Google Messages Apps Can Now Warn Users About Spam Links In SMS: How It Works

Messages app comes pre-loaded on Android phones and now they will be warned about spam threats

Google Messages app is the default messaging app for SMSs on Android phone that also supports RCS chats enabled through mobile data for users.

Google’s messaging app for Android is set to unveil a new feature to improve security and reduce spam on smartphones. The RCS protocol used in the Google Messages app is an ideal alternative to SMS but it also has its fair share of problems including spam messages with shady links. As per a report from PiunikaWeb, Google is now working on a significant update to counter this problem.

The potential new update for the Google Messages app will see the users getting alerted by a pop-up before they click on any link from unknown numbers. This move from Google is aimed at enhancing user safety and protecting them from phishing attempts and scams.

The pop-up will hopefully make users rethink their actions before opening a link from someone who’s not on your contacts list. They were able to get a first look at the new pop-up message thanks to tipster named AssembleDebug. The pop-up text bears a caption reading, “Caution: this sender isn’t one of your contacts.”

A further explanation is provided right below it which says, “Links from people that you don’t know may open unwanted or harmful content”. Users will have two options to interact with the message. In case you do not wish to view the link then you can simply choose to press the cancel button. To view the link you must select a checkbox that reads, “Continue with possible risk”, before hitting the ‘continue’ button.

As per the same report, it is currently being speculated that this feature may also arrive in the standard SMS messages as well. This upcoming warning message can be traced in the 20240402_01_RCO0 or newer beta version of Google Messages. It was manually enabled with feature flags, working in the background. The feature will likely first go live across multiple beta testers before making the stable app.

This is a more improved version of the warning that Google Messages currently have. In the available feature, a dialogue box will appear when clicking on links from unknown numbers. However, this step can be bypassed just by tapping continue. The latest implementation involves an added step to make you reconsider your decision.

Google has been striving to push out the RCS standard in the last few years. However, the rollout faced a major challenge in 2022 when complaints were raised that businesses were abusing RCS by spamming promotional messages to users.