Fake Call Detection: Is the caller truly someone you know, or a scammer? Google will warn you in advance..
Do you also fear that someone might impersonate the voice of a friend or relative to defraud you? Nowadays, cybercriminals are using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to generate uncanny replicas of people's voices—a tactic known as a "Deepfake Scam." To protect Android users from these growing threats, Google is introducing a new and highly useful feature called "Fake Call Detection." Let's explore what this feature is and how it will keep you safe.
Why Was This Feature Needed?
Modern methods of cyber fraud have become highly sophisticated. Scammers are now combining two techniques to ensnare their victims:
Caller ID Spoofing: A technique that causes a familiar contact's number to appear on your phone screen, even though the actual call is being placed by someone else.
AI Voice Cloning: Scammers utilize AI tools to create near-perfect imitations of the voices of your close associates.
When you receive such a call, both the number and the voice appear familiar. Scammers often fabricate an emergency scenario to demand immediate funds or personal information. For an average person, detecting this deception becomes nearly impossible.
How Does Google's Fake Call Detection Work?
This new Google feature functions like a digital verification system, working silently in the background while a call is in progress.
Confirmation Signals: When two individuals using the "Phone by Google" app call each other, the caller's device sends a "silent signal" to the recipient's device. This verifies whether the call is genuinely originating from the authentic device. This entire process is completely secure (end-to-end encrypted).
Fraud Detection: If a scammer hijacks someone else's number to place a call, the system immediately detects that the signal is not coming from the legitimate device.
Warning: If the verification fails, a warning message will appear on your screen alerting you that the caller might be someone other than who they claim to be. Upon seeing this, you can be alerted and disconnect the call.
Who will receive this feature, and when?
**When it arrives:** Google is rolling out this feature this very month (globally).
**Who gets it:** This feature will work on smartphones running Android 12 or later versions.
**Where it starts:** It will first arrive on Google's own Pixel smartphones. Subsequently, it will become available on all Android phones that have 'Phone by Google' set as their default app.
**How to use it:** If your phone currently uses a proprietary dialer app from its manufacturer, you can download 'Phone by Google' from the Google Play Store and set it as your default calling app.
This feature will be enabled by default; however, if you wish, you can disable it by navigating to the app's settings.
**A New Feature is Also Coming to Google Photos**
In addition to fake call detection, Google has announced another exciting feature. Google Photos will soon introduce a feature called the 'Clothing Tag Finder.' With this tool, you will be able to search through your photo library based on clothing items and virtually explore your wardrobe. This exclusive feature will initially be released to users in India, the United States, and Brazil.
Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from TV9. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.
