Google adds Android protection against AI deepfake scam calls

Google announced a new Android security feature called "fake call detection" that detects and flags scam calls where attackers use AI voice-cloning and number spoofing to impersonate contacts. The feature, rolling out globally to Android 12+ (starting with Pixel) and enabled by default, uses an RCS-based, encrypted real-time confirmation signal between caller and recipient devices; if that signal is missing the recipient's device pings the contact's actual phone and warns the user if the contact is not calling. It requires Phone by Google, Contacts, and Google Messages (with RCS enabled) and is presented as a mitigation against rising impersonation losses highlighted by FTC and INTERPOL reports.