If you’ve been on the internet for a while, you know about scammers. These malicious individuals are looking to take advantage of unsuspecting users everywhere from emails to social media. To help prevent that from happening, Google just introduced verified emails for Gmail.
Think of the Twitter Blue situation. While real profiles had been verified for a while, the subscription service allowed any user to get the verified badge. This led to misleading people into thinking these were the official accounts. Google is going the opposite way. Until recently, there was no differentiation between mail gotten from real companies or pretenders. But, unlike Twitter, Google is actively introducing features for Gmail to make people know exactly whether the mail they get is real.
Brand indicators
Chances are, if you open your junk mail right now, there is going to be at least one mail promising you millions. In fact, I did just that and saw an email saying a deceased relative left me millions in his will. This kind of email is something most people will definitely ignore. However, when scammers pretend they are a big trusted company, users are more likely to fall for it.
The verified badge that Google recently added is an addition to the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) feature. BIMI introduced a layer of account verification where official companies get verified by a Certification Authority. Accounts that pass this verification get their logo in the avatar slot whereas unverified ones only get a letter or a generic avatar. Building on top of this would be the aforementioned verified badges on Gmail.
Google’s latest addition of the verified badge to Gmail is a promising tool against these scams. With this feature, users can more easily differentiate between legitimate emails from verified sources and potential frauds.
https://twitter.com/Kevin_Indig/status/1654562004365983748
As technology continues going forward, it is crucial to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves online. Google’s verified badge in Gmail is just one example of how we can stay ahead of malicious individuals and safeguard our personal information. This might not stop all scammers, but at least the ones pretending to be the big companies will have a harder time tricking people.
Photo credits: The feature image is symbolic and has been done by Mykola Pokhodzhay. The image used in the body of the article is owned by Google and has been provided for press usage. Meanwhile, the screenshot was taken by the author for TechAcute.
