DekhbhaalCheck with me first.
Before paying, tapping a link or sharing an OTP, your parent asks Dekhbhaal: "Ye sahi hai?" It says plainly whether it's a fraud. When it isn't sure, it says don't pay yet. And you hear about a near miss at once.
Older people are the first target of phone scams in India. In late 2025 the Supreme Court noted that about ₹3,000 crore had been taken in "digital arrest" scams alone (The Tribune, 3 November 2025). The callers are good at their job: they sound official, they make it urgent, and they say "don't tell anyone". Dekhbhaal gives your parent someone to ask, right then, who isn't in a hurry.
Four ways to ask
Say what happened
Hold "Boliye" and tell it: "Ek call aaya, bol rahe hain bijli ka bill baaki hai…"
Share a screenshot
Of the WhatsApp message, the SMS, or the payment page they were sent.
Forward the message
From WhatsApp or SMS, with Share, to Dekhbhaal.
Put the caller on speaker
Dekhbhaal listens while the call is on. The answer shows on the screen, and it speaks only when they tap, so the caller doesn't hear it. The caller's voice and words are never stored.
Three answers, never a guess
A fraud
"Hang up. Don't pay, don't share anything." You're told at once, with the kind of scam.
Looks genuine
It gives the useful part: who it's from, how much, by when, and the official way to pay.
Not sure
"Don't pay yet. Call the official number (on the bill, the card, or the bank's website) and ask." It never says "looks fine" when it isn't sure.
The answer comes in their language, on a big card, and is spoken when they tap. If Dekhbhaal can't check at that moment, because the network is down, say, it tells them so, and says don't pay yet.
The family code word
You set a word that only your family knows. When someone calls claiming to be a grandson in trouble who needs money now, Dekhbhaal tells your parent to ask the caller for the word, and offers to call you directly.
The word itself is never given to the AI. So Dekhbhaal can't say it, and neither can anyone pretending to be Dekhbhaal. It is shown only on the family's own settings screen.
If money has already gone
Dekhbhaal says so plainly, shows 1930, India's national cyber-fraud helpline, as a button to call, and tells you at once. The first hour matters: the sooner 1930 hears, the better the chance of stopping the money. Complaints can also be made at cybercrime.gov.in.
The scams it is tested against
Each of these is tested next to genuine messages that look like it, such as a real bank OTP SMS or a real bill reminder, so that real messages aren't called scams either:
- "Digital arrest": a "police officer" or "CBI official" on a video call says your parent is under investigation and must pay, or stay on the call and tell no one.
- The electricity bill: "Your connection will be cut tonight. Pay this number now."
- KYC updates: "Your bank account will be blocked. Click this link to update."
- A relative in trouble: "It's me, your grandson. I'm in trouble, send money, don't tell my parents."
- Fake bank calls asking for the OTP "to stop a payment" or "to reverse a charge".
- Prizes and lotteries that need a small fee first.
Whether something is a scam is the AI's judgement of that message, read with what it knows about your parent. There is no list of scam words for a scammer to get around.
What you see
A scam stopped, with its kind: the electricity bill, a KYC update, a digital arrest. Not the message itself, and not what your parent said about it. A "not sure" answer doesn't alert you on its own; a fraud, or money gone, always does. Sunday's note counts the scams stopped that week.