Google Guards Against Deepfake Calls
In response to the growing global threat of AI-powered voice deepfakes and phone scams, search engine giant Google has unveiled an innovative new security feature. The company has officially announced the rollout of a new “Fake Call Detection” feature for its Phone by Google app.
According to Google, the technology is designed to provide real-time protection for smartphone users against increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts in which scammers impersonate corporate executives, family members, or trusted acquaintances using AI-generated voices.
In its statement, Google explained how these modern cyber fraud schemes typically operate. Scammers first use internet-based software to perform caller ID spoofing, cloning or falsifying the phone number of a victim’s relative or known contact so that a familiar name appears on the screen. They then employ widely available AI voice-cloning technologies to generate highly convincing replicas of the voices of friends, supervisors, relatives, or even law enforcement officials.
Cybersecurity experts note that today’s voice deepfakes have become so realistic that ordinary users often cannot distinguish between authentic and fabricated voices through listening alone.
Google’s new Fake Call Detection feature aims to expose such deception automatically. When a call arrives from a familiar number and the person on the other end is also using the Phone by Google app, both devices will silently exchange a verification signal in the background immediately after the call is answered. This communication takes place through end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging technology, ensuring complete privacy for users and preventing even Google from accessing the exchanged signals.
If a hacker or scammer attempts to impersonate a known contact using spoofed numbers or cloned voices, the genuine device will not be able to send the verification signal. In such cases, the Phone by Google app will instantly display a red warning alert on the recipient’s screen, notifying the user in real time that the call may be fraudulent.
The feature will be enabled by default, although users will retain the option to disable it through the application’s settings menu.
Google said the global rollout will begin in June 2026 for Android users worldwide. The feature will be available on smartphones running Android 12 or later versions. As expected, devices in the Google Pixel lineup will receive the over-the-air update first.
Users whose Android devices ship with manufacturer-specific dialer applications can access the feature by downloading the official Phone by Google app from the Google Play Store and setting it as their default calling application.
/DBTech/BMT/OR/
