Apple Added A New Scam Prevention Feature With iOS 27

Apple’s iOS 27 software update is here, and it’s available for a ton of iPhones and not just the brand-new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. It includes a number of new features, and one of them is a new anti-scam feature that could be really helpful.

The new Impersonation Risk Detection feature is disabled by default. But when enabled, it could help protect people from sharing sensitive information with scammers.

Impersonation Risk Detection is designed to make it easier for people to identify when a third party is pretending to be their bank or other financial institution in an attempt to gain information from them. Apple’s support website says that it’s all about avoiding social engineering scams, the kind that can ruin people’s lives.

Impersonation Risk Detection helps protect against active social engineering scams. In these scams, an attacker might pose as a bank, government agency, or someone you trust to pressure or guide you into making a payment or changing your account details. Traditional security measures like two-factor authentication can’t always detect this kind of scam. That’s because you’re taking the action, even though you’ve been tricked or pressured.

Impersonation Risk Detection analyzes information about your device and Apple Account to help detect signs of an active scam. Based on this analysis, it returns a risk level to the app. The app receives only the risk level, not the underlying information used to generate it. The app decides what to do next. For example, it might ask you to verify your identity, add a delay, or show a warning.

The feature can be enabled via the Privacy & Security section of the Settings app and will warn people if a risk is detected. However, it’s only compatible with specific apps — and Apple hasn’t yet said which apps they are.