diff --git a/cmd/goal/messages.go b/cmd/goal/messages.go
index 8e4dcebf89..6bf976f6a9 100644
--- a/cmd/goal/messages.go
+++ b/cmd/goal/messages.go
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ const (
 	infoNodeCatchpointCatchupAccounts       = "Catchpoint total accounts: %d\nCatchpoint accounts processed: %d\nCatchpoint accounts verified: %d\nCatchpoint total KVs: %d\nCatchpoint KVs processed: %d\nCatchpoint KVs verified: %d"
 	infoNodeCatchpointCatchupBlocks         = "Catchpoint total blocks: %d\nCatchpoint downloaded blocks: %d"
 	nodeLastCatchpoint                      = "Last Catchpoint: %s"
+	nodeConfirmImplicitCatchpoint           = "Fast catchup to %s is about to start.\nUsing external catchpoints is not a secure practice and should not be done for consensus participating nodes.\nType 'yes' to accept the risk and continue: "
+	errorAbortedPerUserRequest              = "Aborted"
 	errorNodeCreationIPFailure              = "Parsing passed IP %v failed: need a valid IPv4 or IPv6 address with a specified port number"
 	errorNodeNotDetected                    = "Algorand node does not appear to be running: %s"
 	errorNodeStatus                         = "Cannot contact Algorand node: %s"
@@ -87,7 +89,7 @@ const (
 	errLoadingConfig                        = "Error loading Config file from '%s': %v"
 	errorNodeFailedToShutdown               = "Unable to shut down node: %v"
 	errorCatchpointLabelParsingFailed       = "The provided catchpoint is not a valid one"
-	errorCatchpointLabelMissing             = "A catchpoint argument is needed: %s"
+	errorCatchpointLabelMissing             = "A catchpoint argument is needed: %s: %s"
 	errorUnableToLookupCatchpointLabel      = "Unable to fetch catchpoint label"
 	errorTooManyCatchpointLabels            = "The catchup command expect a single catchpoint"
 
diff --git a/cmd/goal/node.go b/cmd/goal/node.go
index 803b305992..b8b5f2efa4 100644
--- a/cmd/goal/node.go
+++ b/cmd/goal/node.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package main
 //go:generate ./bundle_genesis_json.sh
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ var newNodeRelay string
 var newNodeFullConfig bool
 var watchMillisecond uint64
 var abortCatchup bool
+var fastCatchupForce bool
 
 const catchpointURL = "https://algorand-catchpoints.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/channel/%s/latest.catchpoint"
 
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ func init() {
 	statusCmd.Flags().Uint64VarP(&watchMillisecond, "watch", "w", 0, "Time (in milliseconds) between two successive status updates")
 
 	catchupCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&abortCatchup, "abort", "x", false, "Aborts the current catchup process")
+	catchupCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&fastCatchupForce, "force", false, "Forces fast catchup with implicit catchpoint to start without a consent prompt")
 
 }
 
@@ -149,7 +152,7 @@ func getMissingCatchpointLabel(URL string) (label string, err error) {
 var catchupCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:     "catchup",
 	Short:   "Catchup the Algorand node to a specific catchpoint",
-	Long:    "Catchup allows making large jumps over round ranges without the need to incrementally validate each individual round. If no catchpoint is provided, this command attempts to lookup the latest catchpoint from algorand-catchpoints.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com.",
+	Long:    "Catchup allows making large jumps over round ranges without the need to incrementally validate each individual round. Using external catchpoints is not a secure practice and should not be done for consensus participating nodes.\nIf no catchpoint is provided, this command attempts to lookup the latest catchpoint from algorand-catchpoints.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com.",
 	Example: "goal node catchup 6500000#1234567890ABCDEF01234567890ABCDEF0\tStart catching up to round 6500000 with the provided catchpoint\ngoal node catchup --abort\t\t\t\t\tAbort the current catchup",
 	Args:    catchpointCmdArgument,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -164,9 +167,18 @@ var catchupCmd = &cobra.Command{
 				URL := fmt.Sprintf(catchpointURL, genesis)
 				label, err := getMissingCatchpointLabel(URL)
 				if err != nil {
-					reportErrorf(errorCatchpointLabelMissing, errorUnableToLookupCatchpointLabel)
+					reportErrorf(errorCatchpointLabelMissing, errorUnableToLookupCatchpointLabel, err.Error())
 				}
 				args = append(args, label)
+				if !fastCatchupForce {
+					fmt.Printf(nodeConfirmImplicitCatchpoint, label)
+					reader := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin)
+					text, _ := reader.ReadString('\n')
+					text = strings.Replace(text, "\n", "", -1)
+					if text != "yes" {
+						reportErrorf(errorAbortedPerUserRequest)
+					}
+				}
 			}
 			catchup(dataDir, args)
 		})