What is Alurtra?

Alurtra is a free phishing and scam detector built for Canadians. It checks URLs and emails against known threat databases and AI analysis to flag suspicious links before you click them.

Can Alurtra check emails too?

Yes. Alurtra scans email content for urgency language, financial fraud indicators, personal information harvesting attempts, and Canadian-specific scam patterns involving organizations like the CRA, OSAP, and major banks.

Is Alurtra free to use?

Yes, Alurtra is completely free. You can check URLs and emails without an account, and sign up for free to save your scan history.

What happens to the URLs or emails I submit?

If you're logged in, the URLs and emails you check get saved to your personal scan history so you can look back at past results. You can delete any single entry or clear your whole history whenever you want. We never sell your data or use it for advertising.

What does the browser extension actually see?

The extension only does anything on specific pages: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Google search results, and whatever page you're on when you click the icon. It sends the URL or email you choose to scan over to Alurtra's server so it can be analyzed. It doesn't read your passwords, your files, or anything you're doing on other sites.

What actually makes Alurtra "built for Canadians"?

Alurtra's detection is tuned to scams that specifically target Canadians. It checks URLs and emails against real Canadian government agencies (like the CRA, Service Canada, OSAP, and CERB) and major Canadian banks (RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, and more), and flags anything trying to impersonate them. It also recognizes scam tactics common in Canada, like fake Interac e-transfer requests or attempts to steal your Social Insurance Number.

How does the risk score get calculated?

A few things get combined: structural warning signs (suspicious keywords, insecure connections, IP based addresses, too many subdomains), a check against known malicious domains through Google Safe Browsing and URLhaus, our Canadian impersonation detection, and AI analysis through Google Gemini for added context. All of that gets rolled into one Low, Medium, or High score.

Does a Low Risk result mean something is definitely safe?

Not necessarily. No automated tool catches everything. A low risk result just means we didn't find the usual red flags, not a guarantee. It's always smart to use your own judgment too, especially if something's asking for money, passwords, or personal info.

Who's behind Alurtra?

Alurtra is built and maintained by an independent developer as a free tool to help people, especially Canadians, catch phishing and scams before they cause harm. Got a question or found a bug? Reach out at alurtra.noreply@gmail.com.

1. Unzip the downloaded file

Extract the .zip somewhere you won't move or delete it as Chrome loads the extension directly from this folder.

2. Open Chrome extensions page

Go to chrome://extensions in your address bar.

3. Enable Developer Mode

Toggle "Developer mode" on in the top-right corner of the extensions page.

4. Click "Load unpacked"

Select the unzipped folder from step 1.

5. Done!

Alurtra now appears in your extensions bar and is protecting you automatically.