DeepMind and Singapore's GovTech Build On-Device Gemma Scam Detector
Google DeepMind and Singapore’s government technology agency GovTech have built a fine-tuned Gemma model that detects scam conversations on-device, presented at the Singapore International Cyber Week. When it spots signs of manipulation, it warns the user and advises against rushing to share data or money, reading messages only with the user’s consent. To spare the battery, a lightweight classifier screens incoming messages first and escalates suspicious ones to Gemma, which reads a longer stretch of the conversation to confirm or clear the alert. DeepMind says scams make up more than half of registered crimes in Singapore, with losses above S$4 billion since 2019 and up to 80% of them coming from schemes where the fraudster spends time building trust.
No apps or launch date have been named; the feature will roll out in phases with Singapore’s authorities, and DeepMind says similar projects in other countries are possible.
Related: Google Releases Gemma 4 12B