Google’s Scam Detection May Soon Expand to Vivo Phones

Google’s Scam Detection feature, the tool that warns users during phone calls when a caller might be running a scam, looks set to expand beyond Pixel and Samsung phones. Android Authority found evidence in a recent teardown pointing to vivo as the next brand in line.

The evidence was found in version 234.0.9 of the Phone by Google app. Digging through the code, Android Authority found references linking vivo to the feature, as well as an internal codename, Sharpie, that Google uses for Scam Detection.

If this goes ahead, vivo would become the third phone maker to carry the feature, after Google’s own Pixel line and Samsung, which added it to the Galaxy S26 series earlier this year.

There’s no confirmation yet on which vivo phones would actually get this. Android Authority speculated it could debut on the upcoming vivo X500 series, and possibly reach the X300 lineup afterward.

One thing that’s still unclear is which app would house the feature on vivo devices. Samsung built Scam Detection directly into its own phone app for the Galaxy S26. Vivo runs its own dialer in China but uses Google’s Phone app in most markets outside it, which suggests the feature would most likely show up there instead of vivo’s own dialer.

For anyone unfamiliar with how it works, Scam Detection runs entirely on the device during a call, listening for patterns commonly tied to scammers. If someone on the other end asks for payment through gift cards, for instance, the phone shows a warning pop-up along with a vibration and audio alert. The feature only kicks in for calls from numbers not saved as contacts.

It’s worth being cautious about how solid this is. Teardowns like this one are based on code sitting unused inside an app, work that hints at what might be coming, not a confirmed release. Features spotted this way don’t always make it out publicly.

Google has not commented on any of this, and there’s no timeline yet for when, or if, vivo phones will actually get Scam Detection.