Google is putting $6 million into helping ordinary people and small businesses in Asia Pacific spot and survive online scams. The money comes from Google.org, and Google paired it with a rundown of the protections already built into Android and Pixel phones.
Two non-profits share the grant: The Asia Foundation and the Tech for Good Institute. Google says it will fund community training, early AI-based defence prototypes, and research aimed at helping lawmakers design anti-scam measures.
Google announced it on its company blog on 3 November. It leans on a UN report that estimated scam losses in the wider region at up to $114.1 billion during 2025, and on a figure that over 40% of consumers in ASEAN countries have been targeted.
Fake Call Detection is the headline Android feature. It launched this year to catch calls in which an AI voice pretends to be someone else. Google says it uses open RCS technology, so rival platforms are free to copy the idea. On Pixel phones, scam detection already flags dodgy messages in many popular chat apps, and Google is working with partners to bring that to more Android users before the year ends.
Separately, Google is extending developer verification on Android, a check intended to protect people from harmful apps installed from outside Google Play.
The post also points readers to scam-prevention guides in the Google Safety Center. Google frames the whole package as three layers: protection built into devices and platforms, cooperation between companies and public bodies, and training at community level for individuals and small businesses.
Google signed the Industry Accord Against Online Scams and Fraud earlier this year, a deal among companies to share threat information. It also helped set up an anti-scam alliance in Japan and a philanthropy group that coordinates giving against scams worldwide.
The new grant adds to older Google.org support for local groups in Singapore and Taiwan that run neighbourhood-level training, and for an ASEAN Foundation programme that spreads scam-prevention material across Southeast Asia.
Be Scam Ready, a game that walks players through common scams, is now spreading from three markets to five more, taking in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Google’s post does not mention Pakistan in the funding or the game, and it gives no date for wider Pixel-style scam alerts.
Google says it will keep pushing for a joint, global approach to fighting organised scam networks and calls the fight against organised crime groups central to its work in the region.
