Google may add smart detection for screen-share bank scams

The post Google may add smart detection for screen-share bank scams appeared first on Android Headlines.

May 5, 2025 - 20:13

For as long as there have been Android smartphones, there have been scams that people would try to exploit through them and their many apps, and this includes a variety of bank scams, one of which Google seems to now be working on a form of protection from. Specifically, protection from screen-sharing bank scams, which appears to be part of a future Google Play Services update on Android.

The way these scams work is not super complex if you know what to look and listen for. The problem is, there are many people who just don’t have any idea that these types of scams exist. That makes it significantly more challenging to protect yourself from them when you don’t know there’s an issue in the first place. That’s where Google’s scam detection feature comes in handy. The unfortunate thing there is that this is a Pixel feature. This new screen-sharing bank scam protection may not be, though.

Google aims to stop screen-shharring bank scams in their tracks

This particular scam starts really like almost any other over-the-phone scam. In this case, the scammer posers as someone from the customer support team at the victim’s bank. After they have the caller engaged, they convince them to hand over remote access via screen-sharing software, and then ask them to log into their bank. At this point, the scammer then transfers all the money out of the victim’s account.

Google’s new protection appears to flag this kind of scam by looking at several different factors. First, it looks at whether or not the person is in your contact list. If not, then it begins the scam detection process and starts looking for other potential red flags. Such as whether or not you have a banking app open in the foreground during the call. It’ll also look for signs that screen-sharing is active. Users would then get an alert that the person on the other end could be a scammer if the new protection feature detects all these factors. It’s not a foolproof system. However, it could go a long way to reduce the number of people who fall for these types of scams.

You may not need a Pixel phone for this feature

While scam detection has been limited to Pixel phones thus far, that may change with this protection feature specifically. According to Android Authority, this feature was discovered in the most recent beta version of Google Play Services. Potentially signifying that all users with Google Play Services will have access to this when it rolls out. The main unknown at this point is when Google plans to push out this feature.

The post Google may add smart detection for screen-share bank scams appeared first on Android Headlines.