Bipe and other apps against scams
Each app means something different by security. Signal guards your privacy. Telegram shows who is writing to you, but keeps the chat on its server. WhatsApp and iMessage have protections you need to turn on. RCS checks for scams, but your number is the account. Bipe wants you to know who you are talking to.
Summary
| Risk | Bipe | Signal | Telegram | iMessage | RCS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fake relative scam | Automatic | Restricted | Automatic | Automatic | Optional | Restricted |
| A contact's account taken over | Automatic | Not covered | Automatic | Restricted | Optional | Optional |
| Account cloning by SMS code | Automatic | Optional | Optional | Optional | Restricted | Not covered |
| Pix, boleto and receipt scams | Automatic | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted | |
| Your number on show | Automatic | Restricted | Automatic | Automatic | Optional | Not covered |
| Foreign law over your data | Automatic | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted |
Compare with each app
Signal
The reference for privacy. It protects the chat, but does not show who is on the other side.
Telegram
Shows a profile card of who writes to you. Normal chats sit on its server, not end-to-end encrypted.
iMessage
iPhone only. End-to-end encrypted, with an unknown-sender filter that starts off.
RCS
Built into the phone. Checks for scams with AI, but your number is the account.
Fake relative scam
On Bipe
People who are not in your contacts arrive as a request. Scam warnings are on from the start. With the seal, the verified name shows next to the person's name, and a scammer cannot copy it.
Message requests, Scam warnings
Coming soon: Verified seal, Is that really Mom?
On WhatsApp
A scam alert is in a limited test. You have to turn it on, and it checks only people who are not in your contacts.
On Signal
People not in your contacts arrive as a request. Since May 2026, the request says the name is not verified, because anyone can pick any name.
On Telegram
Since March 2025, a first message from a stranger shows a card: the number's country, when they joined, groups in common and when they changed photo or name. An account confirmed as spam is limited.
On iMessage
Since iOS 26, messages from unknown senders can go to their own folder. The filter starts off. In Brazil, you can silence notifications from unknown senders.
On RCS
Google Messages checks for scams with AI on the phone, on by default, in messages from people not in your contacts. Portuguese since February 2026, but Google does not say in which countries.
A contact's account taken over
On WhatsApp
The scam alert does not check messages from people in your contacts.
On Signal
When a contact gets a new phone or reinstalls the app, the chat says the safety number changed. If you had checked that contact, you must approve before you can send.
On Telegram
When the account signs in on a new device, the other devices ask if it was you. If nobody answers, the sign-in is accepted after a while.
On iMessage
With Contact Key Verification on for both people, the chat warns when a device Apple does not recognise joins the contact's account.
On RCS
You can check a contact's encryption keys with a QR code. The check can lapse when the contact gets a new phone or SIM.
Account cloning by SMS code
On Bipe
Bipe does not use SMS codes to sign in. Whoever takes your SIM does not get your account.
On WhatsApp
Your number is the account. Two-step verification and passkeys protect it, if you turn them on.
On Signal
The account is created with an SMS code. With Registration Lock on, your Signal PIN is also needed.
On Telegram
The sign-in code arrives by SMS or inside the app. Two-step verification and, since December 2025, passkeys protect it.
On iMessage
The Apple Account uses two-factor authentication, with a code on a trusted device or by SMS. You can require a physical security key.
On RCS
Your number is the account, confirmed by SMS.
Pix, boleto and receipt scams
On Bipe
A Pix code, Pix key, boleto or talk of a receipt in a message gets a warning that says what to do before you pay.
Coming soon: A pause before paying
On WhatsApp
The alert in test covers this too, only for people not in your contacts.
On Signal
Signal fights spam by how the sender behaves, such as reports, not by what the message says.
On iMessage
iOS 26 moves spam to a folder and turns off links in those messages. The filter runs on the iPhone.
On RCS
Scam detection covers job, delivery, fake bank, prize and investment scams, for people not in your contacts. Suspicious links are blocked.
Your number on show
On Bipe
You create the account without giving your number. People find you by your @, and nobody sees your number.
On WhatsApp
Usernames have been arriving slowly since June 2026. You still need a number to create an account.
On Signal
Usernames since 2024, and your number is hidden by default. You still need a number to create an account.
On Telegram
Your number shows only to people who saved it, and you can chat by @. You can even sign up without a SIM, with a number bought on Fragment.
On iMessage
You can choose whether iMessage uses your number or your email.
On RCS
RCS uses your phone number as your identity.
Foreign law over your data
On Bipe
Chats sit on servers in Brazil, run by Brazilian companies, and are end-to-end encrypted.
On WhatsApp
Meta is American. Under US law (the CLOUD Act), it hands the US government the data it holds, even outside the US, when asked. Chats are end-to-end encrypted.
On Signal
Signal is a US nonprofit. Under a court order, it says it has only the account creation date and the last connection.
On Telegram
The team is in Dubai. Normal chats are stored in data centres in several countries, without end-to-end encryption.
On iMessage
Apple is American and follows the same law (the CLOUD Act). Messages are end-to-end encrypted.
On RCS
Google is American and follows the same law (the CLOUD Act). Between Google Messages users, chats are end-to-end encrypted.
What Bipe cannot fix alone
Bipe protects only the chats that happen in Bipe. If your mother still uses WhatsApp, a scammer can write to her there. It works best when the family talks on Bipe. Then a request for money that arrives in another app stands out.
Where this comes from
Researched on 12 October 2026, from what each company published and the press reported. The apps change fast. We update this page when they do.
- Malwarebytes: WhatsApp is testing a new warning for scam messages (14 Aug 2026)
- Forbes Brasil: WhatsApp ganha recurso de detecção de golpes por IA em versão beta (Aug 2026)
- MacMagazine: Meta anuncia novas proteções contra golpes no WhatsApp (11 Mar 2026)
- Frances News: WhatsApp reforça proteção contra golpes e invasões (26 Aug 2026)
- Malwarebytes: Protect your WhatsApp account with new passkey and 2FA upgrades (Aug 2026)
- tbreak: WhatsApp's new safety overview helps catch group chat scams
- Anadolu: WhatsApp bans over 6.8M scam-linked accounts
- BleepingComputer: WhatsApp rolls out usernames to help users hide their phone number
- US Department of Justice: CLOUD Act resources
- Signal: Keeping spam off Signal
- Signal: Message requests
- Help Net Security: Signal adds phishing and social engineering protections (13 May 2026)
- Signal: Automatic key verification (Aug 2026)
- Signal support: Signal PIN
- Signal: Phone number privacy and usernames (2024)
- Signal: Government communication (court orders)
- Telegram API: action bar for chats with non-contacts
- Telegram: Star messages, Gateway 2.0 and more (Mar 2025)
- Telegram: Spam FAQ
- Telegram API: authorization and new login alerts
- Telegram FAQ
- Telegram: Passkeys (Dec 2025)
- Telegram: Verification
- Telegram: Ultimate privacy, numbers on Fragment (Dec 2022)
- Apple support: Screen unknown senders in Messages (iOS 26)
- Apple Newsroom: Apple helps safeguard users from scams and fraud (Oct 2025)
- Apple support: Contact Key Verification
- Apple support: Two-factor authentication
- Apple support: Security Keys for Apple Account
- Apple support: Stolen Device Protection
- Apple Security: iMessage with PQ3 (Feb 2024)
- Apple guide: Set up Messages on iPhone
- MacMagazine: Brasileiros que têm iPhone (Opinion Box, Jul 2025)
- Google: New AI-powered scam detection features (Mar 2025)
- Google: Strengthening Android's lead in scam protection (Feb 2026)
- Google: How Android protects you from scams (Oct 2025)
- Google Messages help: Spam protection
- Android help: Key Verifier
- Google Messages help: RCS chats
- Google Messages help: Verified business senders