Got a text lately about a package you don't remember ordering?
With holiday orders about to ship, I'd expect more of those.
If you're on Android, Google is rolling out a better guard, and it's off by default.
Wrong default for a scam filter, if you ask me.
It's called Enhanced protection, inside Google Messages. Gemini checks texts from people you don't know and warns you when a conversation looks like a scam.
(On iPhone? Keep reading. There's a copy-paste check further down that works with any AI.)
Right after this: how to turn it on, which phones get what, what happens to your messages, and the 30-second check for everyone else.
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Right. Back to it.
What it does
Three parts:
Scam detection: Gemini looks at the context of a chat with an unknown sender. Google says it's better at spotting new and sophisticated scams.
Link checks: on newer phones, Gemini Nano helps check links right on the phone.
Link checkpoints: an extra warning before you open a link from a number that's not in your contacts.
Turn it on
Open Google Messages and tap your profile picture.
Go to Messages settings, then Protection & safety.
Pick Enhanced protection. (The other choices are Standard and No protection.)
It's still rolling out. If you don't see it, update Google Messages and check again in a few days.
Which phones get what
Scam detection: Pixel 6 and newer, Galaxy S24 and newer, Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 and newer, plus some other Android phones.
On-phone link checks: Pixel 10 and newer, Galaxy S26, Z Fold8 and Z Flip8, and a few others.
Warnings for links from unknown numbers: Android 6 and up.
What happens to your messages
Google says the texts Gemini checks are processed in Private AI Compute, which it describes as "private to you and not available to anyone else, including Google."
Not comfortable with that? Standard protection still blocks spam and suspected harmful links.
The 30-second check (iPhone, or any phone)
Before you tap anything, screenshot the text, crop out your own name and number, and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with this:
Is this text a scam? Here's a screenshot.
1. Give me your verdict: likely scam, likely real, or can't tell.
2. List the red flags you see.
3. Tell me how to check it safely without using any link or number in the message.
Don't open the link.AI can be wrong here too. If a text claims to be your bank or a delivery company, open their app or call the number on your card, never the one in the message.
iPhone also has a setting that moves texts from unknown senders into their own list. Search "unknown senders" in Settings to find it.
Make it stick
Turn it on today.
Then show it to the person in your family who gets the most of these texts.
Spotting a scam text is one quick check. A business runs on dozens of them a week, from the invoice that looks off to the client email that needs a careful reply, and they go faster when AI already knows your setup. That's the whole idea behind The One-Person Company Playbook.
It's the complete setup for running a business where AI does the work of a full team. Inside:
A company folder with your brief, pipeline tracker and invoice log already laid out, so any AI picks up where you left off
Thirty AI roles across six departments, from sales to finance, ready to use
Six jobs that run on a clock: the morning briefing, follow-ups, invoice checks and more
The step-by-step path from picking a business model to your first paying customer
Works on Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok, whichever you already pay for.
The catch: it takes about eight hours over a weekend to set up. After that, it's yours. $97, one-time (down from $297).
Talk tomorrow,
Zephyr
P.S. What's the most convincing scam text you've gotten? Hit reply. I might share the best ones (names removed).