consumers in 2025, from 3 million reports.
Source: FTC, March 25, 2026 (testimony PDF)
$20.877 billion
in losses in 1,008,597 complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025.
Source: FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report
32,977
IC3 complaints from Illinois in 2025, with $535.3 million in reported losses.
Source: FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report
These are only the losses people reported. The guide teaches the checks; it can’t promise you’ll never be targeted.
A look at the pages
Contents
- How to use this guide · why it matters (FTC and FBI figures)
- Part 1. The Pause Rule and the family code word
- Part 2. The 10 instant deal-breakers
- Part 3. The 6-step Verification Ladder
- Part 4. The payment-safety ranking
- Part 5. 11 scenario checklists
- Part 6. Quick checks for websites, phone numbers, texts, email
- Part 7. Scripts, dispute letter, evidence log, Before You Pay Record
- Part 8. I already paid: the first hour
- Part 9. National and Illinois / Chicago lookup directory
- Part 10. When to get a second set of eyes
- The printable Pause Card · full source list
Good fit if you…
- are about to hire a contractor, rent a place, or buy from someone new
- want something simple to give a parent or grandparent
- pay invoices for a small business
- live in Illinois and want the local lookups in one place
Not a fit if you…
- need legal advice about a specific case (talk to an attorney)
- want someone to recover money already lost (no one can honestly promise that; see Part 8)
- already know the FTC’s and FBI’s guidance well. Much of this is free from those agencies; the guide organizes it into checklists
Get the guide
$19 one-time · PDF · 23 pages
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Rather have someone check the business for you?
FedProbeNow Business Verification checks businesses and public business records: registration, licenses, domain age, complaints, sanctions lists, and scam patterns in offers, contracts, and websites. Written, sourced summaries from $29. Businesses only; never people.