C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR An Android Authority teardown has revealed that Google’s Scam Detection feature is coming to chat apps.
The feature will display scam detection alerts in chat app notifications.
It’s possible that apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Instagram, and Twitter could support this functionality.
Google introduced Scam Detection functionality to Pixel phones last year, which alerts you if you’re on a phone call with a suspected scammer. The company has also brought this functionality to text messages. Now, it looks like a massive expansion is on the cards.
We dug into the Android System Intelligence update for the Pixel 10 series (version B.13.playstore.pixel10.801661517) and discovered that Google is working on expanding Scam Detection to some third-party apps. The feature will likely be accessible by tapping Settings > Security & Privacy > More Security & Privacy > Scam Detection. Check out the screenshots below.
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As the screenshots suggest, Scam Detection in supported third-party apps will apply to chat notifications rather than running inside the chat app itself. We’re guessing this will be powered by Gemini Nano, much like Scam Detection for calls and texts. So what kind of alerts could you see? We managed to uncover some strings, which can be viewed below.
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As the strings above show, Scam Detection in supported chat apps might warn you that a message has “suspicious activity,” could be a scam, or could contain harmful content. The penultimate string also suggests that you can hit a button to confirm that a message isn’t a scam. The last string reveals that you can pause Scam Detection for “this chat.” That’s good news as it suggests Scam Detection works on a per-chat basis rather than on a per-app basis. So you can theoretically mark individual chats as scams, allowing other chats within the same app to continue as normal.
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