Previously, WhatsApp introduced various privacy-focused features to help users avoid falling into the trap of fraudsters and financial or identity scams. Given the rise in scams, the company is working on a Scam Alert feature.
WhatsApp working on a new Scam Alert feature for Android
According to WABetaInfo, with the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.22.2 update (available on the Google Play Store), they discovered that the company is working on a new feature that can detect potential scam messages without sending any content to external servers.
How does the Scam Alert feature work?
The feature is said to warn users when a message from someone they don’t know appears to be a scam. When Scam Alert is active, WhatsApp reviews incoming messages from unknown senders, and it shows a warning directly inside the chat. Users will still be in control over their interactions, and can decide whether to block and report the contact or continue the conversation.
This feature is said to work just like the Voice Transcripts feature in WhatsApp, as it runs entirely on the user’s device, and the messages are not sent to external servers to analyse them. So your messages will still be end-to-end encrypted. Also, other users cannot see that you are using Scam Alert.
Apart from this, WhatsApp is also said to be working on an on-device transparency component of the feature to see how and when Scam Alert was activated. Users will be able to manage this feature from the app settings at any time.
The Scam Alert feature will be optional and disabled by default. Users who want to use the feature will have to enable it manually from the app settings.
About the availability, the report states that the feature is currently under development and is still not available for beta testing. Though it is said that first, the feature will be available to beta testers, and then it will be rolled out in the stable version.
