Search giant Google has announced Verified Calls feature for its Phone app.
The company said in its blog post that 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. This is done in a secure way and Google doesn’t collect or store any personally identifiable information after verification.
The reason to launch this phone app is a 2019 FTC report found that phone calls were the number one way people reported being contacted by 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 Verified Calls will initially be available in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and India, with expansion to additional countries planned in the near future.
The privacy-secure Verified Calls feature is available on Google’s Phone app, which comes preloaded on many Android devices later this week.