Australian firm Apate deploys 350k AI bots to stall scammers for hours, claims CEO
Apate uses human-like AI to impersonate victims, aiming to waste scammer resources and gather intelligence, though data remains vendor-reported.
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Australian cybersecurity firm Apate has deployed approximately 350,000 AI bots designed to answer scam calls and infiltrate fraud chat groups.
Traditional anti-fraud efforts rely on manual reporting or blacklists, struggling against automated dialing. Apate’s strategy is to create “perfect victims,” with AI simulating realistic user hesitation, skepticism, and occasional hang-ups to keep scammers engaged.
According to CEO Dali Kaafar, the bots have collected over 250,000 pieces of real-time fraud intelligence, including scam URLs and money mule accounts. WIRED journalists testing a demo found the AI responded naturally, but the claim that calls often last over two hours remains unverified by independent audits.
The system serves banks and telecom partners, increasing local costs for scammers but failing to halt the overall expansion of global digital fraud.