Australian cybersecurity firm Apate.ai – a synthetic “victim” designed to waste the scammer’s time and gather insights into the scam process.
A scammer makes a call, believing he is about to trick another victim using a practiced script, possibly impersonating a bank representative, a broadband technician, or a courier verifying a questionable purchase. On the other end is someone who appears confused yet willing to engage, stumbling over technical jargon or posing questions.
Unbeknownst to the scammer, he is actually speaking to an artificial intelligence bot developed by the Australian cybersecurity firm Apate.ai – a synthetic “victim” designed to waste the scammer’s time and gather insights into the scam process.
Apate.ai utilizes the same technology that scammers employ to mislead their targets, aiming to transform AI into a defensive tool that disrupts fraudsters while safeguarding potential victims, according to media reports.
One of the company’s primary tools, Apate Voice, creates realistic phone personas that imitate human behavior, featuring diverse accents, age ranges, and personalities. Some personas may sound knowledgeable yet distracted, while others come across as confused or overly talkative.
These AI personas interact in real-time, engaging with scammers to prolong the conversation, disarm them, and gather crucial information about scam operations.
Additionally, Apate Text addresses fraudulent messages, and Apate Insights analyzes data from these interactions, identifying tactics, impersonated brands, and specific scam elements such as bank accounts or phishing links.
Apate’s technology can identify legitimate calls versus potential scams in under ten seconds. If a call is mistakenly flagged, it is promptly redirected back to the telecommunications provider.
With a small team, Apate.ai, based in Sydney, aims for a global impact. Co-founded by Professor Dali Kaafar, head of cybersecurity at Macquarie University, the concept originated during a family outing that was interrupted by a scam call, leading to the idea of using AI to fight back.
The startup, consisting of only 10 employees, has formed partnerships with prominent organizations such as Australia’s Commonwealth Bank and is currently testing its services with a national telecom provider. Its technology is actively utilized in Australia, the UK, and Singapore, managing tens of thousands of calls and working alongside governments, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Chief commercial officer Brad Joffe says the goal is to be “the perfect victim”– convincing enough to keep scammers engaged, and smart enough to extract information.
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