○ Safety tools
Safety tools for you and your family
Scout works with no helper at all. These tools are optional, and you stay in control of each one.
○ Family
Trusted helpers
Add a family member or friend in the app: their name, phone number, and email. Pick a primary and a backup helper.
- You choose which incidents they hear about, whether alerts go out automatically for high-risk calls or only when you send them, and whether evidence is shared.
- Your helper gets an automated call: “Press 1 to acknowledge, press 2 to call [you] now.” If nobody answers, Scout tries your backup helper or offers Sound Credit Union support.
- From your phone's share sheet you can send them a private link to a page that shows only what you shared. The link expires after 7 days, and you can turn it off anytime.
- Helpers need no app or account. They can't move money, approve payments, or see calls you didn't share.
○ Family
● New
Family code word
Choose a word or phrase only your family knows. Cloned voices can sound exactly like a grandchild; they can't know your family's word.
- If a caller claims to be family, Scout reminds you to ask for the word, then listens for it. If the caller says it, Scout tells you privately.
- The word itself is never stored: Scout keeps only a scrambled version (a salted hash), and removes the word from transcripts before they're saved or sent for analysis.
- Hearing the word is a good sign, not proof: a cloned voice could have overheard it. If anything feels off, hang up and call them back on the number you saved.
○ Finances
● New
Payment hold after a risky call
Scammers often call back, or keep pressure on after you hang up. Right after a risky call, the app offers to ask Sound Credit Union to pause outgoing wires and transfers for 24, 48, or 72 hours.
- Sound Credit Union staff review the request in their employee portal and decide. Scout itself can't block or stop a payment.
- You see the request's status in the app as it changes. You can cancel it while it's pending; once a hold is active, only Sound Credit Union can end it.
○ Practice
● New
Practice calls
Four short scripted drills inside the app, in English or Spanish: a “grandchild” in jail who needs bail, a fake bank fraud department, an “IRS agent” demanding gift cards, and fake tech support. Your iPhone speaks the caller's lines.
- You see the same warning card as on a real call and practice choosing what to do, then get a short debrief and a score.
- No real phone call is made and no one else is involved.
○ Calls
● New
Verified calls from Sound Credit Union
Bank-impostor scams work because anyone can say they're from your credit union. When Sound CU staff need to reach you, they call through Scout. Before anyone is connected, you alone hear: “Scout verified: this call is really from Sound Credit Union. Press 1 to connect, or hang up.”
- Then Scout says who is calling and why, and reminds you that even on a verified call Sound CU never asks for a password, PIN or one-time code.
- One rule to remember: if it's really Sound CU, Scout says so first. A caller who claims to be Sound CU without that announcement didn't come through Scout.
- Off by default; you turn it on. Verified calls are still listened to for scam tactics, because a real employee could misbehave too.
○ Calls
● New
Community number shield
When Scout warns a member during a call, it remembers the caller's number as a scrambled code, without names, transcripts or who was called. If that number then calls you, screening tells you before you answer, for example: “Scout warned 3 other members about this number in the last 7 days.”
- Counts only. Fewer than 3 members is worded “a few other members”, so no one can be singled out. Signals expire after 90 days.
- A missing shield line never means a call is safe: the shield only knows numbers that already reached Scout members.
○ Calls
● New
Trusted numbers and “Was this a real call?”
Mark people you know, like Mom or your doctor's office, as trusted. Their calls skip the screening questions and ring through labeled “Trusted number”. Protection stays on for the whole call, in case someone fakes a trusted number.
- After every warning you can answer “Was this a real call?”: yes it was a scam, no it was real, or not sure.
- Saying a call was real lowers that number's community signal for everyone, and can add it to your trusted list.
- Every warning shows why: the tactic, the caller's words that triggered it, and a plain one-sentence explanation.
Incidents you can review
Each protected call that raised concerns becomes an incident: time and length, who the caller claimed to be, what they asked for, voice-check results with their uncertainty, warnings, and what you did.
- Facts you confirmed are labeled separately from Scout's automated assessments.
- Before anything is shared, you review it and can remove optional details.