Fake AI ‘Victims’ Are Scam-Baiting 600,000 Fraudsters Every Month
Australian tech firm Apate deploys 200,000 AI-powered bots globally to impersonate gullible scam victims, wasting millions of hours of fraudsters' time monthly and gathering intelligence.
Intelligence analysis by Gemini 2.5 Flash
Apate's AI bots engage online fraudsters in lengthy conversations, acting as 'scam bait' to prevent them from targeting real people. This innovative approach not only saves potential victims money but also extracts valuable intelligence, including crypto wallet addresses, for banks and telcos to combat scam rings.
Imagine a bunch of clever computer programs pretending to be people who are easy to trick. These programs talk to bad guys who try to steal money online, but instead of getting tricked, the programs just waste the bad guys' time. It's like a superhero robot playing dumb to keep the villains busy, so they can't bother real people, and also secretly learning their tricks.
Analysis
Apate's Innovative Approach
Apate, an Australian tech firm, has pioneered a novel strategy in the fight against online fraud by deploying a vast network of AI-powered bots. These bots are designed to impersonate gullible scam victims, engaging fraudsters in lengthy conversations across various platforms, including phone calls, social media, and messaging apps. The primary objective is to waste scammers' valuable time, thereby preventing them from targeting genuine individuals and saving potential victims millions of dollars.
The company's sophisticated AI characters are capable of holding convincing interactions, mimicking human speech patterns, vocal tics, and even making noises associated with thinking. This realism is crucial for successfully stringing along experienced con artists, who might otherwise quickly detect an automated system. Apate's success is even measured by unique metrics, such as the number of expletives frustrated scammers direct at the seemingly inept bots, highlighting the effectiveness of their deception.
600,000 Scam Calls
The scale of Apate's operation is significant, as demonstrated by a recent engagement with an Australian telco, TPG. In just six weeks leading up to the end of 2025, Apate's bots participated in an astounding 600,000 scam calls. This massive undertaking resulted in over 500 days of scammers' time being wasted, which the company estimates translates to approximately $13 million in potential savings for the public.
Beyond merely occupying fraudsters, these AI "victims" also serve as intelligence-gathering assets. They are programmed to extract actionable information, such as new crypto wallet addresses and scamming methodologies, before any actual financial damage occurs. This intelligence is then shared with banks and telecommunication companies across Australia, Asia, Africa, the UK, and Europe, providing crucial data to combat organized scam rings more effectively.
Dali Kaafar's Vision
The genesis of Apate's innovative approach can be traced back to its founder, Dali Kaafar, who conceived the idea after personally experiencing a scam call in 2021. During this incident, Kaafar, then a professor at Macquarie University, deliberately prolonged the call for 44 minutes, pretending to be a naive victim. This experience not only provided entertainment for his children but also yielded valuable insights into scammer tactics.
Recognizing the potential for technology to scale this "scam baiting" technique, Kaafar collaborated with his doctoral students specializing in AI and security. Their initial research, funded by the Office of National Intelligence, quickly evolved into the formation of Apate in 2023. The company now collaborates with major financial institutions and telcos globally, leveraging AI to turn the tables on cybercriminals by exploiting their greed and wasting their resources.
Key points
- Apate deploys 200,000 AI bots globally to act as fake scam victims.
- These bots waste millions of hours of fraudsters' time, preventing real scams.
- In six weeks, Apate's bots engaged in 600,000 scam calls for an Australian telco, saving an estimated $13 million.
- The AI bots gather actionable intelligence, including new crypto wallet addresses, for banks and telcos.
- The initiative was founded by Dali Kaafar after a personal scam call experience and is now funded by the Office of National Intelligence.
This innovative use of AI offers a promising defense against online fraud, significantly reducing the time scammers have to target real victims and potentially saving millions of dollars. The intelligence gathered on scammer tactics and crypto wallets can also bolster the efforts of law enforcement and financial institutions in dismantling criminal networks.
While effective, scammers may eventually adapt their strategies to detect or bypass these AI bots, requiring continuous evolution of the scam-baiting technology. There's also a risk that highly sophisticated scammers could potentially learn from the bots' responses, refining their own methods to be even more convincing against human targets.
