{
  "id": 14625295,
  "title": "AI bots waste 17 years of scammers' time on 2.5 million fake conversations",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/ai-bots-waste-17-years-of-scammers-time-on-2-5-million-fake",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-15T05:35:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/technology/media/ai-bots-waste-17-years-of-scammers-time-on-25-million-fake-conversations-1.500711268"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An Australian company, Apate, claims its artificial intelligence bots have consumed the equivalent of 17 years of scammers' time by engaging in lengthy conversations with fraudulent callers and responders. The bots, powered by AI, have conducted 2.5 million interactions with suspected scammers. The concept was sparked when Apate's founder, Dali Kaafar, engaged in a 44-minute conversation with a scammer during a family picnic. This incident inspired research at Macquarie University and the establishment of Apate in 2024. Apate's bots are designed to convincingly mimic human behavior, engaging scammers through phone calls, messages, emails, phishing links, and online groups. They aim to occupy scammers long enough to gather valuable information such as phone numbers, bank account details, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and fraudulent websites. This information is then relayed to banks, telecommunications companies, and other entities to aid in identifying and disrupting scams. Australian telecommunications provider TPG has redirected nearly 590,000 suspicious calls to Apate's AI agents, while the company collaborates with Commonwealth Bank of Australia and other organizations. Apate asserts that its technology has enabled clients to identify fraud operations before customers suffer monetary losses. The AI bots are crafted to maintain the believability of the conversation, sometimes prolonging interactions until scammers provide useful information about their operations. Scammers occasionally become agitated and curse at the bots, which can be a positive sign for Apate, indicating the effectiveness of their approach. This innovative solution flips the traditional use of AI, instead of targeting victims, the technology now consumes scammers' time and gathers evidence of their methods.",
  "summary": "Dubai: An Australian technology company says its artificial intelligence bots have wasted the equivalent of 17 years of scammers’ time by answering fraudulent calls and messages while pretending to be potential victims. The company, Apate, has deployed AI agents that engage criminals in lengthy conversations, ask questions and gather information about how scams operate. Get updated faster and for…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}