Android now warns you against screensharing when you’re on a scam call

Picking up the phone has become a bit of an annoyance lately in India, with many users reporting dozens of promotional and scam calls. Unless it is your mum or a delivery, there is always a chance the voice on the other end is trying to rip you off.

But now, if you are rocking an Android device, things are looking up this December. Google is bringing a clever feature that stops you from handing over your life savings to a stranger.

A 30-second barrier between you and a drained bank account

One of the most popular scamming techniques of late is the impersonation of banks. Scammers call you from an unknown number, notifying you about “fraudulent activity,” and panic you into opening your banking app or sharing your screen.

This is where the new protection steps in. If your phone notices you are on a call with a number that isn’t in your contacts and you try to open a supported financial app, it immediately throws a warning.

You can’t immediately dismiss the warning either because it shows a mandatory 30-second delay. This sounds annoying, but that is the point.

Scammers rely on clever “social engineering” techniques and are experts at getting you to panic to make you act without thinking. This forces you to take a breath. During this pause, you are given a single tap option to hang up or kill the screen share.

This protection is being piloted in multiple regions and is available in India. It works on anything running Android 11 or higher.

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Google seems pretty confident about Android’s security features. They even dropped a stat claiming Android users are 58 per cent less likely to report receiving scam texts compared to folks on iOS.