WhatsApp is rolling out gradually Scam Alerta feature designed to help users recognize possible fraudulent messages from unknown contacts. The system is currently only available for one limited number of beta testers on Android and represents an evolution of a tool that WhatsApp had begun to develop in previous beta versions of the application.
The main feature of Scam Alert concerns the way messages are analyzed. In fact, WhatsApp uses a machine learning model that operates directly on the devicewithout transferring the content of conversations to WhatsApp servers, Meta or other external services during analysis. The approach therefore allows you to maintain compatibility with end-to-end chat encryption.
When the feature is active, the system checks messages received from people who are not among your known contacts and look for patterns associated with scams. If a possible risk is identified, a warning appears in the conversation interface indicating the possibility fraudulent nature of the message. The warning is only shown to the recipient and is not visible to the person who sent the message.
Scam Alert on WhatsApp? Further information reported
However, the user retains control over subsequent actions. You can block and report the contact, preventing him from sending further messagesor trust the conversation to remove the alert and ensure that Scam Alert does not report that contact again. The feature is optionalis automatically deactivated and can be deleted at any time from your account settings.
WhatsApp also allows you to consult a Scam Alert activity log directly on your phone, which indicates the activations of the function, the messages reported and the model used. This data remains on the device. When a conversation is marked as trustworthy, the user can also voluntarily choose to share the last five messages with WhatsApp to help identify false positives and improve the system.
Scam Alert is currently only available to some participants WhatsApp beta program for Androidacross versions 2.26.34.1 and 2.26.34.2 indicated as compatible. Distribution is still very limited and is progressively moving towards other accounts. WhatsApp has not communicated a date for the arrival of the feature on the iOS version or for general availability.
