Google Play Protect is testing a new financial fraud protection program

The digital age, although a boon, can sometimes set the stage for online scamsters. While a lot of these are email or text message-based attacks, there are many other ways your sensitive data is compromised on the internet. Staying vigilant while making online payments is certainly one way.

That said, with a lot of app-based scams on the rise, it has become challenging to differentiate between genuine and dodgy developers. However, Google is reportedly testing a new program with Google Play Protect. This will work as an additional layer of security for users looking to protect themselves against financial fraud. Here’s what you need to know:

What will Google Play Protect do?

The new program, which will be launched in Singapore within the coming few weeks, will function as a pilot run for an initial period. However, Google plans to roll it out for a wider audience gradually, based on the success of the pilot project.

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Within the pilot project, the company plans to analyse and block the downloads of suspicious apps on your Android smartphone, more so if the app or developer has been previously associated with any suspicious activity or financial fraud.

The enhancement will be a part of Google Play Protect and will automatically look for any of the following runtime permissions while the user tries to download an app:

– RECEIVE_SMS
– READ_SMS
– BIND_Notifications
– Accessibility

The reason behind looking for these permissions is that fraudsters often find themselves abusing them to mine one-time passwords (OTPs) from users. This could be by either reading your text messages or spying through the notification bar displaying it.

Once a user tries to download an app that requires any of the following permissions, Google Play Protect will block the attempt with the relevant explanation for the user.

When will the extension be available for everyone?

For now, Google, in a blog post, only mentions how the program was recently tested by the Singaporean government. While users in Singapore might currently be the only ones with access to the feature, the company plans to make it accessible to everyone based on the recorded performance.