'Voice Phishing Suspicion Call Alert' Feature Added to Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7
Expansion Planned for Devices with One UI 8 or Higher
AI-Based Spam Message Blocking Service Also in Use
On August 21, Samsung Electronics announced that it has introduced new security features utilizing deep learning-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology to Galaxy smartphones, in response to increasingly sophisticated voice phishing schemes.
First, Samsung has added a new "Voice Phishing Suspicion Call Notification" feature to the default phone app on Galaxy smartphones. When users receive calls from unknown numbers, this AI-based feature detects potential voice phishing in real time and provides notifications to users in two stages: "Suspicion (Voice Phishing Suspected)" and "Warning (Voice Phishing Detected)."
Voice phishing suspicion and warning screen image on Galaxy smartphone. Provided by Samsung Electronics.
The first notification displays a yellow message stating "Suspected Voice Phishing" and alerts the user with one sound and one vibration. The second notification displays a red message stating "Warning: Voice Phishing Detected" and alerts the user with three sounds and three vibrations.
Samsung Electronics added this feature to Galaxy smartphones because voice phishing incidents have become increasingly severe each year. According to the National Police Agency, as of the first half of this year, there were approximately 12,000 cases of voice phishing, with total damages amounting to about 640 billion won.
Samsung conducted deep learning training using about 30,000 pieces of voice phishing data provided by the National Police Agency and the National Forensic Service since 2024. Based on this, the company developed an on-device AI solution that detects voice phishing directly on the device, without routing data through external servers.
To activate the Voice Phishing Suspicion Call Notification feature, users can go to the phone app's "Settings," select the "Voice Phishing Suspicion Call Notification" menu, and turn on the feature. This function has been applied to the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, released in July, and will gradually expand to other smartphones running One UI 8 or higher.
An image showing how to check blocked messages on a Galaxy smartphone. Provided by Samsung Electronics.
The spam message blocking feature has been available since last year. In September of last year, Samsung, in collaboration with the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), developed the "Malicious Message Blocking" feature and has provided it to domestic Galaxy smartphones running One UI 6.1 or higher. This feature preemptively blocks malicious spam messages based on sender numbers, risky links (URLs), and spam content (keywords) provided by KISA.
Additionally, since March, Samsung introduced the "Block with Intelligence" feature, which uses AI and deep learning to filter and block spam, to the Galaxy S25 series for the first time. This feature was trained on an average of about 5 million reported data cases per month from KISA. The AI built into Galaxy smartphones automatically classifies and blocks messages suspected to be malicious. The system has learned not only from domestic but also from international spam message reports.
According to Samsung Electronics, more than 100 million spam messages were blocked by the Block with Intelligence feature as of July this year. This feature is available on smartphones running One UI 7.0 or higher and can be activated by enabling the "Spam and Blocked Numbers Management" and "Malicious Message Blocking" menus in the message app settings.
Since October 2022, Galaxy smartphones have displayed a safety mark on the message reception screen for texts sent by companies certified by KISA. Since February, when calls come from unknown numbers, the incoming call screen provides information such as "Suspected Spam" or "Potential Scam Call" based on the phone number.
Jung-sik Kim, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics' MX Division, said, "Samsung Electronics will continue to strengthen technologies to block voice phishing and malicious messages, doing our utmost to provide Galaxy users with a safer mobile environment."
Meanwhile, on the previous day, Apple held a press briefing on security and introduced features related to privacy and security. At the briefing, Apple demonstrated the new "Call Screening" feature, which will be added to iOS 26 for iPhone in the upcoming update next month.
This feature automatically answers calls from unknown numbers, displays the caller's identity and the purpose of the call, and allows the user to decide whether to accept the call. The AI converses with the caller and provides a transcript of the conversation. However, the AI cannot directly determine whether a call is voice phishing, so users must review the conversation between the caller and the AI to decide whether to answer the call themselves.
Video of suspected voice phishing warning screen on Galaxy smartphone. Provided by Samsung Electronics.
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