Google adds Gemini scam checks and call-forwarding blocks to Android

Google has announced a set of Android protections aimed at text-message scams, fake bank calls and call-forwarding fraud, including an opt-in mode in Google Messages that uses its Gemini AI models to analyze conversations with unknown senders. The company described the changes in an Oct. 14 blog post; they are rolling out to eligible devices over the coming weeks and months.

The changes target fraud methods that have been widely reported in Canada, including bank impersonation calls and scams that hijack a victim's phone number by forwarding calls to the criminal. Google's own survey for the announcement included 900 Canadian smartphone users.

What is new

• Enhanced protection mode in Google Messages: an opt-in setting that sends conversations with unknown senders to Gemini models running in Google's Private AI Compute environment for scam analysis. Google says the data is encrypted and inaccessible to anyone else, including Google. The same mode adds on-device link checks using Gemini Nano on newer phones such as the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26, and clearer warnings before opening links from numbers that are not in your contacts.
• Scam alerts in notifications: on-device detection that flags suspicious chat messages from the notification shade. It started on Pixel and is coming to Motorola, OPPO, OnePlus, vivo and Xiaomi devices later this year.
• Screen-share privacy: Chrome and Android WebView will blank login and payment fields during screen sharing on Android 15 and later, a defence against scammers who talk victims into sharing their screen.
• Call-forwarding protection: starting in early December on Pixel and select devices, Android blocks apps from enabling call forwarding in the background and warns users before a manually entered forwarding code takes effect.
• Verified financial calls: Android checks in real time whether a participating bank actually placed a call and hangs up if it did not. Partners named so far are Banco do Brasil, Itaú Unibanco and Revolut.

BleepingComputer noted that the cloud-based scam detection is off by default, so users must turn it on. Google says some features may not be available in all countries, and its announcement does not say which will reach Canada or when.

Why it matters

Google says its existing scam detection already flags more than five million suspected scam calls and texts a month. Moving some analysis to the cloud lets it catch longer, more convincing conversations, but it also means message content leaves the phone, which is why the feature is opt-in. Users will have to weigh that trade-off.

What to do

• Install the latest Android and Google Messages updates.
• Never enter a code a caller asks you to dial, especially one starting with * or #, which can set up call forwarding.
• If someone claiming to be your bank calls, hang up and call the number on the back of your card.