If you’ve ever clicked a link and suddenly been hit with a pop-up warning that your device has a virus, you’re not alone. These fake “tech support” scams are everywhere — and now, Google is stepping up its efforts to stop them using artificial intelligence.

In a recent blog post, Google announced it’s rolling out a new AI-powered safety feature in Chrome that can identify and flag scam websites the moment you click on them. The tool uses a lightweight version of its Gemini AI model, known as Gemini Nano, which runs directly on your device. That means faster detection and enhanced privacy — no need to send your data to the cloud.

How It Works

When users enable Chrome’s “enhanced protection” mode on desktop, Gemini Nano kicks in to scan web pages in real-time. If the AI detects something suspicious, like a cloaked phishing site or a deceptive tech support scam, it will trigger a warning screen — giving users the option to back out before falling into a trap.

This is part of a broader AI-driven push across Google’s platforms — including Chrome, Search, and Android — to combat the growing sophistication of online scams.

Why It Matters

Online scammers have become increasingly effective thanks to AI, which allows them to generate convincing fake content at scale. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, consumers lost more than $1 trillion to scams in the past year alone.

“Fighting scammers has always been a cat-and-mouse game,” said Phiroze Parakh, senior director of engineering for Google Search. “Now, both sides have AI tools — the question is who uses them more effectively.”

Other Key Updates from Google:

• Android Alerts: Android users will now get warnings if scammy sites try to send them suspicious Chrome notifications — and they’ll be able to unsubscribe with a single tap.
• Search Protection: Google says AI now blocks 20 times more scammy websites from appearing in search results than it did just a few years ago. In 2024 alone, the company removed hundreds of millions of scam pages every day.
• Airline Scam Crackdown: One major success involved fake customer service numbers in airline-related searches. Thanks to AI, Google has reduced these types of scams by 80%.

The Bigger Picture

Google isn’t alone in this AI-powered battle. Other companies are also leveraging smart technology to fight fraud:

• UK mobile carrier O2 uses a chatbot named Daisy to tie up phone scammers’ time.
• Microsoft has tested a tool that listens in on phone calls to detect fraud in real time.
• The U.S. Treasury Department says AI helped recover $1 billion in check fraud in 2024 alone.

With scams evolving fast, companies are racing to stay one step ahead — and it looks like AI may finally give defenders an edge.

Source: CNN – Google is using AI to identify scammy websites on Chrome when you click on them

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A futuristic orb, a face scan, and a mission to separate humans from bots — that’s the pitch from Tools for Humanity, the startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman. But when I gave it a try, the Orb couldn’t even verify me as human.

Turns out, that’s (sort of) by design.

The Orb is part of a bold attempt to fix a growing problem on the internet: telling real people apart from bots. With AI now able to solve CAPTCHAs and generate realistic fake identities, verifying humanity online is harder — and more important — than ever.

Enter the Orb: a sleek, sci-fi-looking device designed to scan your face and eyes, analyzing details like shape and light response to confirm your uniqueness. If it works, it grants you a WorldID, a digital credential that proves you’re human. That ID could be used across websites — from social media to banking — to cut through bot interference and fraud.

But when I stepped up to the Orb, it rejected me. The reason? My yellow-tinted blue-light blocking contact lenses. The device flagged my face as “blocked,” suggesting I might be trying to fool it.

“Well, that’s sad, but I’m grateful it rejected you,” joked Tiago Sada, Chief Product Officer at Tools for Humanity. “It means the system is doing its job.”

Sada says the Orb was built in response to bots running wild on the internet — scalping concert tickets, cluttering dating apps, and even spreading misinformation campaigns. “Every single time tickets go live, bots buy them up and drive prices sky-high,” he explained. “And on dating apps, you’ll come across an account with six fingers — that’s AI.”

But getting the public to trust a machine that scans your face and stores your identity? That’s a harder sell.

Already, privacy concerns have led to bans and investigations. Hong Kong blocked the project entirely. Regulators in the UK are probing it. Critics fear this is just another way for big tech figures like Altman to centralize power under the guise of innovation.

Once scanned, users receive a WorldID via a mobile app. Think of it like Face ID, but not tied to Apple — and theoretically usable across multiple platforms.

So far, WorldID has a limited number of use cases. Some Reddit communities and Shopify stores have “human-only” access points for verified users. Over 12 million people across 20+ countries have tried the Orb, which is available at malls, events, and soon — through a home delivery option starting in Latin America.

The Orb is temporarily unavailable in the U.S. while updates are underway. But the World App remains live.

The Orb’s identity system is tied to World, an open-source platform originally launched as Worldcoin in 2023. Users in some countries receive Worldcoin cryptocurrency for verifying their identity. (I didn’t — Worldcoin isn’t available in the U.S.)

The idea? To prepare for a world where AI transforms economies — and possibly distribute universal basic income, a concept Altman supports.

But giving users crypto in exchange for biometric scans raises red flags. Critics say it could encourage people to overlook privacy concerns, or hand over too much power to a handful of tech leaders.

Sada defends the model, saying World gives users ownership of the network — and that privacy is a core focus. According to Tools for Humanity, face scans are encrypted, sent to the user’s device, and then deleted. The app can also be locked for added security.

Much of the tech behind the Orb is open source, allowing external experts to examine its privacy protections.

“It’s not very intuitive that something like this is private,” Sada admitted. “But we believe privacy is freedom — and World is built to protect that.”

Source: CNN Newsource – Here’s what happened when I tried the Sam Altman-backed orb face scanner

The post I Tried the Face-Scanning Orb Backed by Sam Altman — Here’s What Happened appeared first on Journos News - Breaking News, World News, Top Stories, Todays Headlines and Flash Reports.