Google is stepping up its fight against phone-based scams and rolling out a new Android feature that warns you if someone on a call may be trying to access your financial apps.
The update expands an ongoing pilot program and is designed to catch one of the most common and costly social-engineering tactics: scammers asking victims to share their screens.
The system kicks in during screen sharing. If you open a banking or financial app while you’re on a call with someone not saved in your contacts, Android will trigger an on-screen alert telling you the call is likely a scam attempt. Google says the feature is meant to interrupt the high-pressure “spell” scammers tend to create, especially when pushing victims to move money quickly or hand over login details.
What makes the alert more effective is the forced pause: once the warning appears, Android requires a full 30-second wait before you can continue. Google’s hope is that the break gives users enough time to recognise something’s off, not unlike how sudden friction can snap someone out of panic mode. According to Google, the pilot in the UK already helped “thousands of users” end calls that could have led to major financial loss.
The rollout follows Google’s earlier security boosts, including Circle to Search scam checking, which lets you circle suspicious screenshots or messages to verify if they’re fraudulent. It’s part of a broader effort to tighten Android’s defence against increasingly sophisticated scams, which often rely more on psychological pressure than technical breaches.
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Google also confirmed the protection will soon extend beyond traditional banking apps. Peer-to-peer payment services like PayPal and Venmo will be included next, making the system more useful for the many users who rely on P2P apps for daily transactions.
The feature still requires users to make the final call, which means although it can warn you, it can’t actually stop you if you insist on proceeding. But with scammers leaning heavily on urgency and confusion, even a brief moment to rethink could be enough to prevent a costly mistake.
Android’s anti-scam toolbox is growing fast, and Google hints that more protections are already on the way.
