Scammers aren’t going to like these new Pixel security features

Scam calls are among the most annoying things we receive on our phones, and they target the most vulnerable people in our society. Last year, global losses to scammers exceeded $1 trillion. If you have a Pixel smartphone, you’ll be happy to hear that Google is adding new features that protect you even further from scammers.

Google has announced two new AI-powered security features for Pixel phones. The first is Scam Detection, which protects you in real-time during phone calls. The second is live threat detection in Google Play Protect, which guards users from malware and unsafe apps in real-time.

How Scam Detection works

The AI-powered call security feature runs solely on-device

Google / Pocket-lint

Google’s new Scam Detection feature uses on-device AI to notify you of a potential scam in real-time during a phone call by detecting “conversation patterns commonly associated with scams.”

An example could be if a caller claims to be from your bank and says your account has been allegedly breached and to transfer funds immediately. Scam Detection will process that call in real-time and alert you through an audio, haptic, and on-screen alert if suspicious activity has been detected and if the call is a scam.

Scam Detection is turned off by default, so you must enable it in your phone’s settings. The feature is built with privacy in mind, and the AI-detection model it uses runs entirely on your device. Google emphasizes that no conversation audio or transcription is stored anywhere.

Gemini Nano powers Scam Detection on the Pixel 9 series, but the feature is also available to users with a Pixel 6 or newer. The feature is currently available to Google public beta users in the U.S. and limited to English.

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Live threat detection with Google Play Protect

Real-time malware protection on your Pixel phone

Google / Pocket-lint

In addition to Scam Detection, Google is adding live threat detection to Google Play Protect. The feature analyzes how an app uses sensitive permissions and monitors its interactions with other apps and services.

If live threat detection finds a harmful app on your phone, you’ll receive a notification allowing you to protect your phone immediately. According to Google, the feature will focus on stalkerware and app code that may try to collect your personal or sensitive data without your consent.

Like Scam Detection, all this processing is done on your on-device, and none of your data leaves your phone. Live threat detection is available now on the Pixel 6 or newer. Google plans to add support for additional phone models in the coming months.

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