Whatsapp Launches AI Scam Alert to Verify Unknown Contacts' Messages

The tool uses artificial intelligence to screen messages from individuals not in a user's contacts. It analyzes "conversational structure and linguistic signals" to determine if a message is likely part of a scam. If the system flags a message, a warning will appear in the chat, visible only to the recipient, who can then choose to block, report, or ignore the sender.

The feature requires users to opt in manually. Once enabled, the app downloads a machine learning model that runs entirely on the device, ensuring conversations are not sent to WhatsApp or any third party, parent company Meta stressed. However, some information is shared with WhatsApp: specific signals are processed confidently and made available anonymously to Meta to keep the system updated on new scams.

The Scam Alert system was built using previous conversations that WhatsApp users reported as potential scams. These examples train the AI to identify similar new messages as likely illegitimate.