I want to create a Discord bot and server to help people report fraudsters and alert the community. I have some basic concepts but would love to hear your input before I start development.
My current concept:
Users can report suspicious phone numbers with evidence like screenshots. There would be a verification step to confirm the reports are legitimate. Once verified, the numbers get shared in the server for community awareness and possible mass reporting.
Questions for the community:
What features do you think would actually help reduce fraud attempts?
If you’ve been targeted by scammers, what kind of tool would have helped you?
What would motivate you to actively participate in something like this?
This is mainly a personal project that I plan to self-fund, so I really want to make sure it provides real value to users.
decent idea, but privacy’s gonna be a concern. you could run numbers against scammer databases automatically first. don’t limit it to discord - make it work on telegram, whatsapp, whatever. people will only use it if it’s faster than just googling the number themselves.
Having faced multiple incidents with scammers targeting my elderly parents, I can relate to your initiative. The verification process is crucial, and perhaps incorporating a reputation system could enhance the trustworthiness of the reports. One effective feature could be regional filtering, as many scams are area-specific, improving the relevance of warnings. Furthermore, categorizing reports into types like romance scams or IRS fraud could aid users in recognizing threats relevant to them. To foster engagement, consider introducing gamification elements, such as awarding points for verified reports. Additionally, collaborating with consumer protection agencies could lend your project more credibility and encourage broader participation.
Your concept’s solid, but focus on data accuracy and cutting down false positives. I’ve dealt with telemarketing harassment - the trickiest part is telling legitimate businesses apart from actual scammers. Set up a threshold where numbers need multiple independent reports before they’re flagged publicly. Reverse lookup integration would help verify if reported numbers belong to registered businesses. For user motivation, send real-time notifications when previously reported numbers try calling - shows immediate value. Integrate with existing fraud platforms like FTC’s Consumer Sentinel so you’re not duplicating work. Don’t forget appeal mechanisms for wrongly flagged numbers. Legitimate organizations will trust the system more if they can contest bad flags.