Google has launched its Safety Charter in India to enhance its AI-led efforts to detect fraud and combat scams across the country. India is Google’s largest market outside the United States, and digital fraud is an escalating concern.
According to government data, fraud related to India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) surged by 85% year-over-year to nearly 11 billion Indian rupees ($127 million) last year. The country has also experienced an increase in digital arrest scams, where fraudsters impersonate officials in video calls to extort money, often through predatory loan apps.
New Security Engineering Center and Collaborations
As part of its initiative, Google has opened its fourth security engineering center in India, following facilities in Dublin, Munich, and Malaga. The center, announced last year, aims to collaborate with local stakeholders—including government, academia, students, and small businesses—to tackle cybersecurity, privacy, safety, and AI challenges.
Google has partnered with India’s Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to raise awareness about cybercrime. This builds on previous work, such as DigiKavach, a fraud identification program launched in 2023 to mitigate the effects of malicious financial apps and predatory lending platforms.
Focus Areas and AI Deployment
Google will concentrate its efforts in India on three key areas: protecting users from online scams and fraud, enhancing cybersecurity for enterprises and critical infrastructure, and developing responsible AI practices. By situating engineering capabilities close to users, Google hopes to address India-specific challenges effectively.
Globally, Google uses AI to remove millions of fraudulent ads and accounts. In India, Google Messages employs AI-powered Scam Detection, protecting users from over 500 million suspicious messages monthly. Play Protect blocked nearly 60 million attempts to install risky apps in India last year, preventing more than 220,000 unique apps from running on over 13 million devices. Google Pay also displayed 41 million warnings related to potentially fraudulent transactions.
Heather Adkins, Google’s VP of security engineering, highlighted concerns about AI misuse, particularly by malicious actors using large language models to enhance phishing scams through translation, deepfakes, and synthetic media.
Google is testing its AI models rigorously to prevent harmful outputs and is developing frameworks like the Secure AI Framework to curb abuse of generative AI. However, Adkins emphasized the need for industry-wide collaboration rather than unilateral restrictions to maintain innovation while safeguarding users.
Adkins also warned about the threat from commercial surveillance vendors—companies that sell hacking platforms to governments or private entities, enabling scalable cyberattacks without requiring expertise.
The Challenge of Digital Security in India
India faces unique cybersecurity challenges, including the rise of AI-driven deepfakes, voice cloning fraud, and digital arrest scams adapted to the online world. Adkins noted that India often serves as a leading indicator of evolving cyber threats that may soon impact other regions.
Google continues to promote multi-factor authentication (MFA) and hardware-based security keys to enhance user protection. While passwordless technologies gain traction globally, Adkins acknowledged that India’s diverse population tends to prefer SMS-based authentication, reflecting broader economic and demographic factors.
Author’s Opinion
As India rapidly digitizes, adopting AI-driven security measures tailored to its unique environment is vital. Google’s approach to embedding engineering resources locally and collaborating with national bodies represents a proactive step toward combating sophisticated fraud. However, balancing innovation with robust safeguards will require ongoing vigilance, particularly as AI tools become more accessible to malicious actors. Investing in awareness and adaptable security models will be key to protecting India’s vast and varied digital ecosystem.
Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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