Enable This Secret iOS 27 Feature to Help Protect Against Scams

When Apple released iOS 27 in September, everyone’s attention went to the new Siri AI, the splashiest feature of the new OS. However, Apple also introduced smaller features, such as Impersonation Risk Detection, which can help protect against certain scams that bypass traditional safeguards, including two-factor authentication.

The tool protects against active social engineering scams, which try to scoop up money or account information by posing as trusted entities, such as your bank or a government agency. Impersonation Risk Detection analyzes factors such as interaction patterns, timing and context to indicate one of three risk levels:

• Unknown: There’s no evidence or detection of suspicious activity. This doesn’t mean the action is confirmed safe.
• Medium: The action shows some signs of suspicious activity.
• High: There are significant signs of suspicious activity.

The analysis happens on-device, which means your personal data is never sent to Apple or the app you’re using. The app — not Apple — receives only the determined threat level and can decide any necessary actions to take. Based on the risk level, the app might show a warning, add a delay or ask you to verify your identity.

Here’s how to enable Impersonation Risk Detection for an extra layer of scam protection. But note that it’s only available in supported apps, so it won’t work with everything.

How to enable Impersonation Risk Detection

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Privacy & Security. 
3. Tap Impersonation Risk Detection.
4. Enable the Share with App Developers toggle.

CNET/Apple

After enabling or disabling this toggle, Apple notes it can take up to 24 hours for the feature to activate or deactivate. That delay serves as a barrier against scammers who might tell people to turn off the feature so they can keep their schemes moving. Once the feature is active, you can return to this menu and see which apps have requested a risk assessment and why.

This feature won’t catch everything, so you should stay vigilant. For example, if someone wants you to turn this feature off, they could be trying to scam you. 

CNET/Apple

If you find yourself bombarded with constant requests to verify your identity, or you want to turn off the feature for any other reason, just toggle off the Share with App Developers option. You can also disable access to individual apps by following the above steps, tapping the individual app and then tapping the toggle next to the app.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 27 and what iOS 27.0.1 fixes on your device.

Senior writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him hanging out with his wife, son and dog. You can reach him at zmcauliffe@cnet.com. See full bio