Call #2 · 2026-10-18 · visitor's choice

The Fake CAPTCHA (ClickFix)

web page · VerifyGate · invented, like everything else here.

Minutes wasted

Red flags found

Lines spoken

Scammer success

Call report

The Fake CAPTCHA (ClickFix)

A real verification never needs a stranger to see your screen, and a countdown is there to rush you, not to help you.

“The caller offered squiggly letters, then a look at the screen, and got neither.”

Fake verification (CAPTCHA) instructionsUnsolicited contactFake authority or brand impersonationUrgency or fearRemote access request

timer ran out, screen stayed private · scammer success: none

The call

Oldest line at the top. The note beside each caller line is the Fraud Desk.

                Caller
                Hello there, it's VerifyGate here — I just need you to confirm you're not a robot, and I'll be quick about it. There's a little box on your screen with some squiggly letters, so just tell me what they say and we're done.
              
                  Fake verification (CAPTCHA) instructionsUnsolicited contactFake authority or brand impersonation
                
A routine security check feels harmless, so people comply without asking who is really asking or why.
Real company: A real service runs its own checks on its own site and never phones you to read out a code.

                Bernard
                Oh — well — now, VerifyBoat, is it? That's a lovely name. The thing is I've got my reading glasses somewhere, hold on. Oh, they're on my head, aren't they. Silly. Now — squiggly letters, you said?
              
                Caller
                VerifyGate, yes — and I'll be quick, but I should mention the window's on a bit of a timer, so we don't have long before it locks up on you. Just the squiggly letters, that's all I need.
              
                  Urgency or fearFake verification (CAPTCHA) instructions
                
A countdown makes people act fast and skip the question of why a stranger needs this at all.
Real company: A real service lets you verify at your own pace and never rushes you with a closing window.

                Bernard
                A timer, is it? Oh dear, that sounds like the council letter I've been meaning to open since Tuesday — that'll have a deadline on it too, I shouldn't wonder. Is that the kettle I can hear? Would you hold on a tick, I'd hate to let it boil dry.
              
                Caller
                No, don't go anywhere — the timer's really not forgiving, and if it locks I can't reopen it from my end. Look, rather than me reading letters out to you, the fastest way is if I just have a look at your screen myself.
              
                  Remote access requestUrgency or fear
                
A ticking clock plus an offer to take over the screen feels like help, so the target stops thinking and hands over control.
Real company: A real support agent never asks to view or control your screen to read a code, and never rushes you with a countdown.

                Bernard
                Have a look at it yourself? Well, I don't mind, but it's mostly Mavis's cage and a photo of my late wife on a donkey. Oh — and the letter from the council I still haven't opened. Would you like me to read you that instead?
              
                Caller
                No, not the letter — I mean your screen, the actual computer. If you just let me have a quick look at it, I can sort the whole verification myself and you can get back to your tea.
              
                  Remote access requestUrgency or fear
                
Offering to do the work for you feels helpful, and the rush to finish makes handing over control seem like the easy path.
Real company: A real company never asks to look at your screen to complete a verification. It gives you steps you control yourself.

                Bernard
                Oh, right, the screen. Well — how would you do that, exactly? Do you come round? Only the front step's a bit slippy this time of year and I'd want to put the kettle on properly if you were coming.

What the pattern is

A real CAPTCHA asks you to tick a box or pick pictures. This one asks you to do something to your own computer that no website needs you to do, and the "verification" is really a way of getting a program or a command running on the machine. The instruction is disguised as a security step so that following it feels careful rather than reckless.

What to do instead

If a page asks you to open a system window, paste something or run anything, close it. That is not a CAPTCHA, whatever it says. Nothing that verifies a human needs access to your computer. If you have already done it, disconnect from the internet, get the machine looked at, and change the passwords you use from a different device.

The full scenario page →

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