{
  "id": 19800931,
  "title": "Google Messages has a new scam protection feature; here's why and how I turned it on",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/google-messages-has-a-new-scam-protection-feature-heres-why-and-how-i",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-13T11:30:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Android Police",
    "slug": "android-police",
    "url": "https://www.androidpolice.com/google-messages-new-scam-protection-why-how-turned-it-on/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Google has introduced a new scam protection feature in Google Messages, called Enhanced protection. This feature aims to help users spot potential scams before they become victims. According to Google, 40% of smartphone users in the US, Canada, and Australia expressed concern about mobile fraud. Enhanced protection is an opt-in setting in Google Messages, built upon the existing Scam Detection feature. Standard Scam Detection flags over 5 million suspected scam calls and texts monthly, but Enhanced protection adds an extra layer of protection.\n\nWhen users chat with someone who is not in their contact list, Enhanced protection uses Google's cloud Gemini models to analyze the conversation. This analysis helps determine if the sender is attempting a scam. Additionally, the feature includes a smarter link check, which uses live web signals to rate unfamiliar links, even if they haven't been flagged yet by blocklists. A redesigned warning appears before users tap on an unfamiliar link from an unknown contact, providing clearer context about the link.\n\nEnhanced protection runs some of the user's messages in a secure cloud environment called Private AI Compute. This environment contains larger Gemini models and ensures that user data remains encrypted and inaccessible to anyone, including Google. However, this analysis only applies to conversations with unknown senders, so personal chats with family and friends remain unaffected.\n\nTo enable Enhanced protection, users must navigate to the settings in Google Messages and select the Enhanced protection option. Google Messages supports Enhanced protection on specific devices, such as Google Pixel 6 and newer, Samsung Galaxy S24 series and newer, and other Android AICore devices. However, not all devices have access to cloud scam analysis, as it depends on the hardware capabilities of the device. For instance, Gemini Nano link checks are only available on newer devices like the Pixel 10 series, Samsung Galaxy S26 series, and others.\n\nGoogle is gradually rolling out Enhanced protection, and users should update their Google Messages app from the Play Store to access the feature. While no scam filter can catch every instance of fraud, Enhanced protection offers an earlier warning for slow conversations that users might otherwise miss. Despite the added cloud analysis, users remain cautious about tapping on links from unknown contacts, ensuring they remain vigilant against potential scams.",
  "summary": "Scams that start friendly are the ones I worry about",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}