What you need to know
- A new Google study shows Android users are less likely to receive scam texts than iPhone users.
- Android’s AI tools help detect and block fraudulent messages more effectively than iOS.
- Independent studies found Pixel phones offer the strongest scam and fraud protection features.
- Google says Android blocks 10B scam messages monthly and RCS has stopped 100M suspicious numbers.
Google has been adding more security and privacy tools on Android to help users protect their devices from scams and fraud, and it looks like the move is paying off. A new report has found that Android users are more likely to avoid scam text messages than iPhone users.
Google partnered with YouGov to survey around 5,000 smartphone users in the US, India, and Brazil to study how different phones handle spam texts. Surprisingly, the company found that Android users reported fewer scam and fraudulent messages thanks to AI detection tools on their devices compared to iPhones.
The report found that Android users were 58% more likely than iOS users to report not receiving any scam texts in the week preceding the survey. The advantage on Pixel phones was even greater, with owners 96% more likely than iPhone users to report zero scam texts.
Moreover, Android users were 20% more likely than iOS users to describe their device’s scam protection as “very effective” or “extremely effective.” Compared to Pixel owners, iPhone users were 150% more likely to say their device wasn’t effective at all in blocking mobile fraud.
iPhones falls behind Android smartphones in scam prevention
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While this study was conducted by Google, independent research by Counterpoint revealed that Android phones also have stronger AI-powered protections. The firm compared devices from brands including Pixel, Samsung, Motorola, and Apple, finding that Android provided AI protection across ten key security areas, while iPhone covered only two.
Similarly, another study by Leviathan Security Group found that the Pixel 10 Pro offered the highest level of default scam and fraud protection, thanks to call screening and features like scam detection in Google Messages and Gmail.
While people usually associate the iPhone with being the most secure device, it turns out Google has taken the lead with its AI-powered protective tools. The company claims Android protects users from 10 billion suspected malicious calls and messages every month.
Google also says RCS has helped reduce scams, blocking over 100 million suspicious numbers from using RCS last month alone, stopping potential scams before they could be sent.
