Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence

An Australian startup deploys thousands of AI agents that pose as potential scam victims, answering fraudulent calls, responding to malicious messages, and following phishing links to gather intelligence on scammers. The agents collect information that scammers typically only reveal after successfully defrauding real people, such as bank accounts, crypto wallets, and malicious websites, which the startup then shares with customers including banks, telecom companies, and government agencies to improve their anti-fraud defenses. This approach matters because AI has significantly increased scam and fraud activity, with the FBI receiving over 22,000 complaints of AI-related crimes in 2025 that resulted in substantial financial losses. The concept emerged from research at a university and was inspired by the startup's founder's personal experience of deliberately prolonging a scam call, leading him to consider automating the process to waste scammers' time while gathering useful data.