Google Messages is rolling out an opt-in Enhanced Protection setting that uses Gemini to catch scam texts from people you don't know.

On Friday afternoon, Oct 23, 9to5Google reported that Google Messages has started rolling out a new Enhanced Protection option, found in Messages settings under Protection & safety, with three choices: Enhanced, Standard or No protection (9to5Google).

Google first announced the features on Oct 14 (Google). With Enhanced Protection on, chats with unknown senders get checked by Gemini Scam Detection in the cloud. Google says this runs in Private AI Compute, a sealed-off, encrypted setup that it says no one, including Google, can see into. Unfamiliar links are also checked with Gemini Nano, the small model that runs on the phone itself, along with real-time signals from the web, and texts with links from numbers not in your contacts get redesigned warnings.

Google says the link checks come first to Pixel 10 and newer, the Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8, and other select devices, and that Scam Detection already flags more than 5 million suspected scam calls and texts a month.

The rollout is gradual, so the setting may not be on your phone yet.

What this means for you: scam texts with links are one of the most common ways people get tricked, so this is worth turning on if you see it, and worth setting up for a parent or relative who gets a lot of junk texts. It's opt-in, so you choose whether unknown-sender chats get the cloud check.