Google’s ongoing effort to make Android OS safe and secure is commendable. Earlier this year in July, some reports hinted that Google was working on a feature to identify potential scams during calls by analyzing the conversation. Fast forward to today, Google is rolling out live Scam Detection to public beta users on select Google Pixel phones.
Live Scam Detection is rolling out for beta users in the US on Google Pixel 6 & newer models
In the announcement blog, Google mentions, “We’re now rolling out Scam Detection to English-speaking Phone by Google public beta users in the U.S. with a Pixel 6 or newer device.” The Scam Detection feature uses on-device AI to detect the conversation patterns commonly associated with scams.
When the feature detects something fishy, it provides an audio and haptic alert hinting that the call could be a scam. A user will also see a visual warning like the one attached below. Google also added an example to explain how the feature works. The company notes, “For example, if a caller claims to be from your bank and asks you to urgently transfer funds due to an alleged account breach, Scam Detection will process the call to determine whether the call is likely spam.”
Scam Detection on the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold is powered by Gemini Nano. For the Pixel 6, Pixel 7, and Pixel 8 lineup, this anti-scam feature uses “other robust Google on-device machine learning models.”
Google doesn’t store conversation audio or transcription on the device or send it to Google servers or anywhere else. In addition, no one can retrieve that information after the call. Notably, Scam Detection is disabled by default. Therefore, a user has to enable it from the Google Phone app settings > Scam Detection. There’s also an option to turn off the feature during a specific call.
Live threat detection in Google Play Protect is now available too
Moving on, Google is also rolling out Play Protect’s live threat detection feature. It notifies users in real-time about a malicious app “allowing you to take immediate action to protect your device.” This feature is rolling out to Pixel 6 and newer models. Moreover, this anti-scam feature will be also coming to other Android phone makers in the coming months.
