TextCheckUK

How we check the texts on this site

Last updated

TextCheckUK publishes pages about reported texts that people in the UK have received, and guides on unwanted texts and calls. This page explains who runs the site, how each page is checked, what we never publish and how to ask for a correction.

Who runs the site

TextCheckUK is run by Softmed Labs SRL, a company registered in Romania, and is funded by advertising. It is not a government service. We are not connected to any sender of the texts we describe, to any regulator (including the FCA, the ICO and Ofcom) or to any mobile network.

How a page is made

  1. We start from dated public reports of a real text.
  2. We check each fact against the official or primary source listed on the page, and record the date we read it.
  3. We print only what those sources support.
  4. What we cannot verify, we leave out.
  5. The “Checks we made” table on each page about a reported text lists what we checked, when, and what we found. The “Last checked” date changes only when we check the facts again.

Guides follow the same rules: each guide lists its sources at the end, with the date we read each one. Where a page about a reported text gives our opinion, it is labelled “Our view” and placed below the facts it rests on.

Tools

We use software, including AI tools, to find and cross-check sources. Every fact on a page links to the source it comes from, so you can check it yourself.

What we never publish

  • A verdict that a named business is a scam or breaks the law, unless an official source says so.
  • Personal data, such as private phone numbers or the names of private individuals. We never publish a full phone number from a text, only its first digits.
  • Text copied from sources whose terms do not allow it. Quotes from GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk, mygov.scot, the NCSC, the ICO and NHS England are used under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and material from Ofcom is reproduced as Ofcom copyright. Pages from the FCA, UK Finance, Mobile UK and Report Fraud, whose terms do not allow copying, are summarised in our own words with a link. From other organisations' pages, such as company help pages, we quote a sentence at most, with its source.
  • Screenshots of other companies' apps or websites. Step-by-step pictures, charts and example messages are drawn or written by us.
  • Scores or ratings from third-party reputation sites.

Corrections and right of reply

If anything on a page is wrong or out of date, or if you run a sender named on a page, email hello@textcheckuk.xyz. Corrections are free. On request, we publish the operator’s statement on the page. We never charge to change or remove a page.

Independence and advertising

Adverts on this site are placed by Google, not chosen by us. We do not sell placements to anyone named on a page.