Google is bringing more AI tools to India to help fight digital fraud. The company is rolling out on-device scam detection for Pixel 9 devices and new screen-sharing alerts for financial apps.
Digital fraud is a growing problem in India as more people go online and use smartphones for payments, shopping, and government services. According to the Reserve Bank of India, fraud involving digital transactions made up more than half of all reported bank fraud in 2024. This amounted to 13,516 cases causing losses of 5.2 billion rupees, or about 58.61 million dollars. In the first five months of 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported that online scams led to an estimated loss of 70 billion rupees, roughly 789 million dollars. Many incidents are likely not reported because victims are unsure how to file a complaint or wish to avoid further scrutiny.
Google announced the expansion of its real-time scam-detection feature. This feature uses Gemini Nano to analyze phone calls directly on the device and flag potential fraud. It does not record audio or send data to Google’s servers. The feature is turned off by default and only works for calls from unknown numbers. It plays a beep during the conversation to notify everyone on the call. It first launched in the United States in March as a beta for English-speaking Pixel 9 users.
Google confirmed that its on-device scam detection will start only on Pixel 9 and later models in India and will be limited to English-speaking users, with warnings also in English. This limits its impact in a market where Android accounts for nearly 96 percent of smartphones, while Pixel devices held less than a 1 percent market share in 2024. The language restriction is significant in a country where most users primarily use non-English languages. Google and other companies have previously acknowledged this by adding support for Indian languages across their services.
The company did state it is working to bring scam detection to non-Pixel Android phones but did not provide a timeline.
Google also announced a pilot program in India with financial apps Navi, Paytm, and Google Pay. This aims to limit screen-sharing scams, where fraudsters trick victims into sharing their screens to steal one-time passwords, PINs, and other credentials during a call. This feature was first announced in May and was initially tested in the United Kingdom.
Users with devices running Android 11 or later will receive alerts and have a one-tap option to end the call and stop screen sharing. Google confirmed it plans to add more app partners and that the feature will display alerts in Indian languages, though no specific details were provided.
For several months, Google has also used its Play Protect service to restrict predatory loan apps in India. It does this by blocking the installation of third-party apps that request sensitive permissions often used for fraud. The company said this service blocked more than 115 million such installation attempts this year. Meanwhile, Google Pay shows over a million warnings each week for transactions flagged as potentially fraudulent.
Google is also running its DigiKavach awareness campaign on digital fraud, which it says has reached more than 250 million people. The company has worked with the Reserve Bank of India to publish a public list of authorized digital lending apps to help limit malicious actors.
Earlier this year, Google launched a Safety Charter in India to expand its AI-driven fraud detection and security efforts. This is part of a broader plan to deploy more AI tools in the country to address rising fraud.
However, Google still faces significant challenges in curbing digital fraud in India. The company, like Apple, has been questioned for allowing fake and misleading apps to appear on its app store despite review processes designed to block fraudulent submissions.
In recent years, police and security researchers have identified investment and loan apps used in scams that remained available on the Play Store until they intervened. These cases highlight the difficulties Google faces in policing an ecosystem that dominates the country’s smartphone market.