Android 16 has a new tool to keep scammers in chess

Update February 14, 2025 (04:41 PM ET): After a little more study, we have discovered that Google’s new protection against anti-scammer is already live in Android 16 Beta 2. You can see them in action for yourself in this video demonstration we have put together:

Original article, February 14, 2025 (05:00 et): There is a wide range of Phone fraud That you need to be aware of, and with the use of AI speech tools, these frauds will only be more compelling. Scammers will use all kinds of psychological tricks to get you to send them money or give them access to your online accounts, and unfortunately many people fall victim to these frauds every day. To combat these scammers, Google is working on a new security feature for Android 16 It blocks you from changing certain sensitive settings during phone calls. Hopefully, this will make it more difficult for scammers to succeed and make people think twice before installing or enabling malicious software.

When a phone scam finds a potential victim, they look for ways they can make the victim send them money or personal information. Often this involves fooling them into installing malware And then give it access to sensitive permits as accessibility access. The average person probably doesn’t know how to Sideoad -apps on AndroidHowever, that is why the scammer stays on the line to guide them through the process.

This is where Android 16’s new security feature will step in. Android 16 will detect when a phone call is active and then prevent you from activating the side loading permit. This is according to strings I discovered while I was dug through Android 16 Beta 2:

The side loading permit, which allows apps to install other apps, is deactivated as standard for security reasons, as a lot of malicious software is distributed outside of official app stores. It has to be explicitly activated by going to Settings> Apps> Special App Access> Install Unknown Apps. Users with Advanced Protective Mode Activated cannot beat this permit precisely because of the security risk.

Although this feature blocks side loading during calls, scammers can instruct the victims to hang on, side load app and call back. First, this introduces the extra step friction, which can interfere with the power of the scammer and cause the victim to become suspicious. Crucial is that the dialogue that appears when you try to activate the side loading permit, warns that scammers often ask for this action during conversations, and it recommends caution if they are ruled by an unknown caller. This warning can cause some people to consider the legitimacy and prevent them from being victims.

What if the side loading permit is already enabled, or worse, the scammer app is on Google Play Store?? Android 16 also blocks the possibility of certain sensitive permits, such as accessibility access, under active telephone calls. Providing accessibility access allows an app to read the screen and perform actions on your behalf – a powerful combination that can give malicious software full control of your device. This extra protective layer will hopefully reduce the number of successful phone fraud.

These new security features are already live in Android 16 Beta 2, and will probably still be present for public release of Android 16 later this year. They build on Improved confirmation mode function, introduced in Android 15It makes it more difficult for side -loaded apps to access sensitive permissions.