These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of the TellSign mobile application and the tellsign.org website (together, the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to these Terms.
TellSign analyzes content you submit (messages, links, screenshots, QR codes, and audio clips such as voicemails) for patterns associated with scams and manipulation, using third-party AI models, and returns an assessment with suggested next steps. Where you enable it, TellSign also classifies incoming text messages from unknown senders on your device (“Threat Intercept”) and provides daily training exercises and scam-intelligence feeds.
AI analysis, not a guarantee. TellSign's verdicts are pattern-based assessments, not statements of fact about any person, company, or message. A "clear" signal does not guarantee a message is safe; a "flag" does not prove the sender is a scammer. Always use your own judgment, and never rely on TellSign as your sole basis for financial, legal, or safety decisions.
You agree not to:
Threat Intercept classifies incoming text messages from senders not in your contacts, on your device, and routes suspected scams to your Junk folder (iPhone) or warns you when one arrives (Android). You enable and disable it yourself in your phone's system settings. Its scope is set by the platforms, not by us: it cannot see iMessages, email, or messages from saved contacts. It is a pattern-based filter, not a guarantee — it may miss a scam and may occasionally classify a legitimate message as junk (messages are never deleted; anything filtered remains readable in your Junk folder). You remain responsible for your own decisions about messages, whether or not they were filtered.
Decision Shield is a clarity tool: it reflects the reasons you yourself type back at you, asks clarifying questions, and labels the state of your own reasoning (such as “proceed”, “careful”, or “pause”). It is not financial, legal, medical, or other professional advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond what you type. Its verdicts describe your stated reasoning, not the real-world merits of a decision — significant decisions deserve a qualified professional and people who know you. If what you paste looks like a scam message you received rather than a decision, Shield will point you to a scam check instead. Conversations are processed in transit to generate the reply and are not stored on our servers (see the Privacy Policy).
When you use Contribute to share a scam, identifying details (such as email addresses, phone numbers, and long digit sequences) are stripped on your device before transmission, and what is retained server-side is an anonymized pattern fingerprint with its category and language — not your message, identity, or conversation. You must have the right to share what you submit. By contributing, you grant TellSign a perpetual, irrevocable right to use the anonymized pattern to operate and improve protective features such as the Daily Drill, Pressure Pulse, Live Radar, Heads Up, and Threat Intercept’s on-device rule pack. Because contributions are anonymized on arrival, they cannot be traced back or recalled. Contributing grants no additional usage allowance.
TellSign requires no account and stores none of your submitted content on its servers. Content you submit is processed by named third-party AI providers to generate your result. See the Privacy Policy for full details — it forms part of these Terms.
The Service, including its design, text, and branding, is owned by TellSign and protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. You retain all rights to the content you submit; you grant us only the limited right to process it for the purpose of providing your result.
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that it will detect every scam.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, TellSign shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including financial losses resulting from reliance on an assessment — arising from your use of the Service. Our total aggregate liability shall not exceed the amount you paid for the Service in the twelve months preceding the claim.
We may modify the Service or these Terms; material changes will be posted here with an updated effective date. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
Questions about these Terms: support@tellsign.org