Get all your Guardio questions answered

Leaked data is gold for scammers, especially phishing, impersonation, and account takeovers.

• Scammers use leaked emails and passwords to send hyper-personalized phishing attacks.
• You might get fake emails from companies you actually use.
• Data leaks often fuel identity theft, credit fraud, and fake subscription renewals.
• Guardio alerts you when scam attempts relate to breached data you own.

Avoid scams by reviewing our phishing threat breakdown.

Guardio provides real-time breach alerts based on your monitoring list.

• Enable real-time protection in your Guardio dashboard.
• Connect your Gmail and phone number for faster, more accurate alerts.
• Review the alert details to see what was leaked and when.
• Take immediate action using Guardio’s suggested next steps for each breach.

See exactly how Guardio tracks data leaks.

Yes, your Guardio Premium plan covers up to 5 people with full identity protection.

• Invite family members from your dashboard under “Manage Members.”
• Each person gets their own alerts and breach insights.
• You’ll all stay protected from identity theft and scams tied to personal data.
• Get notified if their data leaks, even if it happens on a site you’ve never used.

Start protecting others by inviting family to your plan.

Guardio is a security tool that protects you across your entire digital life—from your browser and mobile device to your online accounts. It works in real time to block threats like scams, phishing pages, and malicious downloads before they can reach you.

• Predictive threat detection: Guardio uses advanced AI to recognize scam sites, phishing links, and dangerous content, even before they’re widely reported, so you’re protected before you click.
• Human-centric protection: Guardio keeps watch over your full digital life cross device, including email, cloud services, and mobile device.
• Full visibility and control: You’ll get clear alerts if something puts you at risk, like exposed personal info, reused passwords, or missing 2FA, along with simple steps to secure it.

Guardio offers browser-specific protection, blocking threats in real-time as you browse. Unlike traditional antivirus programs that scan your device from the outside, Guardio monitors every webpage, link, and extension to detect malicious behavior and evolving threats. It also monitors the web for data leaks, while traditional antivirus software primarily focuses on threats already on your device.

Ad blockers prevent ads from appearing on web pages, but they don't address the underlying causes of malicious pop-ups or adware. Guardio tackles the source of malicious ads by disabling any malware or adware on your browser. Unlike ad blockers, Guardio provides comprehensive protection against online threats that could harm your device or compromise your data.

Yes, Guardio is available worldwide with pricing in USD and support in English.

Guardio offers a 7-day free trial with no obligation. After the trial, you can choose a monthly, yearly, or biennial subscription plan for continued protection.

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Yes! Guardio offers a mobile app available on both the App Store and Google Play Store. Guardio’s mobile app protects against mobile security threats and keeps you up-to-date with real-time alerts. It also filters out sketchy and potentially dangerous text messages, helping you avoid scams and fraud attempts on your mobile device.

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Once you install the Guardio extension, it continuously scans every site, platform, and page you visit. You'll receive alerts if you're at risk or if your data has been leaked online. Pin the Guardio extension to your browser to see the green icon, indicating it is active.

Guardio performs an initial scan upon installation and continuously monitors your browsing activity in real-time. It also regularly scans the deep and dark web for any breaches involving your data.

After installing Guardio, it performs an initial scan to detect and remove any existing malware on your browser and checks for any malicious sites you might have visited. You’ll then start your free trial and enjoy complete protection from Guardio.

Guardio stops harmful pop-ups that lead to fraudulent sites or scams. It disables any malware causing these pop-ups but does not block legitimate pop-ups from websites.

Yes, Guardio can fix browser hijacking, where malware overrides your settings and redirects you to unintended websites. Guardio detects and resolves this as soon as the extension is installed.

Yes, Guardio values your privacy and never misuses, sells, or shares your data with third parties.

Guardio requires permissions to read and verify website safety, display notifications, and manage extensions to remove any malicious ones. These permissions are necessary for Guardio to provide effective protection.

A credit card is required to prevent fraud and ensure a smooth transition after the free trial. A hold will be placed on your credit card for the trial amount, but it will not be charged. If you choose not to continue with Guardio, the hold will be lifted, and the funds will be returned to your account.

Contact the Guardio support team through the Guardio Help Center or by email at support@guard.io. Our support team is available to help 24/7.

Yes, you can cancel Guardio anytime from your dashboard. There is no charge if you cancel within the 7-day free trial period. See our full guide on how to cancel Guardio.
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Please note: Guardio is not affiliated with JustAnswer, Unsubby, Xpendy, or any other third-party service offering tech support or subscription management. If another service claims to manage Guardio subscriptions, it is not official and may lead to additional or unauthorized charges.

The Guardio Premium plan gives you full device coverage, scam & phishing protection, data leak alerts, account security insights and 24/7 email support.

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Guardio provides real-time protection against online threats, preventing them before they reach you. It offers peace of mind by actively safeguarding your online activity and personal data, making it a valuable investment for online security.

No, Guardio is an independent company. While it operates as a Chrome extension on Chromium-based browsers, it is not owned by Google.

Guardio is a 100% legitimate and trusted product used by over 1.5 million people worldwide. It is available on reputable browser stores like the Google Chrome Web Store, and Microsoft Edge Add-Ons, where it holds a high rating and an Established Publisher badge from Google.

Guardio has also been featured in leading tech publications, like PCMAG, Wired, TechRadar, TechCrunch, and The Hacker News. Additionally, it secured $47 million in Series A funding in January 2022, further validating its legitimacy and value.

Guardio is absolutely safe and is designed to keep you safe. It is a legitimate tool built by a company that adheres to strict privacy standards and regulations. Guardio helps you avoid dangerous websites, phishing scams, and identity theft, ensuring a secure digital environment.

Guardio is specifically designed for Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi. It enhances Chrome’s security by actively monitoring and protecting you from online threats.

Guardio is trusted by more than 1.5 million people for protecting their computers, online identities, and sensitive data. It is available on reputable browser stores with positive reviews and high ratings, and it has earned several badges from Google confirming its reliability and quality.

The Guardio VIP plan gives you our highest level of protection. As a Guardio VIP member, you get everything included in Guardio Premium, plus a dedicated security expert for phone support, and complete coverage for up to 4 family members at no extra cost.

Phishing in 2026 usually isn’t a messy email with broken grammar. It’s a believable message and a link to a page that looks exactly like a real brand login. Guardio helps by identifying phishing attempts and impersonation pages based on real-world patterns and by surfacing alerts when something looks unsafe, even if the message made it past standard spam filters.

In 2026, fake websites don’t look fake anymore. They load fast, copy real brands perfectly, and often pass basic checks like HTTPS or domain age. To know if a website is legit, you need to look at how it behaves, not how it looks.

1. Ignore surface signals

A padlock icon, professional design, or even a familiar brand name isn’t enough. Guardio Labs regularly detects scam sites that use valid certificates and polished layouts within hours of going live.

2. Pay attention before you interact

Many malicious sites reveal themselves the moment the page loads. Unexpected redirects, hidden scripts, forced popups, or fake verification steps are common signs. Guardio scans these behaviors in real time, before you click, log in, or enter any information.

3. Check the domain structure, not just the name

In 2026, impersonation relies on subtle domain tricks: extra words, swapped characters, or regional variations that look legitimate at a glance. Guardio analyzes domain patterns and brand impersonation techniques, not just known bad URLs.

4. Watch for pressure tactics

Urgency is still one of the strongest scam signals. Fake countdowns, limited-time offers, forced surveys, or “verify you’re human” prompts are often used to rush decisions. Guardio flags these page-level patterns even when the site itself is brand new.

5. Use real-time protection instead of manual checks

Copying links into website checkers or searching Reddit after the fact is too slow. Guardio evaluates websites automatically as you browse and alerts you instantly when something doesn’t add up.

The bottom line

In 2026, a website’s legitimacy is determined by behavior, structure, and intent, not appearance. Guardio protects you by detecting unsafe sites in real time, using live behavioral signals and impersonation patterns, so you can browse, shop, and log in with confidence, without having to second-guess every link.

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Brand impersonation websites often use lookalike domains, subtle spelling tricks, and cloned page layouts. Guardio focuses on detecting these impersonation techniques by looking at domain patterns and page signals that are commonly used to mimic trusted brands, so you’re not stuck relying on perfect human attention every time you browse.

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In 2026, “safe” is less about how a site looks and more about what it’s doing behind the scenes. Guardio helps by scanning websites as you browse and alerting you when a page shows risk signals like impersonation patterns, suspicious behavior, or known threat techniques. Instead of relying only on reputation lists, Guardio focuses on catching threats while they are unfolding in real time.

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Shopping scams in 2026 often look like normal stores until the last step. Guardio helps by warning you about suspicious storefronts, deceptive discount flows, and risky pages before you enter checkout details. The goal is to stop fraud and identity exposure at the moment it becomes actionable, not after a card charge goes through.

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Scam sites now use clean design, real brand visuals, and HTTPS by default. What makes them dangerous is the intent and behavior: misleading login prompts, deceptive flows that push you to “verify,” redirect chains that lead you somewhere else, or scripts designed to trick you into sharing credentials or payment info. Guardio is built to detect these behavioral patterns, not just obvious visual red flags.

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Manual tools require you to pause, copy a link, and remember to check every time, which breaks down in real life. They also often miss fast-moving scam sites that appear and disappear quickly. Guardio is designed to work continuously while you browse, so protection doesn’t depend on you doing perfect verification every time.

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Guardio detects fake websites by combining page understanding with threat pattern recognition. Instead of treating a URL as “good” or “bad” based only on history, Guardio looks at signals like domain structure, page behavior, and impersonation indicators. That approach is designed to catch lookalike sites quickly, including sites that are new or rotating.

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Yes, that’s part of the point. Many scams operate on short timelines. Guardio’s approach is designed to detect threats based on behavior and patterns, which helps catch suspicious sites even when they are new, recently registered, or not widely reported yet.

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Guardio is designed to protect you early in the journey, before a risky site can do damage. In practice, that means warning you when you’re about to land on a suspicious page or when a page behaves like a known scam pattern, so you can stop before entering passwords, payment details, or personal info.

Guardio is built to help protect against common real-world threats people run into during daily browsing, including malicious sites, phishing attempts, scam pages, and impersonation flows. Depending on platform and setup, Guardio can also help with risky messages and emails that slip into primary inboxes, plus features like SMS filtering on iOS.

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