Trend Micro launches AI-powered app to help combat Singapore's growing scam problem

New mobile app for consumers addresses rising concerns as more than 4 in 5 Singaporeans worry about family members falling victim to scams

SINGAPORE, Oct. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity, today announced the launch of Trend Micro Check, a multi-featured mobile app uniquely designed to help consumers identify potential scams and growing AI threats such as deepfakes. Trend Micro's one-of-a-kind AI-powered solution allows consumers to submit content such as messages, ads, or social media posts to help them quickly determine if it can be trusted or not, and will also help them verify if a live video call is a deepfake.

Tim Falinski, VP Consumer Business, AMEA at Trend: "Scams are at the top of the list of online threats to consumers, and AI has made it easy for cybercriminals to scam innocent people. While they take advantage of new technology to cause harm, we do the opposite. We are leading the race against these threats and working tirelessly to stay ahead of them with our own AI capabilities."

Scams have been a growing problem in Singapore, with victims losing S$651.8 million last year. A recent Trend Micro study of 1,020 Singaporean consumers revealed that 68% of respondents believed the volume and risk of online scams have gotten worse over the last year, and 85% stated they were worried a family member might become a victim of an online scam. In addition, 97% of consumers said they would take action if it would help protect themselves, their families, and others from the work of scammers. 

While 69% of respondents said they were somewhat or very confident they could identify online scams, 74% said they would still use an app that could help them quickly verify if an email, social media post, online ad, text message, or phone number was a scam.

"With more than $1 trillion lost by consumers worldwide to scams last year, more must be done to protect them" said Jorij Abraham, Managing Director of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. "As our first Foundation Partner, Trend Micro is clearly committed to stopping this problem by delivering tools like the AI-powered capabilities in Trend Micro Check, and by supporting and participating in the important work we do. We applaud Trend's dedication to this cause and their technical leadership in using AI against the misuse of AI."

Online scammers have been successful in part because AI tools allow them to create deceptive content that in turn elicits an emotional response from consumers. With a tool like Trend Micro Check, consumers can proactively block scams before seeing them, receive real-time alerts about scams before they can do harm, and most importantly, easily and instantly verify if something is a scam before they can be deceived by it. The app offers a powerful and unique set of features including:

•  Scam Check: AI-powered tool providing real-time assessment of the likelihood that content (e.g. social ad, text or email message, website URL or more) is a scam. The tool returns an easy-to-understand summary of the potential security concerns, along with recommended actions.
•  Deepfake Scan: Identifies potential AI "face-swapping" scam attempts during live video calls.
•  SMS Filter: Automatically filters out spam and scam text messages before it hits the inbox.
•  Web Guard: Blocks risky websites and filters out suspicious ads.

Trend Micro Check is now available to download for iOS and Android devices in select countries. For additional details about Trend Micro Check, including device requirements and feature and language availability, visit https://www.trendmicro.com/tmcheck.

As part of its mission to fight back against online scams, Trend Micro will also be Chairing the Cybersecurity Scam Prevention and Investigations track at the Global Anti-scam Alliance Summits in Singapore on October 21-22, and in Washington D.C. on November 12-13, 2024. For more information or to register for the summits, visit: https://www.gasa.org/all-events.

About Trend Micro 
Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's AI-powered cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organisations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, Trend's platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimised for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 70 countries, Trend Micro enables organisations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.TrendMicro.com.