Google Messages has an answer for all those USPS scam texts

Key Takeaways

• Google Messages introduces new spam detection features to combat clever scam messages.
• Additional protection against dangerous links in messages is extended to other countries by Google.
• Privacy upgrades for international messages, sensitive image warnings, and contact verification features are coming to Google Messages too.

Google Messages is one of the best messaging apps that you can download on Android with over a billion users. And as you might expect, not only does the messaging app have great features, but it also has a variety of different security measures built-in as well, in order to keep its user base safe.

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And as time passes, new threats will always emerge, which is why it's important for Google to keep its messaging app updated with new security features that will protect its users. Today, Google shared five new protections through its own Security Blog that will hopefully provide new barriers against unwanted messages, dangerous links, and more.

You can never have enough protection

We've all received a mystery message from someone we think we might know, or a message from a company stating that some urgent action is required. And while the PSAs have gotten better about these potential scam messages, attackers are getting even cleverer, which means, users will always need to stay vigilant. Luckily, Google Messages is adding some new protections against these types of messages, with enhanced scam detection features that will put more focus on package delivery and job-related messages.

Per usual, if Google Messages thinks that something might be a scam, it will either provide a warning or automatically move the message into the spam folder for your protection. And those concerned about their messages going through some kind of online scan through Google can be assured that these scans will be happening on-device, keeping all of your conversations private. For the time being, this new protection will only be available to Messages beta users.

In conjunction with this new spam filter, Google is now expanding its warning system when there are potentially dangerous links in messages to other countries. The company ran a test of this system, with those in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where users were getting additional protection against links that were inside messages from unknown senders, with messages being blocked or sent to the spam folder. This feature will now roll out globally, according to Google, which should happen sometime in the next couple of months.

Those that receive messages from international numbers but have no connections outside the country will be happy to know that a new option will soon be available to automatically hide messages like these without any sort of interaction. Of course, if you have an international number in your contacts, those numbers will pass through without issue, but those international numbers not in your contacts list can be automatically be directed to an alternate folder. This experience is first rolling out to users in Singapore sometime this year, with the potential to roll out to other regions sometime next year.

Google is also ensuring that users aren't bombarded with unwanted content in the form of images, with a new "Sensitive Content Warnings for Google Messages." This new feature will blur potentially sensitive images before viewing, and there will also be a new warning message when such images are being shared or forwarded. Like Google's other protections, these scans all happen on-device, which means your privacy is ensured.

Look out for this feature to go live on Android in the coming months. And finally, Google will add contact verification with public keys in the near future in order to make it easier to identify users you're speaking with. Overall, it doesn't get much better than this. Google is making a huge push to really protect users from threats that occur every day. So if you have yet to try Google Messages, we recommend giving it a try and seeing what the fuss is all about.