Google is building a new mechanism into Android to prevent fraudulent calls with fake contacts. This is intended to curb attempted fraud with fake caller IDs (the transmitted caller number).
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Google is now presenting this “fake call detection” in a blog post. Google explains the scenario like this: The transmitted phone number for a call corresponds to that of a contact, such as your own mother. The voice that sounds when you answer the phone also sounds real – but the call comes from fraudsters who use AI to imitate the voice and, for example, ask for money because of an emergency situation. If callers and recipients use Google smartphones, the cell phone should now be able to warn against such fake identities. Google wants to activate the function by default. The mechanism is based on the “Verified Financial Calls” function introduced in May, which protects against attempted fraud using fake contacts from financial institutions.
Simple mechanism with a big impact
Now Google is also explaining how the mechanism works. The authors of the article explain that it is a kind of digital handshake between the devices. If a known contact calls and both remote parties use Google smartphones, the devices send a confirmation signal in real time in the background. This confirms that the call is legitimate and actually originates from the contact’s device. This digital handshake is based on end-to-end encrypted RCS messages.
When fraudsters make a call with a fake number, this initial confirmation is missing. The call destination’s device notices this and pings the actual contact’s device to make sure. If the device answers “I’m not making a call right now,” the device shows the person being called a warning advising them to hang up immediately. This is intended to protect potential victims from deepfake impersonation scam calls in real time. The function can also be switched off in the telephony configuration settings.
The mechanism thus automatically implements what is often mentioned as a security tip against fraud calls: If you are unsure whether a call is genuine, those affected should hang up and contact the source via the known channels.
Google now wants to make the function available globally and bring it to devices with Android 12 and newer. First up are the Pixel devices from Google. Google is currently not providing a timetable for availability on other Android devices. By relying on open standards such as RCS (Rich Communication Services), apps other than Google’s phone app and other device manufacturers should also be able to adopt the technology.
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Google has already implemented additional security features in Android. At the end of 2024, the developers – also initially limited to Pixel phones – installed an AI-based fraud detection system that analyzes the course of the conversation and examines it for typical characteristics of attempted fraud. In such cases, a message on the cell phone indicates that it is probably an attempted fraud.
(dmk)
