Dead Air: Scam Protection

Dead Air helps you spot suspicious messages and manage unwanted calls, with free tools that work on your iPhone. CALL PROTECTION Add US phone numbers to your personal blocklist. After you enable Dead Air in Settings, iOS uses the installed list to block eligible matching calls even when the app is closed. On iOS 18 and later, saved contacts can bypass app-based blocking; use the Phone app’s Block Contact control for those numbers. Dead Air does not change Apple’s Blocked Contacts. Public FTC complaint data adds reported-number blocks and labels. Reports are not proof of fraud; numbers may be spoofed or reassigned. Community exceptions let you allow a number you recognize. LOCAL TEXT CHECKS Check pasted messages for common scam patterns and see the reasons. Enable the message-filter extension to classify supported unknown-sender SMS/MMS. Automatic filtering does not cover iMessage or every scam, and legitimate messages can be flagged. SCREENSHOTS, LINKS, AND QR CODES Extract text from a selected screenshot on your iPhone. Inspect a link's actual hostname and structural warning signs without visiting it. Decode QR images without opening their contents. Share text, links, or images to Dead Air from another app, review them locally, and optionally save the text for later. HELP WITH THE NEXT STEP Use recovery checklists if you clicked, paid, shared a password or identity information, or installed something suspicious. Prepare an editable summary for someone you trust, then choose how to share it. Community-list exceptions and Undo help correct mistakes. OPTIONAL AI SECOND OPINION Bring your own API key for supported OpenAI, OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic, or Gemini API formats. Review the text and destination before each request. Provider charges and data policies apply; API access may require separate billing from a consumer AI subscription. Keys stay in this device's Keychain. AI answers are advisory and never change your blocklist automatically. No Dead Air account, ads, or paid subscription is required. Core protection and local checks work without an AI key. Background list refresh timing is controlled by iOS. No app can detect every scam: a clean result is not proof of safety. Verify unexpected requests through a trusted channel.