Gmail for Android adds new anti-phishing security check for external links

Google today has announced a new security feature for Gmail on Android that makes it easier for users to protect themselves against phishing attempts. Google revealed the new feature in a post on its G Suite updates blog.

Starting this week, when you click a suspicious link in an email, Gmail will show a new pop-up warning explaining that what’s on the other side of the link might be dangerous:

Here is the message that will be presented;

The site you are trying to visit has been identified as forgery, intended to trick you into disclosing financial, personal, or other sensitive information.

While users will still have the option to proceed to the website, Google hopes this warning will encourage users to be more cautious about what links they are clicking and where the link will take them:

While not all affected email will necessarily be dangerous, we encourage you to be extra careful about clicking on links in messages that you’re not sure about. And with this update, you’ll have another tool to make these kinds of decisions.

Google says that this feature is a gradual rollout and may take a few days to reach all users. Currently, the feature is coming to Gmail on Android and it’s unclear if it will come to other devices.

If you’ve received the new security feature, let us know down in the comments.