WHOA @google let me know they saw my tweet last year & built a tool to defend against that exact call spoofing + AI voice clone attack!
As of today, fake call detection on Android alerts when someone is impersonating your contact. Here's what it looks like:
Ok, so how does fake call detection work?!
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Attacker impersonates your contact by spoofing their number + voice cloning to steal your money, data, access, etc.
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Your device knows your real contact’s 'digital handshake' confirmation signal, so when it’s missing, it notices.
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If it’s missing, your device pings your contact's actual device to double-check their device is placing the call. If their real device says, "I'm not making a call right now," you'll get a warning on your screen about the spoof attack in action.
Fake call detection is on by default and works automatically on Android 12+ devices (so even older phones) Note: Love that this digital check uses end-to-end encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology, and is completely private. You can also turn this feature off if you prefer.
These types of phone scams are not hypothetical, they're hitting real everyday folks.
FTC cites $2.95 BILLION in losses due to these types of scams in 2024 and people rely on caller ID to verify someone is who they say they are! This will help people avoid sending their money to scammers and I'm so stoked to see it launch today.
Also honored to see the hard work I got to share with the Google team last year continue into 2026 and beyond with the fake call detection launch today! Programmatically catching and shutting down the latest phone call scams (including AI voice clones) is so close to my everyday work and it's such a thrill to work with orgs who prioritize solving this problem and protecting people from scams.
Also, the demo of fake call detection that Google made for me was an early version. In the launch today, the contact’s photo is also removed as another visual signal that it's likely an impersonator calling.
Really cool to see that update in action as we found that impactful in our research together!
@L2actual @google We made sure to user test haptic audio feedback so you could hear the issue in action even up at your ear! User research for the win!