Email scams have evolved over the years, with phishing emails now being sent at a staggering rate of nearly 3.4 billion per day. To combat this, Gmail is introducing a new feature on its mobile platform that will verify senders and help users distinguish between legitimate emails and potential scams with a simple checkmark.
This feature, already available on the Gmail desktop website, is a welcome addition for the over half of users who access their accounts via the mobile app. It utilizes a standard called Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) to ensure that emails from verified senders are less likely to be malicious.
In order to qualify for BIMI and VMC, senders must have their brand logo and domain verified by a third party. This stringent process makes it difficult for bad actors to pass inspection, ensuring that emails with these marks can be trusted.
Gmail is also rolling out support for Common Mark Certificates (CMC). If a sender lacks a trademark, they won’t receive VMC, but can still qualify for BIMI. In such cases, the brand avatar will appear without the verified checkmark.
Users can expect to see these verification icons on the official Gmail app in the coming weeks, across both iOS and Android platforms. Third-party email platforms like Apple Mail or Outlook will not display these icons or checkmarks.
If you are unable to view the update, ensure that you are using the latest version of the Gmail app and be patient as the rollout may take some time to reach all users.
