Meta is rolling out an optional Scam Alert feature on WhatsApp that uses on-device machine learning to flag suspicious messages without sending content to servers, helping users block or report scams.
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Meta is launching an optional <a href="https://engineering.fb.com/2026/08/12/security/how-were-building-scam-alert-whatsapp/">Scam Alert feature</a> on WhatsApp that uses on-device machine learning to flag suspicious messages. Earlier this year, Meta also launched scam detection for <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/892939/meta-facebook-whatsapp-messenger-scam-detection">device linking requests</a> on WhatsApp. The new Scam Alert feature, which is rolling out in a limited beta, shows users a warning if a chat seems like a scam:</p>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If the model identifies a message as a likely scam attempt, the user sees a warning in the chat, which is not visible to the other person. From there, the user can decide what to do: block, report, or continue the conversation. If they decide that a warning is incorrectly flagged, the user can mark the cha …</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/979654/meta-whatsapp-scam-message-detection">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# Meta adds AI screening to detect WhatsApp scams
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/979654/meta-whatsapp-scam-message-detection](https://www.theverge.com/tech/979654/meta-whatsapp-scam-message-detection)
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Stevie Bonifield
is a news writer covering all things consumer tech\. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI\.
Meta is launching an optional[Scam Alert feature](https://engineering.fb.com/2026/08/12/security/how-were-building-scam-alert-whatsapp/)on WhatsApp that uses on\-device machine learning to flag suspicious messages\. Earlier this year, Meta also launched scam detection for[device linking requests](https://www.theverge.com/tech/892939/meta-facebook-whatsapp-messenger-scam-detection)on WhatsApp\. The new Scam Alert feature, which is rolling out in a limited beta, shows users a warning if a chat seems like a scam:
> If the model identifies a message as a likely scam attempt, the user sees a warning in the chat, which is not visible to the other person\. From there, the user can decide what to do: block, report, or continue the conversation\. If they decide that a warning is incorrectly flagged, the user can mark the chat as trusted, in which case the warning is removed and Scam Alert will not flag that chat again\. If a user marks that they trust a chat, they can also opt in to share the last 5 messages received with WhatsApp to help improve the feature’s accuracy\.
With more than 3 billion users, WhatsApp is among the largest areas of scam activity, like wire transfers and[pig butchering](https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/23/24226763/former-bank-ceo-sentenced-crypto-pig-butchering-scam)scams\. The FTC said victims[reported losing $425 million](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2026/04/reported-losses-scams-social-media-eight-times-higher-2020)to scams via WhatsApp alone, out of more than $2\.1 billion lost to social media scams in 2025\.
[](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/2025-top-fraud-contact-methods-ftc.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100)
Image: FTC
Meta says “no message content leaves the user device for classification” when its scam detection feature is turned on and nothing is “auto\-reported to WhatsApp, Meta, or anyone else\.” Users can also turn off Scam Alert at any time\.
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- Stevie Bonifield
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