Your child is calling you, but it's an AI: here's how Google will save you from phone scams

The rise of artificial intelligence also brings a series of new threats for users. One of these is impersonation scams, where the victim can receive false calls where the scammer, leveraging AI, alters their voice to try to deceive the user. Adding the possibility of altering the displayed caller number, it is clear that the risk is real for users.

To provide greater defense, Google has announced the arrival of a new system capable of identifying a possible deep fake and alerting the user about the risk of fraud. The Phone app handles verification.

According to Google, voice generation systems are reaching very high levels of realism, posing an increasingly significant threat to users. To maximize protection, the Phone app for Android smartphones offers an extra protection system.

To verify the identity of the caller, the user's Phone app is able to "communicate" with the app of the smartphone from which the call was made. This way, it is possible to detect potential scams: if the verification fails, it could indicate an ongoing scam attempt with deepfake audio.

The system, which will be active by default to protect users, only works if the communication takes place between two Android smartphones (with Android 12 and later) with the Phone app. In the future, a possible collaboration between Google and Apple could ensure an extension of the service, multiplying its effectiveness and providing even greater security for users by allowing the detection system to be activated for calls between an Android smartphone and an iPhone.