1. Manufactured urgency
A deadline exists to stop you checking. Real organizations give you time and a way to verify. If a message makes your stomach drop, that is the tell — slow down deliberately.
2. Irreversible payment
Gift-card, cryptocurrency, and wire payments can be difficult to recover. A demand to pay an official bill with a gift card is a scam warning. If you sent money, contact the payment provider immediately to ask about recovery options.
3. Requested secrecy
"Do not tell your partner / your manager" removes the one person likely to spot it. Secrecy is not a feature of legitimate business.
4. The code read aloud
Reading a one-time code to a caller is handing over the account. No support desk will ever ask for it — not once, not for verification.
5. The near-miss address
paypal-secure-support.com is not PayPal. Domain endings vary, so a last-two-parts shortcut is unreliable. Open the organization’s known app or type an independently verified address instead.
Takeaway. Scam Check flags patterns in pasted text. It cannot authenticate a sender, inspect a link, or guarantee a message is safe.