Introducing Live Shield: Help During a Suspicious Conversation

An unexpected caller says you owe money and must pay immediately. You are trying to listen, decide whether the story makes sense, and remember what to do next. That is a lot to handle at once.

Live Shield is a feature in Vision by STOPTHESCAM that can help you notice pressure tactics during a conversation. You choose when to start it. It listens through your iPhone's microphone, turns speech into text on the device, and looks for phrases associated with scam tactics. If it finds a match, it can show you what it heard and offer guidance.

A warning is a reason to pause and check, not proof that someone is a scammer. And hearing no warning does not mean a conversation is safe. You remain in charge of what happens next.

When Live Shield can help

Imagine a call coming through on a landline or a second phone. The caller says you must buy gift cards to fix an urgent problem. You can start Live Shield on your iPhone and place it near the other phone's speaker. It can also listen to a conversation in the room.

Live Shield looks for known phrases associated with tactics such as demands for gift cards, threats, secrecy, or requests for remote access to a device. It may show matching phrases under “What Vision heard,” along with a suggestion about what to do. These phrases are not necessarily the exact words spoken. Speech recognition can make mistakes, and a phrase can have an innocent explanation, so read the warning in context.

You don't need to keep a caller talking to get a result. If a conversation feels wrong, you can end it at any time. Take the time you need to check the story independently.

How to start and stop

On a supported device, open Vision and choose the Live Shield tab. Tap Start listening, then place the iPhone near the conversation you want to check. The app may ask for microphone and speech recognition permission. If you don't want to use the feature, you can leave it off.

Watch the screen for what Vision hears. If it identifies a tactic, read the words and guidance before deciding what to do. If the screen says it is listening but nothing suspicious has been found, that is not a guarantee that the conversation is safe.

When you are finished, tap Stop listening. The findings and transcript remain on screen so you can read them. To remove them, tap Clear this session; starting a new session also clears the previous one. Check that listening has stopped when you are done, especially if you have put your phone down or moved to another app.

An important limit for iPhone calls

Live Shield is not designed to listen in on a phone call taking place on the same iPhone. An active call can take control of the microphone and interrupt Live Shield. If that happens, the app shows an interruption notice; listening does not simply resume without your action.

For a call on a landline or another phone, you can place the iPhone running Vision near that phone's speaker. Make sure the conversation is audible to the iPhone. If Live Shield is unavailable or cannot hear clearly, you can still hang up and check the situation yourself.

What happens to the conversation?

Live Shield is designed to process speech and match tactics on your device rather than upload the audio. Its transcript is held in memory, and the app does not save the audio as a recording file. As noted above, stopping leaves the findings visible until you clear the session or start another one.

On devices where it is available, an additional on-device feature may provide a plain-language explanation. That explanation requires iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence; the basic tactic matching does not depend on it. If the device cannot transcribe speech on the device, Live Shield is unavailable rather than sending the audio to a server.

Let other people in the room know before you turn on the microphone. They may not expect a phone to be listening, even when the conversation is being processed on the device.

What to do after a warning

Suppose a caller claims to be from your bank and asks you to move money immediately. You can say, “I'm going to check this and call back.” Hang up, then call the number on the back of your bank card or another number you already know belongs to the bank. Don't use a number the caller gives you for this check.

Don't share a password or one-time sign-in code, and don't send money just because someone says the matter is urgent. If you would like a second opinion, ask a trusted family member or friend. You can talk through the warning together without giving them control of your accounts.

If you have already sent money or shared account information, contact your bank or the relevant provider using a trusted number. Our guide on what to do if a senior falls for a scam has more recovery steps. For a broader look at suspicious calls, see how to spot phone scams targeting seniors.

Live Shield can give you another prompt to slow down. Whether or not it shows a warning, it is always okay to end a conversation and check before you act.