Google will warn you about phishing scams in Android apps

Phishing scams have proliferated (and a lot) in recent times. And the truth is that they constitute a significant threat, especially for unsuspecting or clueless users. Although it is clear that we can all fall into the trap.

Now Google has just added a new feature that will warn users about the possibility of being scammed through some phishing strategy . How will do? Well, through the Google Play Protect security system, thanks to the Safe Browsing system in WebView.

This component has been around since the release of Android 8 Oreo. And it is nothing more than a navigation system that protects us in Chrome against threats of this type. But from now on it will be practically all Android users who will be able to enjoy this level of protection. Because this component will also be present on devices running Android 5 and above

A security update for Google Play Protect

Mobile phones running Android will receive an update to WebView 66.0 this April This includes a new version of Google Play Protect that works on a safe navigation system by default. This can help users stay protected against malware in general, but phishing scams in particular.

In principle, its task is to prevent any type of malicious software from being executed And for this reason we will receive warnings every time we access – if this is the case – to a fraudulent web page. Those that, as we have seen in scams related to the Tax Agency or, use websites that are very similar or almost identical to the original ones.

Certainly, this ploy is used by criminals to make innocent users enter login and personal information, just as they would in the official page of the company, administration or bank. Thus, they can easily be obtained with private data, access codes or passwords, bank PINs and even account or credit card numbers.

The alert that users will receive will be very similar to the one that currently appears when we navigate through Chrome and we access a site that for whatever reason may Be dangerousThe screenshot that you can see above shows the image in red, with the corresponding security warning.

The user can still access the page, if they prefer to ignore Google's recommendations. But you will have been warned about the possibility of accessing a fraudulent page.

Custom warnings within applications

These warnings will be triggered from within the applications. But as we indicated, it will be a technology very similar to the one used by Chrome for Android. It is known, however, that the behavior or appearance of this red screen can be customized to suit the application developer

In any case, we will see it later, when this technology is definitively incorporated into applications.You are therefore warned that this new red screen may appear at any time And that in fact, the safe browsing warning will appear more frequently than before.

Unfortunately, Google Play Protect does not get very good marks in the rankings of security solutions. Although any improvement is little, you should have a well-prepared phone with an antivirus Here you have a series of free proposals to install on your mobile (also on your computer ) and keep lurking criminals at bay.