WhatsApp is preparing a new security feature for suspicious messages from unknown people. The feature, called Scam Alert, will warn the user in the chat screen about potentially fraudulent messages. The system will work directly on the user’s device without sending the message content to WhatsApp or Meta servers. WhatsApp will mark suspected fraud messages without reading the chats. WhatsApp’s new Scam Alert feature appeared in the 2.26.22.2 beta version published for Android.
The feature is currently in development and is not available to beta testers. WhatsApp has not shared an official date for when the feature will be available for general use. Scam Alert will show an alert in the chat when it finds a message from a person the user does not know suspicious. On the warning screen, it will be stated that the message came from an unknown person and the phrase “This may be a scam” will be included.
On this screen, the user will be able to block and report the person or mark the chat as reliable and continue the conversation. The new feature will not automatically block communication with unknown people. WhatsApp will leave the decision to the user for messages deemed suspicious. The user can either continue the conversation or block the person and report it to WhatsApp. The most striking aspect of Scam Alert is that the analysis process is done entirely on the device.
WhatsApp will not send messages to external servers to detect suspicious messages. Therefore, the feature will work in compliance with the end-to-end encryption structure. WhatsApp employees will not be able to read the messages, and other users will not be able to see that Scam Alert is active. WhatsApp has recently been focusing on security and privacy tools running on the device. The transcription feature, which converts voice messages into text, works similarly to this structure.
When the user presses and holds a voice message and uses the transcription option, the process takes place on the phone and the audio file is not sent to WhatsApp or Meta servers. Scam Alert is also developed with the same privacy approach. An on-device reporting section is also being prepared for Scam Alert. In this section, you can see when the feature was activated and during which periods it detected suspicious activity.
These recordings will be created locally on the device and will not be shared via WhatsApp. When the user creates a report for a certain time period, if there is no suspicious activity in that period, the report will include information about it. The feature will be disabled by default. People who want to use Scam Alert will manually turn on the feature from the settings section. Once the feature is enabled, suspicious messages from unknown senders will be automatically flagged.
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