Google Rolls Out AI Tools To Protect Users from Scammers

Google announced new AI tools to stop scams and protect users on Thursday. The tech giant released a report detailing improvements to its security tools and the implementation of new strategies that leverage large language models (LLMs) and generative AI.

According to the announcement, Google is using advanced techniques to enhance safety and detect scammers across its main platforms and products.

“Today, we’re releasing a new report on how we fight scams in Search, and sharing the new ways we’re using AI to keep you safe across Search, Chrome, and Android,” wrote Jasika Bawa, Group Product Manager focusing on Chrome security, and Phiroze Parakh, Senior Director of Engineering for Google Search.

Google has implemented new AI-powered tools and has managed to improve its detection of scammy pages in Search by a factor of 20, as well as detect fake phone numbers. One example the company highlights involves scammers impersonating airline customer service to trick Google Search users into calling them. “We’ve already reduced these scams by more than 80% in Search, greatly reducing the risk that you call a scammy phone number,” the announcement states.

A few weeks ago, Google filed a lawsuit against scammers for creating over 10,000 fake businesses on Google Maps. The company also warned about malicious actors’ strategies—such as adding fake business numbers—and has taken action to combat them.

For Chrome, Google has been using Gemini Nano to add additional layers of protection against online scams on desktop. The AI tool alerts users about risky websites, enabling Google to offer better protection against potential scams, including newly emerging threats. The company plans to expand Gemini Nano’s security capabilities to Android.

Google also introduced new AI-powered warnings to identify scammy notifications. “When Chrome’s on-device machine learning model flags a notification, you’ll receive a warning with the option to either unsubscribe or view the content that was blocked,” the announcement states. “And if you decide the warning was shown incorrectly, you can choose to allow future notifications from that website.”

Android users can also benefit from a new AI feature, Scam Detection, in Google Messages and Phone, which helps protect against scam calls and text messages.