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They already are doing something. Google will warn about potential scams in their phone app, for example. Same for Gmail. I think the most important issue is o

They already are doing something. Google will warn about potential scams in their phone app, for example. Same for Gmail. I think the most important issue is one of trust, which is one the scammers are trying to exploit. Do you trust Google saying "this might be a scam" over a person on your phone assuring you that there is some urgent need to do something? The answer depends obviously on how you view technology, generally older people tend to place less trust in technology and more trust in humans. That is why these scams work, they play on an inherent trust bias. I don't see that Google or Apple really can't do that much more, as the issue really is a social one.

bentt 2y ago
Here's an idea. If a call is detected as a scam, provide an OS level hook for the call to be diverted to an app that can access an API. That'd be all that Apple and Google would do. At that point, App makers would get access to the call and could do a variety of things with it. So for instance, you might have a vulnerable grandparent you want to protect, so you install an aggressive AI screener app to handle these things. Or, you might just send a log of calls to a loved one. Or, you might send a transcript of that call to a loved one, or an AI, or both for protection. Basically, Google and Apple saying "Potential Scam" says to me that they can know when a call is risky. They need to do more with that and open up an ecosystem of defensive software.