These features promise to add another layer of protection to your device while keeping your data safe in case of loss or theft.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Google has also introduced tools that prevent Android users from being lured into scams during calls<\/a>.<\/p>\n Building on this, Google has added new security tools to Android with the features introduced in December 2025 alongside the Android 16 QPR2 rollout<\/a> for Pixel devices.<\/p>\n Your Android phone can now use Circle to Search to detect fraud, and here’s how.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n \t\t They make the most significant difference in long-term safety<\/p>\n Circle to Search now helps you identify scams instantly<\/p>\n Use it to check suspicious messages or offers with a quick gesture<\/p>\n Android already offers several on-device protection features.<\/p>\n The OS offers on-device fraud detection to spot scams within the apps<\/a>, and Google’s Phone app can block scam and fraud calls. However, a few still slip through, which is why Google’s new feature is even more important.<\/p>\n Circle to Search<\/a> has been a core part of Android for a while now.<\/p>\n The feature lets me instantly look for things to buy, and Google has improved it further with on-screen text translation as well as the ability to ask follow-up questions in Google Search’s AI mode about whatever you’ve highlighted.<\/p>\n While these features are great for most users, I feel the new addition Google introduced to Circle to Search is even more important.<\/p>\n With the new feature added in December 2025 as part of the Android update, if you’re unsure whether something is a scam or fraud, you can circle or highlight the message you’ve received, and Circle to Search will tell you if it’s genuine.<\/p>\n Google says<\/a> a common tactic among fraudsters is sending users messages through Google Messages or social media that solicit or demand money or include links to scam websites.<\/p>\n Thanks to the new Circle to Search feature, you can now protect yourself from getting involved just by asking Google.<\/p>\n To use this feature, enter Circle to Search by tapping and holding the navigation bar, then highlight the message you received.<\/p>\n Google will use AI and information from the web to assess whether it’s a scam. It will even show what steps you can take depending on the result, such as avoiding the link or blocking the sender.<\/p>\n I tested this feature in real-world use with a few messages I received on my Google Pixel 10 Pro<\/a>, and Circle to Search was accurately able to call out spam messages from genuine ones.<\/p>\n You can follow up when you are still unsure about something<\/p>\n Get extra context and confirm with Google AI if something feels risky or fake<\/p>\n In some cases, where the AI isn’t able to directly tell you whether a message is a scam or fraud, you can manually ask Google by using the “Ask anything” bar in Circle to Search.<\/p>\n For example, when Circle to Search wasn’t able to identify one of the messages I received, I followed up with Google AI mode, which clarified that the message was likely a loan scam or a phishing attempt impersonating a genuine company.<\/p>\n With this, you’ll also be able to distinguish whether the texts you’re receiving are genuine or not, whether they’re about gambling, loans, buy now pay later offers, and more.<\/p>\n You can also ask how to block these messages on your Android phone or report them online.<\/p>\n You can use this feature on Android devices that don’t support Circle to Search by using Google Lens<\/a> in the Google app on both Android and iOS.<\/p>\n Just upload the screenshot, and Google AI will tell you whether the message is a scam or not.<\/p>\n Other new Android features you should try this fall<\/p>\n In addition to this protective feature, Google is also rolling out other helpful features for Pixel smartphones and other Android devices as a part of the December 2025 update.<\/p>\n One feature I’ve personally found useful is the notification summary feature for Pixel phones<\/a>. With this, your Pixel can now condense longer messages and group chats from different apps so you get a quick glance at what’s happening.<\/p>\n Other features, such as an expanded dark mode that forces apps to apply a dark theme even when they don’t support it natively, as well as automatic themed icons, are also rolling out with the new update.<\/p>\n That said, the ability to assess messages for scam and fraud with Circle to Search is arguably one of the most underrated and lesser-known features of this Feature Drop. Not many people will talk about it, but it’s a (far more) useful Android feature<\/a> than it sounds for a lot of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past few months, Google has added many new features to Android. Be it the new Material…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-176018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/an-android-mascot-on-a-smartphone-screen-surrounded-by-a-blue-security-shield-icon-and-a-floating-ke.png\"\/){kind=icon}
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\n\t\t\t7 Android security settings I change first on every new phone
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Circle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/google-pixel-9-circle-to-search.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n![\"Scanning](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cirlce-to-search-scam-fraud.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Asking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/circle-to-search-fraud-detection-2.jpg\")
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