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

An Australian startup called Apate deploys thousands of artificial intelligence agents that masquerade as victims to bait fraudsters. Founded in 2024 based on research at Macquarie University, the company aims to waste criminals' time and extract intelligence before real people are hurt. The startup’s system uses frontier models and fine-tuned models to answer scam calls, reply to shady emails, follow phishing links, and join social media groups.

Apate states that its agent fleet has wasted 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations. The bots pretend to be people of various ages, genders, languages, and accents to keep criminals engaged. Customers including banks, telecom companies, utilities, and government agencies receive data gathered by the agents, such as bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, and malicious websites.

TPG Telecom has diverted nearly 590,000 calls to Apate, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported a 76% drop in public scam losses after working with the firm. Apate raised $8.15 million in seed funding in August, bringing its total funding to just under $10 million. The 20-person startup plans to use the capital for product development and international expansion, including opening a London office and building a U.S. presence.