{"slug": "your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics", "title": "Your AI recommended a store. Is it a scam? (Free API, no auth, transparent heuristics)", "summary": "A developer has released a free, transparent domain reputation checker designed for AI agents that recommend products or stores. The tool, available at marketnow.site, uses heuristic checks to flag suspicious domains and requires no API key or registration. It is positioned as a lightweight alternative to commercial services like WHOISXML and IPQualityScore, offering open CORS and cacheable responses.", "body_md": "AI agents increasingly recommend products, stores, and URLs to users. But when an agent says \"this store looks good,\" there's no automatic check of whether the store is a scam.\n\nCommercial services like WHOISXML, IPQualityScore, and CheckPhish sell domain reputation data — but they're paid, require API keys, and are black boxes. You can't see why they flagged a domain.\n\nA free domain reputation checker with transparent heuristics. No API key. No registration. CORS open.\n\n**Try it live:** [https://www.marketnow.site/scam-checker.html](https://www.marketnow.site/scam-checker.html)\n\n**API:**\n\n```\ncurl \"https://www.marketnow.site/api/scam-check?domain=example.com\"\n```\n\n**Response:**\n\n```\n{\n  \"domain\": \"example.com\",\n  \"decision\": \"TRUSTED\",\n  \"risk_score\": 0,\n  \"reasons\": [],\n  \"checks\": {\n    \"url_shortener\": { \"triggered\": false, \"detail\": \"Not a known URL shortener\" },\n    \"suspicious_tld\": { \"triggered\": false, \"detail\": \"TLD not in suspicious list\" },\n    \"typosquatting\": { \"triggered\": false, \"detail\": \"No typosquatting pattern matched\" },\n    ...\n  }\n}\npython\nimport requests\n\ndef is_safe_to_recommend(url):\n    result = requests.get(\n        f\"https://www.marketnow.site/api/scam-check?domain={url}\"\n    ).json()\n\n    if result[\"decision\"] == \"SUSPICIOUS\":\n        return False, result[\"reasons\"]\n    elif result[\"decision\"] == \"CAUTION\":\n        return None, result[\"reasons\"]  # Let user decide\n    else:\n        return True, []\n```\n\nThis is **heuristic v1**. No threat feeds. A new, clean scam returns UNKNOWN, not TRUSTED.\n\nWhat this means:\n\nThis is not a substitute for commercial threat intelligence. It's a free, transparent first check that agents can call without an API key.\n\n| Feature | Commercial (WHOISXML, IPQualityScore) | UTA Scam Checker |\n|---|---|---|\n| Price | Paid | Free |\n| API key | Required | Not required |\n| Transparency | Black box | Every check shows its reasoning |\n| CORS | Usually closed | Open |\n| Cacheable | No | Yes (5 min cache) |\n| Registration | Required | Not required |\n\nIf you're building an agent that recommends products or stores (product research, dropshipping, affiliate), the agent should check the domain before recommending:\n\n```\n# Before the agent recommends a store\nsafe, reasons = is_safe_to_recommend(\"suspicious-store.xyz\")\nif not safe:\n    agent_response = f\"I cannot recommend this store. Reasons: {reasons}\"\nelse:\n    agent_response = f\"This store looks safe to explore.\"\n```\n\n`GET https://www.marketnow.site/api/scam-check?domain=example.com`\n\n*This is the first \"policy pack\" for UTA (Universal Trust Adapter). The scam checker runs alongside the credential verification pipeline. Both are free, no auth, CORS open.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/edison_flores_6d2cd381b13/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics-1god", "published_at": "2026-09-04 00:07:27+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-04 00:23:45.580884+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["marketnow.site", "WHOISXML", "IPQualityScore", "CheckPhish", "UTA"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/your-ai-recommended-a-store-is-it-a-scam-free-api-no-auth-transparent-heuristics.jsonld"}}