Overview
- Google announced the Fake Call Detection feature on Wednesday and began rolling it out in June via the Phone by Google app, starting with Pixel phones and then to devices running Android 12 and newer.
- When a saved contact appears to call, the caller and callee devices exchange a silent, encrypted RCS confirmation in real time to prove the call originates from the contact’s actual device.
- If that verification is missing, the callee’s phone pings the claimed contact’s device and shows a clear warning to hang up if the contact’s device reports it is not placing a call.
- The protection is enabled by default and can be turned off in settings, but it only works when both parties use Phone by Google and RCS, so coverage will be limited until other apps and manufacturers adopt the RCS-based method.
- Google says the feature builds on prior fraud tools like Verified Financial Calls and late‑2024 Pixel AI detection, and the RCS design lets other phone apps and OEMs implement the same defense over time to reduce AI-enabled scam losses.