Google is strengthening its AI-driven fraud prevention efforts in India as digital scams continue to surge across the country. The company announced new protections for Android users, including on-device scam detection for Pixel 9 devices and expanded safeguards against screen-sharing fraud in partnership with leading financial apps.
India remains one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, but the rapid rise in online transactions has been accompanied by a significant increase in fraud. According to the Reserve Bank of India, digital-transaction fraud accounted for more than half of all reported bank fraud in 2024, involving over 13,500 cases and losses exceeding ₹5.2 billion. The Ministry of Home Affairs reported an estimated ₹70 billion in online scam losses in the first five months of 2025 alone, though many incidents likely go unreported.
To address this trend, Google is rolling out its real-time scam detection feature to India. Powered by Gemini Nano, the system analyzes calls locally on the device to identify suspicious patterns without storing or transmitting audio. The feature, introduced earlier in the U.S., will initially be available only on Pixel 9 devices and only in English, limiting its reach in a market where Pixel holds less than 1% share and most users rely on regional languages. Google says it is working to expand support to more Android devices but has not provided a timeline.
In addition, Google announced a new pilot program with Navi, Paytm, and Google Pay to combat screen-sharing scams—schemes in which fraudsters convince victims to share their screens to obtain one-time passwords or sensitive financial details. Devices running Android 11 and above will receive alerts during suspected screen-sharing attempts, with a one-tap option to end the call and stop sharing. Google noted that the feature will eventually support Indian languages and more partner apps.
Beyond these new tools, Google has been using Play Protect to block harmful and predatory loan apps by restricting sideloading of apps requesting sensitive permissions. The company reported that Play Protect prevented more than 115 million such installation attempts this year. Google Pay also surfaces more than a million fraud warnings each week.
Google’s broader digital safety efforts in India include its DigiKavach awareness initiative, which has reached over 250 million people, and its collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India to publish a verified list of authorized digital lending apps. Earlier this year, Google introduced its Safety Charter to reinforce its AI-driven fraud detection commitments.
Despite these measures, significant challenges persist. Google, like Apple, continues to face criticism for allowing fraudulent apps to appear on its app store. Several investment and loan scams have relied on malicious apps that remained on the Play Store until flagged by law enforcement or researchers. These incidents highlight the difficulty of policing a massive app ecosystem in a market dominated by low-cost Android devices and first-time internet users.
Google’s latest updates represent an important step toward reducing digital fraud in India, but the effectiveness of these measures will depend on broader device support, multilingual coverage, and continued improvements to app review processes. As online threats evolve, the company faces sustained pressure to close the gaps that fraudsters continue to exploit.
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