Scams are everywhere right now. It’s never been more important to stay alert, whether you’re checking your email, surfing the web, or answering a phone call. But it’s not just you: in fact, Google may be using artificial intelligence to prevent you from falling victim to a scam –At least when using Chrome.
As the researcher Leopeva64 discoveredGoogle is apparently testing a new fraud detection feature in Chrome. Of course, the year is 2024, so that means the feature uses AI. The name of the feature, “Client Side Detection Brand and Intent for Scam Detection,” doesn’t alert you to this fact, but you’ll see it in the description: “Enables LLM output on devices to page by brand and intent page.” LLM stands for “Large Language Model,” which underlies many of the AI-generated programs and services you use, and it appears that the feature uses this AI model to search for websites, that appear to be fraudulent.
To further clarify the feature’s intent, Leopeva described it to Gemini, which broke down the feature’s explanation and summarized it as follows: Based on the bot’s analysis, the feature runs an LLM on your device to check for two things: misrepresentation of brands, for example when scammers copy real brands to trick you into accessing their websites. and suspicious intent, which looks for key signs of fraud and phishing attempts. You always have to Take AI-generated answers with a grain of saltbut in my opinion that seems to be an accurate interpretation.
This option is available in the latest version of Chrome Canarythe version of Chrome that Google uses to test new flags (experimental features). It’s not clear yet if it works, but you can enable it. First, launch Chrome Canary and then go to chrome://flags. From here, search for “Client-Side-Detection-Brand-and-Page-Intent” (without the quotes, of course), then click the “Standard” drop-down menu and select “Enabled.” Click “Restart” and you’re done.
Photo credit: Jake Peterson
Chrome isn’t the only browser committed to AI fraud prevention. Last week, Leopeva64 discovered a similar feature in Microsoft Edgea “scareware blocker”. Unlike Google’s more cryptic description, this one quite literally says: “Allow Microsoft to use AI to detect potential tech scams.”
