In an ideal world, everyone would have an expert nearby to let them know when a call is a scam. Fortunately, Google’s new feature for Pixel phones can help identify scam callers by listening to what they’re saying and flagging them if they detect any malicious intent.
Google Pixel’s Scam Detector Rolls Out to the Phone by Google Public Beta
As announced on theGoogle Security blog, the company has revealed the new Scam Detection feature in the Phone by Google app. When activated, it gives you a second opinion on whether the person on the other end of a call is a scammer or not:
Scam Detection uses powerful on-device AI to notify you of a potential scam call happening in real-time by detecting conversation patterns commonly associated with scams. 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 and, if so, can provide an audio and haptic alert and visual warning that the call may be a scam.
Fortunately, Google states that all AI processing happens on the device, so you don’t need to worry about your phone sending transcripts of your calls to an external server. And if you’re uncomfortable with an AI model listening into your conversations, you can disable the feature.
Unfortunately, if you want to use this new tool, you’ll need to jump through a few hoops. First, the feature is currently available only in English. Second, you must be in the US, and own a Pixel 6 or newer. Finally, you need to be a beta tester for Phone by Google, which you can learn more about on thePhone app help page. And if this has encouraged you to upgrade your phone, check outour review of the Google Pixel 9.
