Meta is rolling out an AI-powered Scam Alert feature on WhatsApp designed to detect potentially fraudulent messages and warn users before they continue a suspicious conversation.
According to The Verge, the feature relies on on-device machine learning to assess chats for signs of scam activity. It’s currently being tested with a limited group of users as a beta feature, though a wider rollout is expected to follow — several users and analysts on X have speculated it will eventually go global, though Meta has not confirmed a firm worldwide launch timeline.
How the Warning Works
When WhatsApp’s system flags a conversation as potentially fraudulent, it displays a warning directly inside the chat — visible only to the person receiving it, not the sender. From there, users can choose to block the sender, report the conversation, or simply continue chatting if they believe the warning doesn’t apply.
If a user feels the warning was triggered incorrectly, they can mark the conversation as trusted, after which WhatsApp will stop showing Scam Alert warnings for that specific chat going forward.
Users who mark a chat as trusted also have the option to voluntarily share their five most recent received messages with WhatsApp, helping to improve the detection system’s accuracy over time.
Meta Says Detection Happens On-Device
Meta says the feature was built with privacy as a core consideration. When Scam Alert is active, the message content used to classify a chat stays on the user’s own device and isn’t automatically sent to WhatsApp, Meta, or any third party.
The company also says users will be able to turn the feature off entirely whenever they choose.
Part of a Broader Push Against Scams
Scam Alert isn’t WhatsApp’s first move into AI-driven security this year. The platform earlier introduced a separate AI-based system to flag suspicious device-linking requests — a common tactic scammers use to gain unauthorized access to victims’ accounts.
For now, Scam Alert remains in limited testing, with a broader rollout expected to follow once the beta phase concludes.
