What is tokenization?
Tokenization means putting a record of ownership for something, like a share of a fund or a piece of real estate, on a blockchain as a digital token. The token is a claim on the asset, not the asset itself, so the fine print matters. To verify any tokenized product, read the issuer's own documents, confirm who legally holds the underlying asset, and ask for a source and a date before you believe any claim about what the token is worth.
Is crypto safe?
Crypto is a high-risk asset class, and safety depends on what you buy, where you hold it, and who you trust. Exchanges can fail, tokens can go to zero, and most losses come from scams and stolen credentials rather than the technology itself. Before you put in money, check whether the platform is registered with regulators in your country, read the project's own documentation, and never invest money you cannot afford to lose. If someone tells you a specific coin is safe, ask them for a primary source and a date.
What is a stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to track the price of something stable, usually the US dollar. The key question is what actually backs it. Some are backed by cash and short-term government debt, others by riskier assets or by code alone, and they are not all equal. To verify one, find the issuer's published reserve reports, check the date on them, and confirm who audits or attests to the reserves. If you cannot find current reserve information from a primary source, treat that as your answer.
How do I spot a fake investment?
Fake investments share a pattern: guaranteed returns, pressure to act now, payment by crypto or gift card, and no verifiable registration. Real investments come with risk disclosures and paperwork you can check. Before sending anyone money, search the person and firm in your regulator's public database, ask for written documents, and ask a simple question: what is your source for these returns, and what is the date on it? A real professional answers. A scammer changes the subject or gets pushy.
What does "not financial advice" really mean?
It means the person is telling you they take no legal responsibility for what you do with their words. It does not make their claims true or false, and it does not make them qualified. Treat everything labeled that way as entertainment or education until you have checked it yourself. The check is the same as always: ask what the claim is based on, ask for the source and the date, and confirm it against a primary document before you act.
Should I trust an AI about money?
Use AI to learn and to organize your thinking, not as a final authority. AI tools can be confidently wrong, can work from outdated information, and do not know your personal situation. A good habit: whenever an AI gives you a number, a price, or a rule, ask it for the source and the date, then go read that source yourself. If it cannot point to one, treat the answer as a starting point for research, not a fact.
What is a seed phrase, and who should ever see it?
A seed phrase is the master key to a crypto wallet, usually 12 or 24 words. Anyone who has it controls everything in the wallet, permanently. Nobody legitimate will ever ask for it. Not support staff, not an exchange, not a government agency, not someone helping you recover funds. Write it down offline, store it somewhere safe, and treat any request for it as proof you are talking to a thief. That rule has no exceptions, so you never need to verify a request for your seed phrase. The request itself is the red flag.
What is a realistic return on an investment?
Realistic returns are modest, uneven, and never guaranteed. Broad stock markets have historically grown over long periods, but they also have losing years, and past results do not promise future ones. This page will not invent a number for you. If you want long-term market return data, get it from a primary source such as a major index provider or a regulator's own publication, and check the date on it. The practical rule: the higher and smoother the promised return, the more suspicious you should be, and anyone promising a specific return should be able to show you a primary source with a date.
How do I check if a money claim is true?
Use a three-step habit. First, ask for the source: who published this, and are they a primary source like a regulator, a company filing, or official data? Second, ask for the date: is this current, or is someone recycling old information? Third, go read the source yourself instead of trusting a screenshot or a summary. If a claim has no source, no date, or only secondhand evidence, do not act on it. Most bad money decisions start with a claim nobody checked.
Why do scammers always pressure you to act fast?
Because time is their enemy. Every hour you wait is an hour you might talk to a friend, search the offer, or check a regulator's database. Urgency, secrecy, and fear are pressure tools, not features of real opportunities. Legitimate offers survive a night's sleep and a second opinion. When you feel rushed, stop, tell someone you trust, and verify the person and the offer through an official channel you find yourself, not a link or number they gave you.
Is it safe to send money to someone I only know online?
Treat it as unsafe by default. Romance and friendship scams build trust for weeks or months before the first money request, and the request often comes with a story that cannot be checked. Verify identity through a live video call you initiate, be suspicious of anyone who cannot ever meet or appear on camera, and never send crypto, wire transfers, or gift cards to someone you have not met. If they claim an emergency, verify the story through an independent source before you act, and talk to someone you trust offline first.
What should I do if I think I have been scammed?
Act quickly and without shame. Contact your bank or payment provider right away to ask about stopping or reversing the payment, change your passwords, and save every message, receipt, and account name as evidence. Report it to your national fraud reporting agency and, if crypto was involved, to the exchange you used. Be careful of recovery services that promise to get your money back for an upfront fee, because many of those are a second scam. Verify any recovery claim the same way as any other: source, date, and official registration.
What is The Receipts Index?
The Receipts Index is an education project from Carter Enterprise LLC, founded by Terry Carter. The idea is simple: claims about money should come with receipts, meaning a source and a date you can check yourself. We publish plain-English explainers and verification habits so ordinary people can test what they hear from influencers, salespeople, and AI tools. It is education only, not financial advice, and you can hold us to our own standard: if we state a fact, ask us for the source.
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