Fifteen seconds of live video kills most scams.
A scammer cannot show their face on demand, holding a phrase the system just generated, and touching their left ear. A deepfake cannot do it live without lag. A real person can do it from a coffee shop. That is the whole tool.
The one-time phrase
Before any big transfer, account reset, or first call with a stranger, generate a phrase here. Read it on camera in a short live video. Add a gesture: touch your left ear, hold up two fingers. Send the clip to the person who needs to trust you — or ask them to send one back.
Generated on your device. We do not see it, store it, or send it anywhere.
Four free ways to make the call
1. Jitsi Meet — open source, no account, anyone, anywhere
One-click browser room. No app store. No sign-up. End-to-end encrypted between two people. We never see it.
2. FaceTime — already on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac
No new install. No new password. If both sides are on Apple, this is the lowest-friction option and a big reason we keep pointing people at Apple in the first place. See the recommended setup.
3. Signal — phone number identity, end-to-end, free forever
Best for when you want the call itself to be private from everyone, including us, including the carrier. Identities are phone numbers, which are harder to fake than a username.
4. Your bank's own video verify — the one most people never use
RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, and most credit unions now let you start a live-video call with a real banker from inside the app before a large transfer. It is free. It is built-in. It is the single most under-used fraud-prevention tool in retail banking. If you are about to send money to someone you have only met online: open your banking app, find "video appointment" or "talk to a banker", and ask them to look at the transfer with you on the screen.
What the receipt is
We never need the video. The browser can compute a fingerprint (SHA-256) of the clip and sign it with your device passkey. The fingerprint, the signature, the timestamp, and the phrase go on a public receipt at localpayments.io. The clip itself stays with you and the other party. If either of you ever needs to prove the call happened, you produce the clip, anyone can re-hash it, the receipt confirms it. No upload to us. No face database.
What this stops
- Romance and pig-butchering scams. Ask for a 15-second clip with today's phrase before any transfer. They will refuse, vanish, or get angry. That is your answer.
- Account takeover by SMS code. SIM-swap kills SMS. A live face with a one-time phrase does not get SIM-swapped.
- Deepfake voice calls. "Grandma, it's me, I need money" — ask for a 10-second video saying today's phrase. Real grandchild can. Cloned voice cannot, not live, not yet.
- Fake businesses. A real business has a named operator who can show their face for 15 seconds. A shell company hiding behind a domain cannot.
What this does not do
- It does not replace police. Fraud in progress, threats, assault → 911 or your local force first, always.
- It does not replace your bank's freeze tools. Suspected fraud → call your bank's fraud line on the number printed on your card, not a number someone gave you.
- It is not magic. A scammer with a hostage, a coerced victim, or a stolen unlocked phone can still get a clip. Live video raises the floor — it does not remove every risk.
Next: where the root actually lies — the five layers every scam touches →