Apate Uses AI Agents to Go Undercover with Scammers and Gather Anti-Fraud Intelligence
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Australian startup Apate.ai, spun out of research at Macquarie University, deploys thousands of AI agents disguised as potential victims to proactively answer scam calls, respond to suspicious messages, and click on phishing links, gathering scam intelligence undercover. According to TechCrunch on October 15, 2026, these agents have collectively wasted about 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations. This is the only report on the incident so far, with no further developments disclosed.
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- TechCrunch · AIApate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence
Australian startup Apate.ai (born from Macquarie University research) deploys thousands of AI agents disguised as potential victims to answer scam calls, reply to suspicious messages and click phishing links; its agents have collectively wasted 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations.
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