Google on Tuesday announced a new feature for its Google Phone app called Verified Calls.
The feature is meant to enable safer phone calls and prevent phone fraud by verifying the calls.
Google, in a blog post announcing the feature, cited a 2019 FTC report where phone calls were one of the most preferred methods for scammers.
“While most people said they hung up on those calls, those who lost money reported a median loss of $1,000. Spam and scam calls erode trust in businesses and increase costs to consumers,” Google said.
“Verified Calls aims to solve this problem by showing the caller’s name, logo, the reason for calling and a verification symbol indicating the business has been authenticated by Google,” it said.
It further added that the verification process is done in a secure way without compromising on user’s data privacy. It will not collect or store any personally identifiable information after verification, it said.
Google had launched a similar Verified SMS feature last year that identified the identity of a business texting the user. The Verified Calls feature is based on the success of this feature.
Google will initially roll out Verified Calls on its phone app for users in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and India.