Apate uses AI agents posing as victims to fight scams
What happened
On 15 October 2026, TechCrunch reported that Australian startup Apate.ai has deployed thousands of AI agents to pose as potential victims and engage scammers: answering scam calls, replying to suspicious messages and emails, clicking phishing links and joining social groups, in order to extract scammers' bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, malicious websites and impersonated brands, which it then provides to bank, telecom, government and utility clients. The report says these agents have consumed 17 years of scammers' time. The current development is the company disclosing this mode of operation and its results.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 1 d ago
Timeline
Follow the reports to see the event from each side.
- TechCrunch · AIApate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence
Most companies use AI agents to ship products faster or speed up workflows. Apate.ai sends them undercover to get scammed.
Heat of this event
Current heat 4·Peak in the comparable range 9（Oct 15 05:00）·Change over 24 hours in the comparable range -51%
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