Consumer Verification Checklist: Verify Before Acting

An urgent request may arrive by phone, email, text, or social message. Before sending money, sharing a sign-in code, changing account details, or releasing a child or package, use a second route to verify who is asking.

Pause and verify

1. **Stop the requested action.** Do not use a phone number, link, or payment detail supplied in the urgent message.
2. **Contact the person or organization independently.** Use a saved number, an official website, or a separate known account.
3. **Check the exact request.** Confirm the amount, recipient, pickup, location, or account change—not only the caller's name.
4. **Get a second approval** for high-value payments or changes to recovery information.
5. **Use a family verification phrase** only if you agreed it privately in advance. Do not use answers to public profile questions as a secret.
6. **Pause if facts conflict.** Contact the relevant bank, provider, school, or employer through its normal support channel.

This checklist helps interrupt pressure; it cannot prove that a voice or message is genuine. If money or account access has already been lost, contact the bank or service provider promptly and follow its reporting process.