Google Introduces New Safety Features To Pixels For Identifying Scam Calls, Malware

Google has announced that its Pixel 6 and later Pixel devices will now have additional security capabilities to guard against scam calls and malware apps. The company has introduced two new safety features: 'Scam Detection' in Phone, to protect users from fraud and 'Google Play Protect' live threat detection for protection from malware and dangerous apps.

The 'Scam Detection' feature employs artificial intelligence built into the smartphone to identify and alert users in real time to any scam calls. The 'Play Protect' tool finds malware or questionable app activity, and instantly notifies users if any is found.

Google said in its security blog that the new features will be available first on Pixel phones and later introduced to more Android devices. 

According to Google, Scam Detection uses on-device AI to notify users of a potential scam call happening in real-time by detecting conversation patterns commonly associated with scams. For instance, if a caller identifies themselves as from your bank and demands an immediate money transfer because of a suspected account breach, 'Scam Detection' will analyse the call to see if it is likely spam and, if it is, the feature can provide a visual and haptic alert that the call might be fraudulent.

By default, 'Scam Detection' is off on devices, but users can choose to enable it for upcoming calls. Users can also disable it during a specific call or at any moment in the Phone app's 'Settings' for all calls. Google said that no conversation audio or transcription is saved on the smartphone, transmitted to Google servers or any other location, or available for retrieval following the call because the AI detection model and processing are entirely on-device.

Google Play Protect works continuously to keep the device secure from dangerous apps and malware. It examines indicators related to the use of sensitive permissions and interactions with other apps and services. It can also identify malicious apps that may conceal their behaviour or lie idle for a while before engaging in questionable conduct by examining the real activity patterns of apps.

According to Google, live threat detection will initially focus on stalkerware, code that may collect personal or sensitive data for monitoring purposes without user consent, and later expanded to other types of harmful apps.