Australian startup Apate.ai deploys thousands of undercover AI agents that masquerade as victims to answer scam calls, respond to shady messages, follow phishing links, and bait fraudsters. Founded in 2024 following research at Macquarie University, the company uses these agents to keep scammers engaged long enough to waste their time and extract valuable intelligence. The fleet has wasted 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations while gathering critical details such as bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, and malicious websites.
Apate feeds this intelligence to its customer base of banks, telecom companies, government agencies, and utilities, helping them improve their anti-fraud measures and initiatives. The AI agents are powered by both frontier models and fine-tuned models trained on conversations with scammers and foundational Macquarie University research. This proactive approach allows organizations to gather actionable data before potential victims are targeted, shifting the defense strategy from reactive blocking to direct engagement.
The rise of automated scam-baiting arrives as artificial intelligence increasingly empowers cybercriminals, with the FBI receiving more than 22,000 complaints of AI-related crimes resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. By automating the human hobby of stringing scammers along, Apate turns the tables on fraudsters using conversational AI. Why it matters: This proactive intelligence gathering helps financial institutions and telecom providers disrupt criminal operations before end-users suffer financial harm.