Meta adds AI scam detection to WhatsApp

Meta is adding an optional Scam Alert feature to WhatsApp that uses on-device machine learning to flag suspicious messages. The feature is rolling out in a limited beta, according to the company.

The new tool shows users a warning if a chat seems like a scam. The warning is not visible to the other person, and users can choose to block, report, or continue the conversation. If a user thinks a warning is incorrect, they can mark the chat as trusted, which removes the warning and prevents Scam Alert from flagging that chat again.

WhatsApp has more than 3 billion users, making it a major area for scam activity such as wire transfers and pig butchering scams. The FTC reported that victims lost $425 million to scams via WhatsApp alone, out of more than $2.1 billion lost to social media scams in 2025.

Meta says that when the scam detection feature is turned on, no message content leaves the user's device for classification, and nothing is auto-reported to WhatsApp, Meta, or anyone else. Users can also turn off Scam Alert at any time.

Earlier this year, Meta launched scam detection for device linking requests on WhatsApp. If a user marks a chat as trusted, they can opt in to share the last five messages received with WhatsApp to help improve the feature's accuracy.