What Popnin will never ask you to do

Popnin is a free video-calling service that anyone can use, including people with bad intentions. Our calls are private, so we cannot see what happens in them. These few rules protect you in any video call, not just ours.

Nobody legitimate will ask you, on a video call, to…

• Install software such as AnyDesk, TeamViewer, Quick Assist or "security tools", or give anyone remote control of your computer or phone.
• Read out codes sent to your phone or email, or your passwords or PINs. Verification codes exist so that only you can use them.
• Move money to a "safe account", buy gift cards or cryptocurrency, use a Bitcoin ATM, or send a wire or app payment to "verify" something.
• Share your screen while logged into banking, email, password managers or crypto accounts.
• Keep it secret from family, your bank, or the police, or stay on the call while you go to a shop or bank.

Signs the call may be a scam

• You didn't start this contact. Banks, government agencies, tech companies and marketplaces don't invite you to video calls to "secure" your account, issue refunds or fix viruses.
• The invitation came from a personal email address, or the organizer's account is brand new (we show this on the join page).
• Urgency and fear: "your account will be closed", "you'll be arrested", "a refund is pending".
• You're told to act now and not to hang up.

If something feels wrong

1. Hang up. You don't owe anyone an explanation.
2. Contact the organization yourself using the phone number on its official website or the back of your card, not a number from the call or an email.
3. If you installed software or shared a screen, disconnect from the internet and get help from someone you trust; change passwords from a different device.
4. If money moved, call your bank immediately; report to your local police or national fraud reporting center.
5. Report the meeting to us using the "Report" link on the join page, in the call menu, or after you leave. We can't see the call, but we can see who organized it and pause their account.

What Popnin does to make scams harder

• Every guest needs a personal invitation link sent to their own email address. Organizers who want a second factor can also require a short code they give out separately. There are no public, guessable meeting links.
• The join page always shows who organized the meeting, whether their organization's domain is verified, and whether their account is new.
• Guests are shown a warning before sharing their screen; executables can only be shared by organizers; script files are blocked entirely.
• New accounts can only send a handful of invitations in their first day.
• Reports from more than one guest pause an organizer's account automatically.

Popnin is sponsored by Huff Data Systems and is free. We will never charge you, ask for payment details, or call you.