WhatsApp Introduces AI-Powered Scam Alert Feature to Combat Scams

• •WhatsApp's Scam Alert feature uses AI to identify potential scam messages.
• •The feature is currently in beta and processes data locally to ensure user privacy.
• •In 2025, WhatsApp was responsible for $4.25 billion in scams, highlighting the need for enhanced security.

WhatsApp has launched an experimental feature called Scam Alert to help users identify potential scam messages using on-device AI. This feature is part of WhatsApp's ongoing efforts to address the increasing number of scams on the platform, which accounted for $4.25 billion in fraud in 2025. The Scam Alert feature analyzes incoming messages from non-contacts and flags those that match known scam patterns based on linguistic signals and conversational structure. Users receive warnings when a message is flagged, allowing them to block, report, or continue the conversation. The model is trained on scam reports submitted by users, and all processing occurs locally on the user's device to maintain privacy. Users can also mark trusted chats to improve the model's accuracy. The feature is currently in a limited beta rollout and complements existing security measures implemented by WhatsApp.