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WhatsApp’s optional Scam Alert feature has entered testing for select Android beta users. Powered by an on-device machine learning model, it flags potential scam messages from unknown contacts while keeping message content on the device and giving users options to trust, block or report chats.

Hyderabad: WhatsApp’s optional Scam Alert feature has entered the testing phase, with the functionality reportedly rolling out to a limited number of Android beta users. The development suggests that a wider public rollout could be approaching.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, the feature is available to select users running WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.26.34.1. Scam Alert uses an on-device machine learning model to identify potential scam messages from unknown contacts.

When the model detects a message as a likely scam attempt, WhatsApp displays a warning in the chat. The warning is visible only to the recipient and does not inform the sender that Scam Alert is being used. Users can choose to block or report the sender or continue the conversation.

Meta offered an early look at the feature earlier this month, confirming that the machine learning model is downloaded to the user’s device and runs there to classify incoming messages from non-contacts based on known scam patterns.

If a warning is displayed incorrectly, users can mark the chat as trusted. This removes the warning, and Scam Alert will not flag that chat again. Users can also choose to share their last five messages from the conversation with WhatsApp to help improve the feature’s accuracy.

Meta said the model is trained on patterns observed in scam conversations from reports submitted by users. It also clarified that message content does not automatically leave the device for classification or get reported to WhatsApp, Meta or any third party.

The feature is optional and must be manually enabled under Settings > Account on WhatsApp for Android. WhatsApp has not yet announced a date for its wider rollout.