WhatsApp continues to look for ways to tackle the wave of scams, impersonations, and phishing attempts that have flooded messaging apps in recent years. Now, according to a report by the WABetaInfo website, the company is developing a new feature called Scam Alert, designed to warn users when a message received from an unknown contact appears to be a scam attempt.
The feature was discovered in WhatsApp beta version 2.26.22.2 for Android, and it is still in the early stages of development. Despite this, the uncovered details provide a glimpse into the direction the company is aiming for: Using artificial intelligence technologies and content analysis without compromising user privacy.
When Scam Alert is active, WhatsApp will examine incoming messages from numbers that are not saved in the contacts and will attempt to identify signs indicating a possible scam. In such a case, a clear notification will appear within the chat window, warning the user that it may be a scam.
Alongside the warning, two action options will be presented. The user will be able to choose to block and report the contact, or alternatively, to continue the conversation if they believe it is a legitimate approach. WhatsApp emphasizes that the system will not block conversations automatically and will not make decisions instead of the user. The goal is to provide additional information that will assist in identifying suspicious situations, while leaving full control in the hands of the user.
One of the most significant aspects of the new development is the issue of privacy. According to WABetaInfo, the entire detection process is expected to take place directly on the device. This means that users' messages will not be sent to WhatsApp or Meta servers for analysis, and end–to–end encryption will remain unchanged. Even the company itself will not be able to access the content of the messages to determine if it is a scam attempt.
In addition, WhatsApp is developing a transparency mechanism that will allow users to see when the feature was activated and what its results were. These reports will be generated and stored locally on the device only and will not be transferred to the company. If no suspicious messages were detected during a certain period, the system will show that no unusual activity was found. In the event that scam attempts were indeed detected, the user will be able to view the local log of the triggered alerts.
According to the details revealed so far, Scam Alert will be an optional feature and will arrive turned off by default. Users who wish to benefit from the additional layer of protection will need to activate it manually through the app settings.
As of now, there is no official launch date for the new feature. It is not yet available to users, including beta testers, but it is estimated that after development is complete, it will arrive first in WhatsApp's trial versions and only then be distributed to all users.