The threat of online scams and fraud is an ever-present reality in our connected world, and the volume of scams is only growing. Nearly 60% of people globally have experienced a scam in the last year. Yet while increased connectivity has certainly fueled this rise in scams, the bigger shift is this: widespread access to cutting-edge technology is making scams more convincing and nefarious than ever before.

Just a few years ago, spotting a phishing email meant looking out for tell-tale signs like grammatical errors or strange attachments. Today, people are routinely encountering elaborate phishing attempts that use techniques like voice cloning, deepfakes and social engineering for convincing impersonations.

That’s why we’re continuously innovating and rolling out new security features that are built into our products. In a world where malicious content is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, these features and initiatives are designed to help you avoid scams altogether, or spot them before they cause harm.

New protections in Google Messages

1. Safer links are now available in Google Messages. Scammers often use text messages to send malicious links designed to steal your information. Now, if Google Messages suspects a message is spam, it will warn you when you click on any links within it and stop you from visiting the potentially harmful website, unless you explicitly mark the message as “not spam.” This protection is now available globally to all Google Messages users.