Inside RedFlag, Our Shipaton 2026 App for Detecting Job Scams

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a UK number telling me I'd been shortlisted for a job. I was told to follow up on WhatsApp for "further information and guidance." On WhatsApp, a contact introduced herself as Ayesha, a "promoter" for a well-known e-commerce platform. The pitch: like a few product listings from my phone, get paid per like, easy money in my free time; some people supposedly earning tens of thousands a day. No cost to join, she said. Just send a screenshot of a product page to "claim" the first payout. The name on the WhatsApp profile didn't match the name she'd introduced herself with. I pointed that out. She brushed past it and kept going. The trial task was legitimate, she said, and once I completed it I'd be added to a "work group" with other employees. Next step: move to Telegram. When I explained the app doesn't work reliably where I am, the reply was to borrow a friend's or relative's phone to get on anyway. Then came an "invitation code" to submit to an "Auditor" for confirmation before any payout a specific Telegram handle, a specific code, phrased with just enough urgency and warmth ("kindly," a small heart emoji) to feel human rather than scripted. At no point was there a real company name I could verify, a real email domain, or anything that would hold up if I asked one more question. That's the trap: nothing about it screams "obvious scam" in the way a bad phishing email might. It's paced, personable, and designed to get you one small compliant step at a time: a screenshot, an app switch, a code before the actual ask ever shows up. That moment of uncertainty when someone asks "Is this real, or am I being scammed?" is the exact moment where we believe technology can step in. I caught the inconsistency this time. Not everyone will, and not everyone has the time, patience, or experience to cross-examine a stranger over WhatsApp mid-conversation. We are thatwebduo, a two-person team building RedFlag for RevenueCat Shipaton 2026, with one simple mission: help students verify suspicious internships, job offers, and online opportunities before they lose money, personal information, or confidence. Why "RedFlag" We wanted a name that explains itself before a single feature is described. You already know what a red flag is a signal to slow down and look closer. That's the entire product in one word: the app that spots the red flags you might miss when you're excited about an opportunity. The Problem: When Opportunities Become Scams Starting a career is already overwhelming. Students search through job platforms, social media, emails, and messaging groups hoping to find internships and opportunities that can help them grow. Unfortunately, scammers take advantage of this search. Fake recruiters, copied company profiles, unrealistic salary promises, and requests for upfront payments are becoming standard tactics. These scams work because they target something genuine: a student's excitement about landing their first opportunity. Currently, when a student receives a suspicious job offer, they usually have limited options: Search online and hope they find existing warnings. Ask friends or family for opinions. Take the risk and move forward anyway. There is no simple, instant tool available at the exact moment they need a second opinion. That is the gap RedFlag is designed to bridge. Our Solution: RedFlag A Safety Check Before You Say Yes RedFlag is a mobile assistant that helps users analyze suspicious internship and job-related messages in seconds. Users can copy and paste a recruiter message, job description, email, or opportunity link into the app to receive an immediate analysis highlighting potential red flags literally. The system evaluates messages for indicators such as: Requests for upfront fees or registration payments Unrealistic compensation structures for entry-level roles Pressure tactics and artificial urgency Interviews conducted only through unofficial or unverifiable messaging channels, with no company email or verifiable domain Known scam language patterns Instead of simply outputting a binary "safe" or "dangerous" verdict, RedFlag explains why an opportunity looks suspicious helping users learn how digital manipulation works so they can make safer decisions long-term, not just this one time. Why Start With Students? Students are among the most targeted groups entering the online job market. They are actively searching for opportunities, but many lack the experience needed to spot subtle red flags. By narrowing our focus specifically to internship and job scams, we can build a solution that is deeply tailored and genuinely useful, rather than creating another vague, generic scam detector. Our Tech Stack & 6-Week Roadmap To ship a fast, reliable mobile app before the September 30 deadline, we are building RedFlag with a cross-platform stack: Mobile App: React Native + Expo (iOS & Android) Monetization & Paywalls: RevenueCat SDK (react-native-purchases) Backend API: Node.js + Express Database: MongoDB AI Analysis Engine: LLM-based text analysis + rule-based detection heuristics The Timeline Weeks 1–2 (Foundation): UX design, React Native setup, Node.js backend architecture, and core scam detection logic. Weeks 3–4 (Intelligence & Monetization): AI integration, RevenueCat SDK implementation, paywall configuration, and sandbox testing. Week 5 (Refinement & Store Submission): Closed beta testing, accuracy tuning, and submitting app builds to the stores with buffer built in for App Store and Play Store review times, which can run anywhere from a day to over a week. Week 6 (Launch): Final Shipaton submission on Devpost, demo video creation, and launch postmortem. Why We Are Building RedFlag Technology shouldn't just connect people to opportunities it should also protect them from exploitation. A fake internship can cost a student their savings, identity, and confidence right at the start of their career. RedFlag is our effort to build a small layer of protection between a student and a harmful decision. Pause. Verify. Decide safely. Follow along on HackerNoon as we document our build logs, technical setup with RevenueCat, and store launch journey over the next 6 weeks!