Trend Micro launches new mobile app that identifies scams and AI threats

Trend Micro expanded its protection mobile app called Trend Micro Check today (2 October 2024), bringing it to iOS (Apple App Store) and Android (Google Play Store) in Singapore.

Unlike other anti-malware apps, this one is specially designed to identify common phone-based scams and AI-fabricated threats like deepfaked videos and calls.

Trend Micro Check

Trend Micro Check is a consumer protection product against scams. It is built to warn users of detected scams in real-time, block certain scam types, and provide in-app verification services. The app employs Trend Micro’s years of expertise in monitoring and preventing malware and scams and also fights fire with fire by using AI to identify other AI threats.

The tools included in this app are:

• Scam Check is an AI-powered chatbot that lets you upload images/screenshots or paste text content. The app then deconstructs the content to tell you if it’s a scam or not.
• Deepfake Scan can help you tell if the person you’re video calling or watching online is an artificially recreated face swap or fake (requires screen recording permissions).
• SMS Filter automatically filters out spam text messages even before they appear in your inbox.
• Call Block, which blocks out spam calls. (Note: Trend Micro has informed us that this feature is not available in Singapore).
• Web Guard, which filters out suspicious advertisements and risky websites.

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From our quick trial with the app, each component of Trend Micro Check can be manually enabled or disabled — for example, you can block calls but leave your SMS unfiltered, or vice versa, depending on your work and personal needs.

Automated protections need your permission to be enabled. The only manual option is the Scam Check, where you have to feed screenshots or paste texts/URLs into the chatbot to process and read on your behalf (see the video example above).

A critical difference between anti-malware protection and Trend Micro Check is that anti-malware detects and removes viruses, ransomware, and spyware from infected devices, whilst this preventive app is designed against social engineering scams or malicious content hosted outside of your phone’s control.

Before it was an app, Trend Micro Check was originally a free anti-misinformation service with a WhatsApp chatbot and Google Chrome extension tool.

Unfortunately, these protections are not perpetually free-of-charge. Trend Micro Check offers a 30-day free trial, but the opt-in subscription (as seen on iOS) is S$6.99/month or S$69.99 for 12 months (averaging S$5.83/month). 

You can learn more about Trend Micro Check from its official website here.

Expensive? Not more than the scams themselves 

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Depending on the person, ~S$6/month may be too much (or too little?) to spend where extra vigilance suffices, so here’s some tissue-paper math to better understand why cybersecurity companies think they can charge for seemingly essential protections. 

Singaporean scam victims lost S$385.6 million — a record high — in the first half of 2024, with predictions putting the total amount at S$770 million by the end of 2024. 

H1 2024 reportedly saw 26,587 scam victims, which works out to an average of S$14,503+ lost per victim. However, we know not all scams are equal in methods or payouts.

On average, investment scams in Singapore snare S$40,000 from each victim, and government impersonation scams get S$116,500 per victim. These numbers are based on reported scam types and incidences in Singapore.

Deciding whether S$6/month is too much to pay for peace of mind depends on the individual for whom you’re getting the plan. In the case of government impersonation victims, the money lost to scams could’ve given them 19,416 months of Trend Micro Check, which works out to 1,618 years (not including the 30-day trial). 

Surf safely.

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