WhatsApp Tests New ‘Scam Alert’ Feature to Protect Users from Fraud
Popular messaging platform WhatsApp is preparing to introduce a new security feature called ‘Scam Alert’ to protect users from online scams and fraudulent messages. The feature has recently been made available to a limited number of users of the Android beta version.
Technology platform WABetaInfo was the first to identify the new feature in WhatsApp Android beta version 2.26.34.1. The technology, which has been under testing, is expected to be officially rolled out to all users soon.
How Scam Alert Works
The primary purpose of the new feature is to immediately warn users when they receive suspicious or potentially fraudulent messages from an unfamiliar or unknown number. A key advantage is that the sender will not be notified that the recipient has received the warning or has the Scam Alert feature enabled.
When an alert appears for a particular message, users will have the option to block and report the sender to WhatsApp or mark the message as safe and continue communicating with the person.
If a user marks a chat as trusted, WhatsApp will optionally allow the user to send the last five messages from that conversation to the company to help improve the system’s performance and accuracy. Users will have to enable this option themselves by going to the Account section in the app’s settings.
On-Device Data Analysis and Strong Privacy
According to an official statement from Meta, WhatsApp’s new security system will operate entirely through a machine-learning model running on the user’s device.
Information from messages will not leave the user’s phone and be sent to Meta, WhatsApp or any third party for analysis. As a result, WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption will remain intact, while users’ private conversations and personal information will remain protected.
Experts believe that using artificial intelligence directly on users’ devices to identify suspicious activity could play an important role in protecting people from scammers without compromising their privacy.
//DBTech/BMT/OR//
