Google is adding an opt-in “enhanced protection” setting to Google Messages. It will use cloud-based Gemini AI models to assess possible scams in conversations with unrecognized senders. The setting builds on the app’s existing Scam Detection feature and will roll out in the coming weeks.
Google says the cloud analysis is designed to catch scammers who conceal their intentions over time. “Scammers often disguise their true motives behind slow-burn conversations,” the company said. It added: “This secure cloud analysis augments and extends our existing on-device detection, allowing us to identify novel and sophisticated attacks, actively uncovering and stopping abusers who try to hide their tracks.”
According to Google, user data is encrypted during the analysis and “processed in a secure dedicated space” that neither Google nor anyone other than the user can access.
The opt-in setting also uses on-device Gemini Nano AI to inspect real-time web signals for unfamiliar URLs sent to users. It checks the links for malicious content before users open them.
Google announced additional Android safeguards
Google announced other Android safeguards alongside the Messages update. One blocks apps from enabling call forwarding and alerts users when an app tries to do so. Another automatically hides sensitive information during screen sharing in Chrome and Android WebView.
Google is also expanding the scam detection feature it introduced for chat notifications on Pixel phones last year. Devices from Honor, Motorola, Oppo, OnePlus, Realme, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi and other manufacturers will get the feature. Google says it plans to bring it to “hundreds of millions of additional users later this year.”
