Trust Score
Trust Score
The Trust Score is a single number from 0 to 100 that summarises how risky a website is. Higher is safer.
Score bands
| Range | Label | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 85–100 | Minimal Risk | Clean signals across the board |
| 70–84 | Low Risk | A few minor flags, nothing critical |
| 45–69 | Moderate | Mixed signals, verify before trusting |
| 25–44 | Elevated Risk | Multiple warning chains triggered |
| 0–24 | High Risk | Strong scam or malware signals |
The colour band on a scan page (green → blue → yellow → orange → red) follows these exact thresholds.
How it's built
The score starts from a baseline and is adjusted by 14 forensic chains. Each chain is an independent risk vector. Failing several at once is what drives a score into the red.
Each chain has tiers. The more severe the evidence, the larger the penalty. A single tier-3 antivirus hit costs more than three tier-1 ones.
The 14 penalty chains
| Chain | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Antivirus | Detections across multiple engines |
| Blacklists | Google Safe Browsing, Cloudflare and community phishing feeds |
| Regulatory | Public warnings from financial regulators |
| Domain Age | How recently the domain was registered |
| Scam Farm | Links to other known fraudulent domains via the graph |
| SSL | Certificate validity, expiry, presence |
| Cookie Security | Cookie flags (Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite) |
| Server Location | Hosting in a high-risk jurisdiction |
| Community | Negative community reports |
| WHOIS | Ownership hidden behind privacy services |
| Risky Category | Site classified into a high-risk vertical |
| Network Threats | Suspicious routing or dark-web activity |
| Malicious Requests | Abnormal failed-request patterns |
| Parked Domain | Page contains no real content |
Bonus chains
Two chains add points instead of subtracting:
- Domain Veteran: a long, clean history adds confidence
- Community Trust: sustained positive community signals
A bonus chain can lift a borderline domain out of the orange band but won't override a critical penalty.
Why a low score matters
A low Trust Score does not prove a site is illegal, but it means multiple independent chains flagged it. Treat low-scoring sites as unsafe: avoid payments, logins, and sharing personal data.
Related
- See every chain in action on a scan result page
- Read how connected domains are linked through the graph