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Google claims it averted scams worth Rs 13,000 cr, relayed 41mn warnings since 2023

Google is using AI to mitigate scams and frauds in India.

Google has saved over Rs 13,000 crore rupees from scams. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

On Thursday, at its 10th Google for India event, Google announced new security features within Google Pay to prevent fraudulent payments using AI. Google claimed it has, since last year, prevented scams worth Rs 13,000 crore, and that it displayed over 41 million warnings about fraudulent transactions to protect Indians from fraud.

Google is also using AI to automate the removal of fraudulent reviews, and so far, it has removed over 170 million reviews that violated Google Maps policies.

“These numbers represent more than just data; they represent lives protected, businesses safeguarded, and trust preserved,” said Snigdha Bhardwaj, director, search and generative AI trust strategy at Google.

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Google also has solutions like real-time scanning on Google Play Protect to automatically scan and detect emerging threats among apps that have never been seen before. With this, Google has already identified over 10 million malicious apps globally, and a new enhanced fraud protection feature is coming to Android devices in India.

When a user tries to sideload an app downloaded from the web browser, file manager, or messaging app that may access sensitive permissions, which is often the case with financial scams, Google Play Protect will automatically block that installation. This service has already been live in Singapore for over six months, where it has prevented over 900,000 high-risk app installations.

This feature will be rolled out to eligible Android smartphones in the coming days, helping them to stay protected against fraudulent apps.