Artificial intelligence-powered defenses integrated into Android were touted by Google to have significantly curtailed illicit cyber activity, according to The Hacker News.
Over 10 billion calls and messages believed to be suspicious were blocked by Android's scam defenses every month, while Rich Communication Services has prevented more than 100 million dubious numbers, said Google, which recently introduced improved protections against potentially harmful links in its Messages app.
Further analysis from Google revealed that employment fraud was the most common scam type, while more scam messages have been sent through group chats in a bid to better establish legitimacy to their targets. Threat actors have also been increasingly adopting a "Bait and Wait" targeting approach, as seen in romance baiting intrusions, while purchasing SIM cards from less stringent markets.
"While it may appear that waves of scams are moving between countries, this constant churn doesn't mean scammers are physically relocating. Once enforcement tightens in one area, they simply pivot to another, creating a perpetual cycle of shifting hotspots," said Google.
