Scam Radar

A free check that runs any festival against known cash-grab patterns before you pay.

Temporarily offline

Scam Radar is under maintenance

We are refining the checks behind the radar, so the tool is offline for a short while. Please check back soon. In the meantime, the patterns below are the ones every filmmaker should know.

What we check for

The patterns every filmmaker should know

Thin venue claims

Vague venues, no address, pages that never show where films actually screen.

Laurel-mill formats

Awards-only events with no public screenings, runtimes, or named jury.

Vanishing jury members

Names spread across dozens of unverifiable events, or linking to deleted profiles.

Suspicious fee structure

Late fees that quadruple inside a fortnight. Discount codes that always recycle.

No verifiable selections

Past selections that never appear on filmmakers' own sites, IMDb, or trade press.

Hidden ownership

No named team, no programmer page, no real person to verify.

Why this exists

The circuit has a cash-grab problem

Screen Daily and the Hollywood Reporter have both covered the rise of certificate-mill events built to extract submission fees. The radar runs transparent, rule-based checks against those documented patterns and shows every signal it finds. A starting point, not a verdict, so always verify independently before you pay.

Next step

Want strategy, not just a check?

Circkit shows which festivals fit your film, who programmes them, and how to protect your premiere. The free plan includes an AI festival strategy preview for one film, no card needed.

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