Remember Google's Warning: Never Answer Calls from This Number

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Google has issued a warning to mobile phone users regarding the proliferation of scams via phone calls. Users are urged not to answer calls from unknown numbers indiscriminately, especially those exhibiting suspicious patterns.

Following a demonstration at the I/O 2024 event in May, Google has finally released the real-time Scam Detection feature for phone calls on Pixel mobiles.

Scam Detection listens for conversation patterns commonly associated with scams.

Once identified as a potential scammer, the feature will prompt the user to check their phone with a visual warning indicating a possible scam, such as “Suspicious activity detected for this call,” accompanied by an “End call” button or the option to mark it as “Not a scam.”

For example, if the caller claims to be from a bank and urges the user to transfer funds immediately due to an alleged account violation, Scam Detection will process the call to determine if it is likely a scam.

On the Pixel 9 series, Scam Detection is powered by Gemini Nano. This security feature is also available on Pixel 6-8a thanks to “Google’s robust on-device machine learning models.”

Google states that “no audio or conversation transcripts are stored on the device. Everything is sent to Google servers or elsewhere, or can be retrieved after the call.”

Scam Detection is disabled by default and must be enabled by the user.

This detection can be disabled from the Phone app settings, with the option to turn it off during specific calls.

Scam Detection was initially launched for public beta users of Google Pixel 6 or newer phones in the United States.

To enable it, go to Google Phone App Settings > Scam Detection.

To provide feedback on the user experience, click Google Phone App -> Menu -> Help & Feedback -> Send Feedback.