AI is fighting back against scammers by wasting their time

The ultimate troll

If you're tired of those non-stop scam calls and texts, there might finally be some good news. While cybercriminals are using AI to supercharge their scams, security companies are fighting fire with fire. Enter Apate, an Australian startup that’s literally building an army of AI bots to act as the "perfect victims."

Instead of just hanging up, these bots keep scammers on the line as long as possible. The goal is simple: a minute spent talking to a bot is a minute where a scammer isn't out there tricking real people. According to Dali Kaafar, founder and CEO of Apate, the company is already running around 350,000 bots that don't just pick up calls, but also infiltrate scammer chat groups.

Why it works

These bots are designed to be frustratingly human. They have different personalities, language profiles, and even behaviors like "hanging up to call back later" to keep the scammers engaged. Apate claims that these calls can sometimes last over two hours.

It’s not just about wasting time, though. While the scammer is busy trying to close the deal, the AI is gathering major intel—collecting everything from scam URLs to specific bank details and money mule accounts. So far, they’ve gathered over 250,000 pieces of data on fraudsters in real-time.

The honeypot upgrade

Beyond phone scams, AI is upgrading "honeypots," which are fake virtual machines used to trick hackers. Mark Vero, a researcher at ETH Zurich, found that by adding LLMs to these traps, attackers (even AI agents) stay engaged with the system much longer than they would with traditional, predictable traps. It’s basically a high-tech game of cat and mouse where the trap is becoming way more convincing.

Why it matters

Real talk: this won't stop your phone from buzzing with spam immediately, but it’s a total W for cybersecurity. By using AI to troll scammers and exploit their psychological vulnerabilities, researchers are finally making it more expensive and time-consuming for criminals to do their jobs. It’s giving main character energy to the defenders for once.