How Google is leveraging AI to combat scammers

Online scams are an unfortunate reality of modern life, and the actors behind them are constantly upgrading their tactics. It’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse, but Google is doubling down on its efforts to protect users, and not surprisingly, AI is at the forefront of this renewed push. Alongside the release of their “Fighting Scams in Search Report,” Google has detailed how new AI-powered technologies are being deployed across Chrome, Search, and Android to build better defenses against malicious attempts to deceive users out of their money or personal information.

AI-powered defense systems

For over a decade, Google has leveraged artificial intelligence to shield users from online threats. The latest advancements, however, are enabling them to tackle scams with even more efficacy. The new report highlights significant progress in Search, where AI is now detecting and blocking hundreds of millions of scammy results daily. Investments in AI-powered scam detection systems have resulted in catching a staggering 20 times more scammy pages. This means the search results you see are more likely to be legitimate, significantly reducing the risk of landing on a harmful site designed to steal your sensitive data.

These AI enhancements are not just about quantity; they’re also about quality and sophistication. Google’s AI can now analyze vast amounts of web text, identify coordinated scam campaigns, and detect emerging threats, allowing them to stay a step ahead. A great example Google gave is the rise in scammers impersonating airline customer service providers. Google has already managed to reduce these types of scams in Search by over 80%, a significant win for users seeking actual help.

Gemini Nano for Chrome

In Chrome, the Enhanced Protection mode in Safe Browse already offers a substantial security boost, keeping users twice as safe from phishing and other scams compared to the Standard Protection mode. Now, Google is taking this a step further by integrating Gemini Nano, their on-device large language model (LLM), directly into Chrome on desktop for Enhanced Protection users.

This on-device approach is a game-changer, providing instant insights on risky websites and offering protection even against novel scams that haven’t been previously identified. Gemini Nano’s ability to understand the complex nature of websites makes it adept at adapting to new scam tactics quickly. Initially, this new AI-powered defense is targeting remote tech support scams, one of the most pervasive online threats today, with plans to expand this protection to Android devices and a wider array of scam types in the future.

Fighting notification scams

The fight against scams also extends to the notifications we receive. Malicious sites can abuse notification permissions to bombard users with scammy or misleading alerts. To combat this, Google is rolling out new AI-powered warnings for Chrome on Android. An on-device machine learning model will flag suspicious notifications, presenting users with a warning and the option to unsubscribe or view the blocked content. Users will also have the ability to allow notifications if they believe a warning was shown in error.

Beyond the browser, sophisticated scams are increasingly initiated through seemingly harmless phone calls and text messages. Recognizing this threat, Google recently launched on-device AI-powered Scam Detection in Google Messages and Phone by Google to protect Android users from these evolving tactics.

Scammers are persistent, and their methods will only continue to change. Google’s ability to leverage its latest AI advancements to make these frustrating and sometimes-dangerous activities a bit less pervasive is a big win for users across the board.