What this is about
Four situations about agreements that protect you before a call ever comes: choosing a code word, using it, keeping it secret and knowing whom to call.
What you practise
Agree a code word with your family and use it when it matters.
Your situation in this exercise
You're the mother of Emma, whose number is saved in your phone. You've agreed a code word with her.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. Without it, you can read through all messages with their explanations here.
A safe phrase for the family
You want to agree a safe phrase with your children — for calls about money.
Which safe phrase works?
- ✓ Two words that have nothing to do with you — agreed in person next time you meet. – Exactly. A good safe phrase isn't anywhere online and can't be guessed. Agree it face to face, or on the phone using a number you know.
- ✗ The dog's name — everyone remembers that. – A pet's name is often findable online, for example in photos on social media. A safe phrase has to be secret.
- ✗ Your birthday. – Birthdays appear in profiles, greetings and newsletters. Anyone who knows a bit about you could guess it.
A good safe phrase has nothing to do with you, isn't anywhere online, and is agreed in person — never by message. Share it only with your close circle.
Unknown number · +44 7700 ••• 683
Caller: Mum, it's me! My phone's broken, I'm borrowing one. I need money for the garage really urgently, otherwise I can't get home …
The voice sounds like Emma. What do you do?
- → Ask for the safe phrase. – Well asked — now it all depends on the answer.
- ✓ Hang up and call Emma on her saved number. – That's exactly right too. If her phone really is broken, you'll reach her through her partner or work — on numbers you know.
- ✗ Ask how much she needs. – Check first, then help. Ask for the safe phrase or call the real Emma.
Caller: Safe phrase? Mum, I really can't think about that now! Please, it's urgent!
What do you do?
- ✓ Hang up and call Emma on her saved number. – Exactly. If a caller can't give the safe phrase, hang up. You'll sort everything out calmly with Emma on her real number.
- ✗ Give in — she's so upset, of course she's forgotten. – That's exactly what the safe phrase is for: so that panic doesn't decide. No phrase, no money.
A trap. The voice sounded familiar — AI can do that today. The safe phrase made the difference: whoever can't give it gets no money, just a call back on the number you know.
Emma (new number)
← Hi Mum, this is my new number 🙂
← Could you send me our safe phrase again? I've forgotten it 🙈
What do you do?
- ✓ Send nothing. Call Emma on her old, saved number. – Exactly. A safe phrase never goes into a message. Anyone who's forgotten it can ask on the phone, on the number you know — or next time you meet.
- ✗ Send the safe phrase — it's Emma. – You don't know it's Emma: anyone can have a new number. With the phrase, the scammers would hold the key for their next call.
A trap — “Hi Mum, new number” with a new goal: your safe phrase. It stays spoken, never written. If it's ever given away, agree a new one.
Alone with the decision
A caller is pushing you to transfer money today. He says you mustn't talk to anyone about it.
You're unsure and alone at home.
What helps most now?
- ✓ Hang up and call the person you agreed with your family to call when in doubt. – Exactly. Two people are harder to rush. And anyone who demands secrecy has something to hide.
- ✗ Decide on your own, so as not to bother anyone. – That's what scammers count on: you deciding alone, under pressure. Asking never bothers anyone — best agree that in advance.
Being prepared also means agreeing in advance whom to call when in doubt. Someone you trust takes the pressure off — two heads are harder to rush.
Need an idea for a code word?
Two random words, chosen in your browser — nothing is saved or sent. Take it as a starting point and agree the word in person, never by message.
Our agreements — a card for the fridge
Fill it in on screen and print it. Nothing you type is saved. The code word does not go on this card.
Our agreements
If a call is about money: hang up, call back on the number I know, ask for our code word.
Practice makes safe · practice-makes-safe.org
Sources (checked 1 October 2026)
Stop! Think Fraud (UK Government), How to spot phone fraud and Protecting others from fraud (safe phrase) · Report Fraud, Vishing. · Call voices synthesised with Piper from the CSTR VCTK Corpus (Yamagishi, Veaux and MacDonald, University of Edinburgh, 2019, CC BY 4.0; changed: speech synthesis, telephone filter).
All companies, people, addresses and numbers in the exercises are invented. Any resemblance to real companies or people would be purely coincidental and unintended.