IsThisAScam?

Inspiration

With the rise of online transactions, scammers continuously adapt their tactics to exploit unsuspecting individuals. We created IsThisAScam to empower people to report and learn from others’ experiences, reducing the risk of falling victim to fraud. By crowdsourcing real-life scam data, we aim to build a trusted community that actively combats financial fraud, allowing for online financial transactions and banking to be more trusted.

What it does

IsThisAScam is a user-driven platform where people can report scams they’ve encountered and browse through verified scam alerts. The platform categorizes scams by type (phishing, job, housing, etc.), provides real-time updates on trending scams, and includes expert tips on recognizing and avoiding fraudulent schemes.

How we built it

Our tech stack includes Firebase for the backend, and React on the frontend to create an intuitive, accessible interface. We also used Firebase’s real-time database to support immediate updates on active scams, giving users timely information on trending threats. This setup provides a secure, scalable, and responsive experience.

Challenges we ran into

Over the course of the hackathon, we ran into many issues, some even taking hours to resolve. The most infamous being trying to implement the gemini/openAI API into our platform. We spent hours trying to train a bot, just to realize that we couldn't implement it how we imagined. But, after some failures, we finally solved the problem and implemented it successfully.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The biggest accomplishment related to the application that we are proud of is the fact that we implemented and trained our own fine-tuned AI. But for the hackathon, we are really proud that we all were locked in and solved so many issues that if we weren't here, wouldn't be able to solve as fast.

What we learned

Working on this project taught us a lot about using AI in a practical way. We learned how to train a model to fit our specific needs, making it better at spotting patterns in scam reports. We also got hands-on experience with Firebase’s real-time database, which helped us keep everything updated instantly for users. Overall, this project showed us the importance of balancing big ideas with what’s actually doable—especially when working with APIs on a tight deadline.

What's next for IsThisAScam?

We want to add AI-powered scam detection to help spot new scam patterns, even when scammers change their tactics. We’re also planning to expand the types of scams users can report and improve the overall navigation to make the platform even easier to use. Plus, we’re looking to bring in more expert resources to help users stay one step ahead of potential scams.