Recently, Google announced the launch of a new feature on Android to detect fake calls that impersonate contact numbers, in an attempt to confront fraud operations that combine caller ID forgery and voice cloning techniques with artificial intelligence.
The technology works through a verification process between devices. When someone in Contacts calls and both parties use Phone by Google, an encrypted verification signal is sent to ensure that the call actually came from the known person’s device.
If a fraudster tries to forge the number, the usual verification signal will not arrive, and the system can perform additional verification and alert the user to the possibility that someone is impersonating the contact, advising him to end the call.
Google began rolling out the feature to Android 12 and later devices, starting with Pixel phones, with the requirement that the Phone by Google, Contacts, Google Messages and RCS applications be available, and both parties to the call must use Phone by Google for the verification mechanism to work.
Regardless of the availability of the feature, the most important advice when receiving an emergency call requesting money or sensitive information is to end the call and call the person again via their saved number or verify them in another way before taking any steps.
