An Android feature you already use everyday could help expose scam texts on your phone

2 weeks ago 2

Person holding the Google Pixel 8a using Circle to Search

Credit: Justin Duino / MakeUseOf

Published Oct 16, 2026, 12:33 PM EDT

Hamed holds a B.A. in English Literature, graduating cum laude. He loves music, tech gadgets, and exploring the latest in the world of LLMs. He also enjoys tinkering with creative software such as Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Photoshop.

A lifelong musician, Hamed plays multiple instruments, including guitar, bass, and oud. He is equally fascinated by smart-home technology and can happily spend hours geeking out over connected lights, speakers, sensors, and automations that make everyday life a little more interesting. When he isn’t covering the latest tech news, he explores more creative topics on his Medium blog, works on his music, or clears his head by riding his motorcycle.

Google's Circle to Search has been around for quite some time now. In a new official safety post, Google is reminding users that they can use the same feature to spot scam texts when they encounter them on their phones.

The search tool allows you to circle a suspicious message and receive an AI-generated assessment of whether it shows signs of a scam. The feature can also guide you toward the next steps, such as deleting the message or blocking the sender. It gives you a way to investigate an unexpected delivery alert, bank warning, or wrong-number text without interacting with the embedded link or replying to whoever sent it.

Circle first, click never

Google's easy way to avoid opening unwanted links

Credit: Brandon Miniman / MakeUseOf

Circle to Search has become one of Android's best everyday features because it can look up pretty much anything displayed on your screen without requiring you to switch apps. You can use it to identify products, translate text, or extract information that an app otherwise wouldn't let you copy.

Using essentially the same gesture, you can check whether a message is impersonating someone or includes a harmful link without having to interact with it directly. Long-press your phone’s Home button or navigation bar to trigger Circle to Search, then draw a circle around the message you don’t trust. Google Search will produce an AI Overview that assesses the text and explains any warning signs it recognizes.

Google has also been expanding Android’s automatic protections against other forms of impersonation. Another recent Android feature flags calls that spoof numbers saved in your contacts and warns you when someone may be pretending to be a friend, colleague, or relative. Bundled together, these tools give Android users both background protection and a quick way to investigate suspicious content themselves.

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