Dr.Web bot: scan files and links

Someone sent a file marked "look urgently" or a link to a "great deal", and your finger is already hovering. Hold on a minute: the Dr.Web bot checks a suspicious attachment or address for malware before you risk your phone. 🛡️

A check in two taps

The bot comes from Doctor Web, a maker of antivirus software. There are two ways to use it:

1. In a private chat. Send the bot a file or a link and it tells you whether it is safe.
2. In a group. Add the bot to a chat and it checks the files and links that appear there.

A doubtful message from an acquaintance can simply be forwarded to the bot. No copying and pasting addresses by hand.

A group under watch

In chats where people constantly swap files and links, the bot acts as a duty guard. It scans shared items on the fly, so nobody needs to forward each one manually.

There are two modes. In normal mode the bot replies to every message and says whether a file is clean. In quiet mode it speaks up only when it finds a threat, which suits big groups. Switch with /mode.

Three commands

• /help shows what the bot can do.
• /settings changes language and notification preferences.
• /feedback sends feedback to the developers.

The privacy statement is linked from the bot profile, and it is worth reading before you send personal documents. 🔍

What the bot cannot do

This part matters, because false safety is more dangerous than a virus. According to the developer, the bot is not a replacement for an antivirus on your device. It does not analyze images.

• It does not guard your phone around the clock. A check happens only when you send a file or a link.
• A clean result is not a guarantee. New threats may not be in the databases yet.
• It will not catch phishing in a conversation. A request to "transfer money now" is not a virus but still a trap.

Red flags you can spot without a scan

Some traps are visible at once. If a file arrives from a stranger and is named "photo.apk" or "document.exe", do not open it at all. The bot will only confirm your suspicion.

Take special care with Android installation files, archives with the password in the message and links asking you to log in to an account. ⚠️

If the bot finds a threat

A warning is not the end of the world, but react at once. The order of steps is simple:

1. Do not open the file and do not follow the link.
2. Delete the message and clear downloads if the file was already saved.
3. Warn the sender: their account may have been hacked.
4. In a group, tell the admins so they remove the attachment and block the source.

If you did run the file, scan the device with a full antivirus and change passwords from a clean device.

Who it is for

Chat admins whose members post outside files. Parents who want to screen what their kids receive. And anyone who gets "resumes" and "invoices" from strangers and wants proof that no malicious code hides inside. 📎

The bot is free for personal use, and companies have a separate paid version with no daily limits on the number of checks.