Google is bringing extra AI muscle to India’s battle in opposition to digital fraud, rolling out on-device rip-off detection for Pixel 9 units and new screen-sharing alerts for monetary apps.

Digital fraud continues to rise in India as extra folks come on-line for the primary time and more and more depend on smartphones for funds, procuring, and accessing authorities providers. Fraud involving digital transactions accounted for greater than half of all reported financial institution fraud in 2024 — 13,516 circumstances leading to losses of ₹5.2 billion (about $58.61 million), based on the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI). On-line scams brought about an estimated ₹70 billion (roughly $789 million) in losses within the first 5 months of 2025, the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs mentioned. Many incidents probably go unreported, both as a result of victims are uncertain the best way to file a grievance or want to keep away from further scrutiny.

On Thursday, Google introduced the enlargement of its real-time scam-detection characteristic, which makes use of Gemini Nano to investigate calls on-device and flag potential fraud with out recording audio or sending knowledge to Google’s servers. The characteristic is off by default and applies solely to calls from unknown numbers, and it performs a beep in the course of the dialog to inform individuals. It debuted within the U.S. in March as a beta for English-speaking Pixel 9 customers.

Google confirmed to TechCrunch that its on-device rip-off detection will initially work solely on Pixel 9 and later fashions in India and will likely be restricted to English-speaking customers, with its warning additionally English solely. That restricts its attain in a market the place Android accounts for almost 96% of smartphones, per Statcounter, however Pixel units held lower than 1% share in 2024. The language limitation can be notable in a rustic the place most customers primarily depend on non-English languages — an viewers that Google and others like Amazon have acknowledged by including assist for Indian languages throughout their providers lately.

The tech large did say it was working to convey rip-off detection to non-Pixel Android telephones, as nicely, with out providing a timeline.

Google additionally introduced a pilot in India with monetary apps Navi, Paytm, and Google Pay geared toward limiting screen-sharing scams, through which fraudsters persuade victims to share their screens to acquire one-time passwords, PINs, and different credentials throughout a name. The characteristic was first introduced at Google I/O in Might and initially examined within the U.Ok.

Customers with units working Android 11 or later will have the ability to entry the alerts, which embody a one-tap possibility to finish the decision and cease display sharing. Google confirmed to TechCrunch that it plans so as to add extra app companions and the characteristic will show alerts in Indian languages as nicely however didn’t present particulars.

For a number of months, Google has additionally been utilizing its Play Defend service to limit predatory mortgage apps in India by blocking the sideloading of third-party apps that request delicate permissions typically exploited for fraud. The corporate mentioned the service blocked greater than 115 million such set up makes an attempt this yr. Google Pay, in the meantime, surfaces greater than 1,000,000 warnings every week for transactions flagged as doubtlessly fraudulent, based on the corporate.

Google can be working its DigiKavach consciousness marketing campaign on digital fraud, which it mentioned has reached greater than 250 million folks. The corporate has labored with the Reserve Financial institution of India to publish a public record of approved digital lending apps and their related non-banking monetary firms to assist restrict malicious actors.

Earlier this yr, Google launched a Security Constitution in India to broaden its AI-driven fraud detection and safety efforts, a part of a broader plan to deploy extra AI instruments within the nation to handle rising fraud.

But Google nonetheless faces vital gaps in curbing digital fraud in India. The corporate — like Apple — has been questioned for permitting faux and deceptive apps to look on its app retailer regardless of evaluation processes meant to dam fraudulent submissions.

Lately, police and safety researchers have flagged funding and mortgage apps utilized in scams that remained obtainable on the Play Retailer till intervention. These circumstances underscore the challenges Google faces in policing an ecosystem that dominates the nation’s smartphone market.