New AI-powered scam detection tool launches

7 October 2024, 00:04

Woman talking on mobile phone and working on laptop
Woman talking on mobile phone and working on laptop. Communication and connecting concept. Picture: PA

Ask Silver can be used from inside WhatsApp and is able to tell users almost instantly if a text, email or website is safe or not.

A new scam detection tool which enables users to upload a screenshot of any suspicious text, email or website to check if it is safe has been launched in the UK.

Ask Silver can be used inside WhatsApp, appearing like any other contact on the platforms once a user sign ups, and uses AI to instantly analyse whether the communication in question is a scam or not.

Once set up, a user will be told if the email, text or website is safe and be given suggested next steps, including the ability to report a scam.

Not-for-profit scam protection group Get Safe Online has partnered with the tool creators to launch it to the public and help raise awareness about staying safe from online scams.

It comes as rules come into force which make it mandatory for paying and receiving banks and payment providers to jointly refund consumers who lose money to scams, up to the value of £85,000.

Tony Neate, chief executive of Get Safe Online, said: “Despite new requirements for banks, it is imperative that all of us remain vigilant when it comes to scams.

“This fantastic new tool is revolutionary and we are recommending that people download and save Ask Silver to their WhatsApp contact list now and try it out.

“It’s so simple to use and if it saves you from a scam, what’s not to like?”

Ask Silver founder Alex Somervell said: “In this digital age where scams are increasingly sophisticated and scammers are highly experienced, we must empower individuals with tools that enhance their vigilance and allow them to live, shop and buy without fear.

“Ask Silver provides that very support and now, by partnering with Get Safe Online, we are further strengthening our commitment to online safety and look forward to collaborating with the team a lot more in the future.”

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo Switch 2 to be released in 2025

A child using a mobile phone

Age verification to be required on any site hosting pornography, Ofcom says

A general view of Chat GPT website

ChatGPT users can now give it tasks to do in the future

A phone displaying the Twitter account for Elon Musk

Elon Musk sued by US markets regulator over Twitter stake disclosure

Elon Musk is being sued for failing to disclose his purchase of Twitter stocks before buying the company in 2022, which ‘allowed him to underpay’ by at least $150m (£123m).

US sues Musk for failing to disclose Twitter stock holdings to buy platform at ‘artificially low prices’

The back of an ambulance

IBM to supply tech for new Emergency Services Network

A laptop user

Cyber security is biggest concern among IT leaders – poll

Meta sign outside the company's base in Dublin

Meta ‘plans to cut 5% of lowest performing staff’ as Zuckerberg ‘raises the bar’

Cara Hunter MLA

Stormont MLA targeted by deepfake video urges legal clampdown

Technology

‘Millions’ in taxpayer money paid to cyber criminals in recent years – minister

Hand holding a mobile phone showing Google search engine

Competition regulator to examine Google services under new digital market laws

The report follows an eight-month inquiry into engineering biology (PA)

UK must do more to lead innovation in bio-tech sector, Lords committee says

The app for TikTok on a phone screen

TikTok says reports of possible sale to Elon Musk are ‘pure fiction’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer making a speech at a podium with a sign that reads Plan For Change

More than 100 AI trials to boost small-business productivity launched

A woman's hand pressing the keys of a laptop keyboard

Proposals aim to protect UK infrastructure from ransomware

Aerial view of a child accessing social media apps on a smartphone

Access to children’s social media after death ‘moral and humane right’, MPs hear