Facebook Messenger will use AI to read your chats and save you from scams

Scammers are getting smarter, but Meta says its new AI tools are getting smarter too.

By Rachit Agarwal Published March 11, 2026

Messenger app open on iPhone — Rachit Agarwal / Digital Trends

Meta is taking the fight to scammers with new AI tools and law enforcement partnerships across its platforms. The company is rolling out new protections across Facebook and Messenger to make it harder for scammers to scam you.

New AI tools to protect you before you get scammed

The new features are designed to stop scams before you fall for them. Facebook will now display a warning when you send or receive a friend request from an account that seems suspicious, such as accounts with no mutual friends or mismatched location information.

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Messenger is also getting an upgrade. Its scam detection feature is expanding to more countries, and it is more capable than before. When a conversation with a new contact displays suspicious warning signs, like unsolicited job offers, Messenger will flag it and ask if you want an AI review of the chat. If a scam is detected, you will get more context on what to watch out for, along with options to block or report the account.

On the ad side, Meta is expanding its advertiser verification program, with the goal of having verified advertisers drive 90% of its ad revenue by the end of 2026, up from 70%. This makes it significantly harder for scammers to run fraudulent ads at scale.

Meta is going after scammers at the source too

Beyond the new tools, Meta has been working with law enforcement to shut down scam operations globally. In a joint disruption operation with the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Royal Thai Police, Meta investigators disabled over 150,000 accounts linked to scam centers and contributed to 21 arrests.

Meta also removed over 159 million scam ads last year, with 92% taken down before anyone even reported them. The company also removed 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram tied to criminal scam centers.

What it means for you

With generative AI making scams more convincing than ever, having an extra layer of protection built into apps used by billions of people is a genuine win. These tools won’t catch everything, but they will meaningfully reduce your chances of being targeted on Facebook and Messenger.

Rachit is a seasoned tech journalist with over ten years of experience covering the consumer technology landscape.

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