Apate Deploys 200,000 AI Bots to Combat Global Scammers

Australian tech firm Apate has deployed nearly 200,000 AI-powered personas designed to engage in large-scale scam baiting. These bots mimic human vocal tics and accents to waste the time of online fraudsters and extract actionable intelligence across phone calls, social media, and messaging platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram.

In a six-week period ending in 2025, the company's bots engaged in 600,000 scam calls for the Australian telecommunications company TPG. Apate estimates this operation saved approximately $13 million by wasting over 500 days of scammers' time. Beyond disruption, the bots collect data on bank account marketplaces and crypto wallets to assist banks and telecommunications companies across Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United Kingdom in combating scam rings.

Founder Dali Kaafar stated that while scammers are increasingly adopting AI, defensive AI bots possess a mathematical advantage in extracting intelligence from attackers. The project received initial research funding from the Office of National Intelligence.