About

Built for the moment
before a mistake is made

Almost every scam story has the same sentence in the middle: “If I’d just talked to someone for five minutes first.” This site is that five minutes. It’s open at 1 a.m., it’s private, and nobody here will make you feel stupid.

Why it was created

The Scam Hotline was founded by Joel Bouck, and the honest version of the origin story is on the first page of his book: he got taken himself. A polished Ponzi in a tailored suit. For a long time he called it bad luck and bad partners, because that was easier to live with. It wasn’t bad luck. It was a scam, and the 3 a.m. shame that followed is the same shame he has since heard in a hundred other voices — people who lost money, confidence, sometimes whole relationships, and told no one.

Most of the help he could find was statistics and fear. What people actually need at 1 a.m. is simpler than that: here’s the script being used on you, and here’s what to do about it. So he built that.

The result is the book Fooled: Inside the World of Scams and this site: free tools and plain-English guidance for the two moments that decide everything — before you respond to something suspicious, and the first hour after a mistake.

The mission

Our goal — and it is a goal we’re working toward, not a claim of numbers already reached — is to put a practical scam-prevention plan in front of 50,000 families. Every tool on this site is built for that: free to use, written in plain language, and designed to be shared with the people you love.

How information is researched

Guidance on this site is drawn from publicly documented scam cases and the published consumer-protection resources of the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the AARP Fraud Watch Network, and official agency contacts (Social Security Administration, Medicare, and the three credit bureaus). Phone numbers and reporting links are verified before publishing, and each page shows its last-reviewed date. If you spot something outdated, please tell us — that’s a service to every family who visits after you.

What we are — and what we are not

The Scam Hotline provides educational information and practical guidance. It is not a law-enforcement agency, bank, law firm, emergency service, or guarantee of financial recovery.

Education is what we do: explaining scams, warning signs, and verified next steps.
Reporting happens at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov — we point you there; we don’t take reports ourselves.
Law enforcement is 911 for danger and your local police or the FBI for crimes.
Legal and financial advice comes from your attorney and your bank — we help you know what to ask them.
Money recovery can never be guaranteed — by us or anyone. Be wary of anyone who promises it for a fee.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a story you want to share (we only publish with permission): reach us through the contact details on this page as they’re added, or via the order page at fooledthebook.com. Please never include passwords, account numbers, or verification codes in any message — we don’t need them and will never ask.