Google’s June Android Drop Could End AI Scam Calls for Good
An increasing number of powerful AI tools are now available to play around with, and they’re becoming available to hackers and scammers as well as everyone else—which means a whole new set of attacks and dangers to watch out for. In the June Android Drop, Google’s taking direct action against AI deepfake calls.
Here’s how it works: A scammer sets up a call that appears to be from your mom. The caller ID is spoofed, and thanks to AI, it looks like your mom and it sounds like your mom. Before you can think of an excuse to not come home for Christmas, she’s demanding $100 to cover an emergency with the plumbing.
With fake call detection, rolling out now in the Google Phone app on devices running Android 12 or later, that call should be flagged. You’ll see a message on screen saying that your mom may not actually be your mom, and encouraging you to hang up. (Then you can call her from your end, to see if she really does need the money.)
Credit: Google
Google says this detection works through the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging protocol, so both you and your trusted contacts will need to have RCS enabled in Google Messages. When someone calls you, a “silent confirmation signal” gets sent in the background from their phone to yours, verifying their phone and identifying them as one of your contacts.
If the call is from a deepfaked AI character, that signal will be missing, and the Phone app will tell you about it. The security feature is going to be on by default once the update rolls out, though you can turn it off through the settings screen in the Google Phone app (tap the menu button, top left, to find them).
It’s a reminder of the highly realistic audio and video that AI is capable of producing now, which contributes to yearly financial losses from impersonation scams totaling $2.95 billion, according to figures quoted by Google. With this update applied, you should be a little bit safer.
Here’s what else is coming to the June Android drop
There’s more to talk about in the June Android Drop, as well, though fake call detection is the headline feature. As tends to be the case, some of these features have previously been announced for select handsets, and are now becoming more widely available.
That’s the case with a new outfit search feature rolling out to Circle to Search: Previously available on Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 devices, it’s now coming to all phones running Android 14 or later that have Circle to Search installed. Highlight an outfit on screen, and you’ll get search results for every part of that outfit together.
Then there’s a wardrobe feature for Google Photos, announced last month and now heading to devices running Android 10 or later in the U.S., India, and Brazil. You get a new wardrobe section in the app, with items of clothing pulled from your photo library—you can browse these items by type, mix and match them together, and use AI to try on any combination of items.
Credit: Google
More safety features are heading to the Personal Safety app for kids under 13, including medical information, emergency contacts, real-time location sharing, and car crash detection. Google has also confirmed that easier Android-to-iOS sharing, via AirDrop or QR code, is becoming more widely available.
There’s an interesting update for Google Play Books: book insights. You get a “catch me up” option for summarizing the plot up to the current position (handy if you’re returning to a book after an extended period), as well as the ability to ask questions about passages, themes, context, and characters.
Lastly, there are more combinations available in the Emoji Kitchen, Google’s custom tool for combining emojis in a variety of fun ways—these emojis can be shared through the Gboard keyboard. With Android 17 now in beta testing as well, there should be more new features to look forward to in the coming months.
