Google adds Gemini scam checks to messages from unknown senders
By Automate Basics, written with AI from The Verge's original
The Verge reports that Google is adding an optional scam protection mode to Google Messages. It will use Gemini to assess conversations with unknown senders and check unfamiliar links before they are opened.
What changed in Google Messages
The Verge reports that Google is expanding scam detection in Google Messages with an optional enhanced protection mode. Google says the mode uses cloud-based Gemini models to assess conversations with senders a person does not recognize. The aim is to catch scams that develop gradually, rather than relying only on the detection already running on the device.
Google also says Gemini Nano, running on the device, will check signals associated with unfamiliar links in messages before a person opens them. For someone who receives work requests by text, the distinction matters: the cloud-based check looks at the conversation, while the on-device check concerns a link. Neither replaces confirming an unexpected request through a contact method you already trust.
Who can use enhanced protection?
Google says enhanced protection in Google Messages will be optional and will roll out in the coming weeks. The Verge’s report does not specify which Android versions, phone models or plans will receive the setting first. It also gives no price, so there is no basis yet to say whether any particular work phone will have access or whether the feature carries a charge.
Google says data used for the cloud analysis is encrypted and handled in a dedicated secure space that the company and others cannot access. Separately, Google is expanding scam detection for chat notifications beyond Pixel phones to devices from several other manufacturers. That expansion is a different feature, not a stated availability list for enhanced protection.
How do I try it for work messages?
Google Messages’ enhanced protection is most relevant when an unfamiliar sender starts a conversation about a work matter or sends a link. Once the optional mode reaches your phone, pay attention to whether it flags the conversation or warns about an unfamiliar link. The Verge does not give a menu path or describe the exact warning a user will see, so there are no setup steps to follow yet.
Treat any result as a prompt to check, not as proof that a sender is safe or unsafe. Before acting on an unexpected request, compare it with what you know about the task and confirm it through a contact method you already use. Do not open a questionable link merely to test the protection.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google Messages send every text to the cloud for this feature?
The Verge describes cloud-based Gemini analysis for conversations with unrecognized senders under an optional enhanced protection mode. It does not say that every text is analyzed in the cloud. Google says data used in that analysis is encrypted and processed in a dedicated secure space.
Will enhanced protection check links in work texts?
Google says the optional mode also uses on-device Gemini Nano to assess unfamiliar links sent to a user before they are opened. The Verge does not specify which phones will get enhanced protection first or describe exactly how a link warning will appear.
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Written with AI from The Verge's original and published after automatic checks: every figure here appears in the original, and no sentence is copied from it. The picture is AI-generated. The original is the authority.
Source: Android is using AI to suss out scammers in Google Messages, The Verge, 14 Oct 2026.