Google’s Scam Detection Doesn’t Support Your Android Phone? Try These 5 Apps

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Spam calls are among the most irritating issues for smartphone users, and this problem goes beyond simple annoyance. That’s because scammers also use unknown numbers to try to steal users’ personal or banking data, as well as convince victims to send money. Google itself has been adding AI-powered scam call detection, mainly to Pixel phones.

This feature can analyze a call and warn you when it identifies common scam patterns. The problem is that not every Android phone supports Google Scam Detection, even though the company has been expanding its availability to other devices. So, if you don’t want to depend on the basic filters that each phone has or keep receiving these spam calls, the best alternative is to choose a new app.

Fortunately, several spam call prevention tools are available for Android, helping identify these suspicious calls and block numbers known for running scams. For that reason, we’ve gathered some options you can download on your phone that, although they work differently from Google, still reduce your chances of falling for a scam.

Truecaller is one of the best apps for preventing spam calls for anyone who uses an Android phone. That’s because it uses a large collaborative database built by users themselves to try and identify most of the spam a user may receive, whether from fraud or even robocalls. Many of the more advanced features are Premium, but users on the free plan can use Caller ID to identify the name of the person calling, for example.

This is especially useful for anyone who wants to know how to identify and block No Caller ID and unknown calls, since Truecaller also allows you to block some of these numbers automatically.

On the other hand, besides offering some features only on paid plans, this app also depends a lot on its user base to identify spam. This means false positives can happen, or new numbers can get through the spam filter, so even with it, it’s important to be careful when receiving calls from unknown numbers.

Malwarebytes Scam Guard works in a slightly different way, since it doesn’t depend only on a database to identify whether a call is spam or not. Instead, the feature lets you send messages, links, phone numbers, or even screenshots for analysis, helping determine whether that type of content shows common signs of scams.

Since fraud doesn’t always start with a call, it’s a useful app to have as a complement, since it can help when someone tries to apply the scam through email, WhatsApp, or something similar. This, along with other ways Android offers to identify suspicious messages, makes Malwarebytes Scam Guard a good option for users.

However, one disadvantage is that it doesn’t analyze data automatically. In most cases, you need to manually forward the suspicious content so the evaluation can happen. However, this service is part of Malwarebytes’ premium protection package, so interested users need to pay for a subscription.

Another alternative for anyone who wants to reduce spam calls on Android phones, YouMail offers very useful perks, especially in the free version. If a number is known for scams or unwanted calls, the app already blocks these calls without charging anything extra for it. It also offers Caller ID. This way, you can have more information to decide whether or not you should accept your next call, or continue it if you’ve already picked up.

YouMail also offers features such as scam text identification, using artificial intelligence to analyze received messages and identify possible fraud attempts. Other tools this app features include visual voicemail and Safe Dialer, which lets you check numbers before returning the call.

On the other hand, more advanced features stay behind paid plans. Call screening, for example, can ask the person to identify themselves before forwarding the call to the user, but this isn’t part of the free package.

Another alternative focused especially on calls, Hiya Spam Blocker helps the user identify suspicious calls before you even decide to answer your smartphone. In the free plan, you can find features such as Caller ID for businesses or numbers known for spam, along with alerts for calls associated with fraud. Notably, on Android, the app still allows you to report suspicious numbers, updating the database so future calls become safer.

Besides this identification, Hiya also offers tools for anyone looking for ways to block spam calls. In paid plans, for example, the app can automatically block certain numbers considered spam and offers Call Screener, which answers unknown calls first to find out who’s calling and why before forwarding them to the user.

In addition, some more sophisticated spam detection features have regional limits, so the experience with select Hiya tools can change a lot depending on which country you use them in.

For anyone who wants an alternative to block spam calls but doesn’t want to pay for it, Should I Answer? is probably the best choice. It has a good free basic protection layer, allowing the user to check unknown numbers that the community itself maintains in a database. When someone calls, the app checks whether that number has many negative reviews and can warn the user about it before they decide to answer.

This database uses anonymous reviews from users themselves, who can classify numbers after receiving a call. It’s a different approach from Google’s scam detection on Android, which uses artificial intelligence to look for signs of fraud during a conversation.

Should I Answer? focuses mainly on the number’s reputation, and since it stores the database on the phone itself, you can use the app even without an internet connection available.

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When compiling the apps on this list, we prioritized options that you can install on different Android phones and that offer specific features for dealing with spam calls. This includes Caller ID, suspicious number identification, automatic blocking, and databases powered by user reports. We also avoided mentioning solutions exclusive to specific models, since the goal is to recommend accessible alternatives for several phones.

Since most of these apps focus their protection on calls, this was the main comparison criterion. Still, we also considered extra features, such as scam text detection, link analysis, and suspicious screenshots, when available.

In addition, we took into account free plans, regional limits, subscription exclusive functions, and similar factors. Also, since many of these apps work with databases, they’re not immune to errors, as new numbers can still pass through the filter and reach you.