Google is rolling out a new security feature to Chrome that uses the built-in Gemini Nano LLM to detect and block fraud while browsing the web.
The new protection is primarily aimed at detecting fake tech support pages. Such sites deceive users by convincing them that their computer is infected with a virus or has other problems. The warnings are displayed as full-screen or pop-up windows that are difficult to close.
The goal of the scammers is to convince the victim to call the specified number and ask for help in order to sell the person subscriptions to remote technical support. The scammers can also gain remote access to the device, which will lead to financial losses or data theft.
The new anti-fraud system integrated into Enhanced Protection analyzes web pages in real time to detect signs of fraud (fake virus warnings and full-screen windows) associated with fake tech support.
The analysis is performed offline, locally on the user’s device using Gemini Nano. If possible fraud is detected, the data is sent to Google Safe Browsing for a more thorough assessment. If fraud is then confirmed, Chrome displays a warning informing the user of the risk.
Google developers claim that the feature respects user privacy and has only a minimal impact on performance, although there are no technical details in the announcement.
“We’ve implemented everything in a way that preserves performance and privacy,” Google says. “In addition to running LLM only in rare cases and running locally on the device, we carefully monitor resource consumption based on the number of tokens used, run the process asynchronously so as not to interrupt the browser, and implement throttling and quota controls to limit GPU usage.”
The new AI protection feature is already live in Chrome 137, released this week, and will be enabled by default for all users who update to the latest version of the browser and turn on Enhanced Protection in Settings.
Google says it plans to expand the system in the future to detect other types of fraud, such as fake package delivery notices or traffic fines. It will also bring similar functionality to the Chrome browser for Android in 2025.
