- Google Messages is getting five new security features as part of cybersecurity awareness month.
- These new features include enhanced detection of package delivery and job scams, intelligent warnings about potentially dangerous links, and more.
- Some of these features are rolling out now to all users, while others are only rolling out in select countries or in the next few months.
Google Messages is one of the most popular messaging apps on Android, as it’s not only preinstalled on most devices as the default option but is also the only app that supports RCS messaging with iPhone users. Because it’s so popular, it’s a prime target for hackers, scammers, and spammers looking to steal your personal data, your money, or both. To better protect you from these threats, Google is announcing five new security features that will keep you safe while using Google Messages on Android. These new features augment the app’s existing, built-in spam protection feature to protect you from new threats that have recently grown in popularity.
First, Google Messages is rolling out enhanced detection of package delivery and job scams. Texts about package delivery alerts and job seeking inquiries might seem harmless at first, but they’re often from spammers who are trying to get personal information from you so they can defraud you. Starting today, an enhanced, on-device scam detection algorithm that detects these kinds of texts is rolling out to Google Messages beta users who have spam protection enabled in settings. When the app detects a potential scam text, it’ll automatically move it to your spam folder or warn you about it.