Sign-In
Cart
The Message That Wasn't True: An Online Safety Story for Children About Spotting Scam Messages (Ages 7 to 11)
Paperback
Series: Safety Spotters, Book 1
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 16 2026
Pages: 54
Weight: 0.16
Height: 0.13 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have WON a brand new games console! Claim your prize in the next 10 minutes or lose it FOREVER!
That is what fills the Mistry family tablet on a Saturday afternoon, above a huge, shiny, wobbling button that says CLAIM YOUR PRIZE. For one entire second, nobody moves.
The story
Maya Mistry is in Year 5 and keeps a notebook called THE BIG BOOK OF IS THAT TRUE. It is for claims: things people say as if they are definitely true. The tricky part, the part Maya lives for, is that true claims and untrue claims sound exactly the same out loud.
She is halfway through a sticker swap with her best friend Dev Okafor when the tablet goes ping. Dev has one space left in his Golden Boot Legends album and a jam jar of savings, and a free games console is exactly what he has been saving for.
Then Otto, the chatbot that lives in the corner of every tablet in Kettlebridge, tells them the message is genuine. Otto is absolutely sure. Otto sounds absolutely sure about everything.
The tell
Nan asks one question, over a bag of plums on the market: What did I enter?
You cannot win a raffle you never went in. A real message knows who you are. A trick knows too little. And the ten-minute countdown, when Maya actually watches it, is not counting down at all. It is painted on.
What runs through the series
Maya says Check it before you trust it. Nan says a story that cannot be checked is not a fact, it is a pet, because people keep it because they like it. And when a case gets too big, the words this one's too big for me are detective words, not baby words.
What your child will be able to do
Name at least two tells of a scam message: urgency, an unknown sender, and a request to click, pay or give details. Say who they would tell, and tell them early.
Curriculum
Aligned to the National Curriculum for England, Computing at Key Stage 2 (use technology safely and responsibly; recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour; know ways to report concerns about content and contact) and to statutory Relationships Education, internet safety and harms. Content maps equally to the Curriculum for Wales Digital Competence Framework (Citizenship), Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (Technologies TCH 1-03a and 2-03a, cyber resilience and internet safety, and Health and Wellbeing), and the Northern Ireland Curriculum (Using ICT e-safety, and PDMU). US grades 2 to 5, elementary, Australia and New Zealand Years 3 to 6. Not endorsed or accredited by any government body.
Reading it
A ten-chapter chapter book of about 7,800 words for confident readers aged 7 to 11, with Maya's Safety Spotter Tips at the back for the grown-ups to steal. Funny rather than frightening. Nobody loses any money and the dog is asleep for most of it.
Good for
Internet safety for kids at the age they get their own device. Online safety for kids taught as detective work rather than a list of don'ts. Cyber safety for kids who are far too clever to be lectured. Fake news, online scams and phishing explained through a story, with critical thinking for kids as the actual skill underneath.
A mystery for tweens that happens to be the most useful thing they read all term. Kids chapter books that a reluctant reader will finish.
The series
Book 1 of 6 in Safety Spotters, for ages 7 to 11. Younger readers start with Little Safety Spotters, ages 5 to 7, where Maya's little brother Ash learns the same habit. Older readers continue with Safety Spotters: Case Files, ages 11 to 14.
Free classroom resources, activity sheets and the grown-ups' guide at safetyspotters.com
Check it before you trust it.
Also from
Spyrou, Sotiris
The Funny Feeling: An Online Safety Picture Book About Trusting Your Feelings and Telling a Grown-Up (Ages 5 to 7)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
The Shark on the Screen: A media literacy picture book about screens, real and pretend, for ages 5 to 7
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
Not My Photo: An Online Safety Picture Book About Asking First Before Sharing Photos (Ages 5 to 7)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
That Sounds Like Nan: An AI Safety Picture Book About Voice Cloning and Checking What Is Real (Ages 5 to 7)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
My Name Is Mine: An Online Safety Picture Book About Keeping Your Name Private (Ages 5 to 7)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
The Screen Got It Wrong: A Media Literacy Picture Book About Questioning What a Screen Tells You (Ages 5 to 7)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
The Substrate: Why Reality Is Computation and What That Means for Everything
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
The Picture Not Worth Sharing: An Online Safety Story for Children About Photo Sharing, Consent and Kindness (Ages 7 to 11)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
The App That Asked Too Much: An Online Safety Story for Children About Oversharing and Personal Information (Ages 7 to 11)
Spyrou, Sotiris
Paperback
Also in
Math & Computers
Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide
Workman Publishing
Paperback
The Big Book of Pi: The Famous Number You Can Never Know
Aubin, Jean-Baptiste
Lehmann, Anita
Hardcover
Lego Minecraft Visual Dictionary (Library Edition): This Edition Does Not Include a Minifigure
Dowsett, Elizabeth
Jelley, Craig
Hardcover
Minecraft Atlas of the World: Create the Real World in Minecraft with 60+ Inspiring Builds
Jelley, Craig
Hardcover
Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 2 & 3
Walker, Persephone
Piddock, Claire
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 3 & 4
Walker, Persephone
Piddock, Claire
Workman Publishing
Paperback
The Big Fat Middle School Math Workbook: 600 Math Practice Exercises
Editors of Brain Quest
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Minecraft: Bite Size-Builds (Over 20 Exciting Mini-Projects)
Mojang Ab
The Official Minecraft Team
Hardcover
It's a Numbers Game! Hockey: The Math Behind the Perfect Slap Shot, the Split-Second Save, and So Much More!
Zweig, Eric
National Geographic Kids
Hardcover
Minecraft: Mobspotter's Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to the Mobs of Minecraft
The Official Minecraft Team
Mojang Ab
Hardcover
Minecraft: Super Bite-Size Builds (Over 20 Epic Mini-Projects)
The Official Minecraft Team
Mojang Ab
Hardcover
Minecraft: Amazing Bite-Size Builds (Over 20 Awesome Mini-Projects)
Mojang Ab
The Official Minecraft Team
Hardcover
Summer Brain Quest: For Adventures Between Grades Pre-K & K
Workman Publishing
Heos, Bridget
Paperback
The Numbers Race: How Shakuntala Devi's Mathematical Mind Zoomed Around the World
Rajan, Rekha S.
Hardcover
Technology for Curious Kids: An Illustrated Introduction to Simple and Complex Machines, World-Changing Inventions - And More!
Claybourne, Anna
Hardcover
123 I Like You and Me: A Joyful Counting Book
Hindley, Anna Forgerson
Nat'l Mus Afr Am Hist Culture
Hardcover
My First Grade Math Workbook: 101 Games & Activities to Support First Grade Math Skills
Attree, Lena
Paperback
Lego Minecraft Games Book (Library Edition): 50 Fun Ideas to Play with Your Lego Collection! Without Bricks
March, Julia
Hardcover
Math Workbook Grade 2: 100 Pages of Addition, Subtraction, and Beginning Multiplication, Division, Fraction
Nathan, Elita
Paperback
It's a Numbers Game! Basketball: The Math Behind the Perfect Bounce Pass, the Buzzer-Beating Bank Shot, and So Much More!
Buckley, James
National Geographic Kids
Hardcover
Minecraft: The Survivors' Book of Secrets: An Official Mojang Book
Mojang Ab
The Official Minecraft Team
Hardcover
Learn by Sticker: More Addition & Subtraction: Use Math to Create 10 Fantasy Animals!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
My Kindergarten Math Workbook: 101 Games and Activities to Support Kindergarten Math Skills
Brown, Keri
Paperback
Pokemon Legends Z-A Strategy Guide Book (Full Color Premium Hardback): 100% Unofficial - 100% Helpful Walkthrough
Guides, Alpha Strategy
Hardcover
Multiplication and Division Math Workbook for 3rd 4th 5th Grades: Basic Concepts, Word Problems, Skill-Building Practice, Everyday Practice Exercises
Panda Education, Scholastic
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom Strategy Guide Book (Full Color): 100% Unofficial - 100% Helpful Walkthrough
Guides, Alpha Strategy
Paperback
Science Stories: Coding and Computers: From the First Machines to AI and the Metaverse
Regan, Lisa
Paperback
Math Practice Kindergarten Workbook: Scholastic Early Learners (Extra Big Skills Workbook)
Scholastic Early Learners
Paperback
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Strategy Guide (Full Color): 100% Unofficial - 100% Helpful Walkthrough
Guides, Next Level
Paperback
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Hardcover
Learn by Sticker: Addition and Subtraction: Use Math to Create 10 Baby Animals!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Pre Algebra Workbook 4th to 6th Grade: Pre Algebra Workbook 4-6, Whole Numbers, Fractions, Decimals, Exponents and Roots
Publishing, Mathflare
Paperback