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Google is rolling out a new Android security feature designed to help users spot AI-powered impersonation calls.
The feature, called fake call detection, aims to identify situations where scammers spoof the phone number of someone in a user’s contacts and use AI-generated voices to impersonate a family member, friend, employer, or other trusted person.
According to Google, the feature is intended to address a growing problem as criminals increasingly combine caller ID spoofing with realistic voice-cloning technology.
“Fake call detection helps protect you, your family and friends by identifying when a caller isn’t who they claim to be, giving you an extra layer of defense against sophisticated AI-voice cloning scams, also called deepfake attacks, of your contacts,” Google researchers wrote.
How the system works
Google describes fake call detection as a digital verification process that runs automatically in the background. When two people are using Phone by Google, the caller’s device sends a silent verification signal to confirm that the call is genuinely originating from that device. The process relies on end-to-end encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology.
“If a scammer tries to impersonate your contact, that initial confirmation signal will be missing,” Google explained. “Your device will instantly notice this and ping your contact’s actual device to double-check. If their real device says, ‘I’m not making a call right now,’ you’ll get a warning on your screen advising you to hang up immediately.”
Availability and requirements
The feature is on by default and will roll out to all Android 12+ devices this month, with Pixel users receiving it first. For both the caller and the recipient to work correctly, Phone by Google must be installed. Users on other apps can download it from the Play Store and set it as their default phone app.
Google designed the system on RCS, so other apps and device makers can adopt it, aiming to raise security standards across the industry.
The launch follows Google's recent introduction of verified financial calls, which help users identify attempts to impersonate banks and other financial institutions.
Google says fake call detection is part of a wider effort to combat scams across its ecosystem.
Existing protections include AI-powered scam detection in Google Messages, scam call detection features available on Pixel devices, business verification tools in messaging services, and support for network-level caller authentication technologies such as STIR/SHAKEN.
Also read: Google’s June 2026 Android security update fixes a potentially exploited zero-day vulnerability.