WhatsApp’s Scam Alert feature is now available to select users enrolled in the app’s Android beta programme, marking a step towards a wider public release. The feature first came to light in June, and Meta officially detailed it earlier this month.
While WhatsApp has not confirmed exactly when the Scam Alert feature will roll out to everyone, its arrival in beta suggests a broad launch may not be far off. The functionality was spotted on beta version 2.26.34.1 of WhatsApp for Android.
How Scam Alert Works
As the name implies, Scam Alert warns users when an incoming message from an unknown sender appears to be a scam. The sender is not informed that the recipient is using the feature.
When a warning appears, users can either mark the sender as trusted or block and report them. If they mark the chat as trusted, they can also choose to share the last five messages from that conversation with WhatsApp to help improve the feature’s accuracy.
The feature is optional and must be manually enabled. Android users can activate it via Settings > Account within the app.
On-Device Privacy Protections
According to Meta, Scam Alert is “a new, optional feature that runs an on-device machine learning model to alert a user about potential scam messages.” The company stressed that no message content leaves the device for classification, nor is anything auto-reported to WhatsApp, Meta, or any third party.
Meta added that the feature complements end-to-end encryption while enabling a user-controlled, optional scam alert when the model believes there is a likely scam. The tool operates entirely on the device, keeping message content private during the classification process.
The Scam Alert feature is currently limited to Android beta testers running version 2.26.34.1.
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Image: gsmarena.com
