--- title: Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they... description: Apate.ai, an Australian startup founded out of research at Macquarie University, deploys thousands of AI agents that pose as potential scam victims to engage... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence | daily.dev og:description: Apate.ai, an Australian startup founded out of research at Macquarie University, deploys thousands of AI agents that pose as potential scam victims to engage... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/S06gyJv8U.png og:image:alt: Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Apate.ai, an Australian startup founded out of research at Macquarie University, deploys thousands of AI agents that pose as potential scam victims to engage fraudsters in calls, texts, emails and social media. The agents, which mimic different ages, genders, accents and languages, try to extract bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers and malicious links from scammers before real victims are harmed. Customers including Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom use the resulting intelligence for anti-fraud efforts; the company says its agents have wasted 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations. Apate raised $8.15 million in seed funding in August and is a finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is Apate.ai and how does it use AI agents against scammers? Apate.ai is an Australian startup that deploys thousands of AI agents posing as potential victims to engage scammers across calls, texts, emails, and social media, extracting details like bank accounts, crypto wallets, and phishing sites before real people get hurt. Founded in 2024 from Macquarie University research, it has logged 2.5 million scammer conversations and wasted 17 years of scammers' time, serving customers like Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom. _Anyone tracking how AI is reshaping fraud prevention can follow developments like this on daily.dev._ ### How much money did AI-related scams cause in losses according to FBI data? The FBI received more than 22,000 complaints of AI-related crimes resulting in about $893 million in losses, with over $632 million coming from investment scams where fraudsters used AI to run conversations and deepfake voices or appearances of celebrities, executives, and trusted figures. _Developers building fraud-detection or security tooling can track this kind of threat data on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [SA start-up wants to put a padlock on your phone calls](https://daily.dev/posts/sa-start-up-wants-to-put-a-padlock-on-your-phone-calls-7g87voxpf) · TechCentral · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI-driven fraud far more profitable, Interpol warns](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-driven-fraud-far-more-profitable-interpol-warns-tmri6xhox) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Savi’s app aims to protect consumers from realistic AI scams like kidnappers demanding ransom](https://daily.dev/posts/savi-s-app-aims-to-protect-consumers-from-realistic-ai-scams-like-kidnappers-demanding-ransom-i77mro2md) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A gang stole £14,244 to buy AI chatbot credits. His bank spotted the first charge and let the rest happen.](https://daily.dev/posts/a-gang-stole-14-244-to-buy-ai-chatbot-credits-his-bank-spotted-the-first-charge-and-let-the-rest-h-ahrduksgs) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI-Assisted Phishing Campaign Harvesting Victim Data](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-assisted-phishing-campaign-harvesting-victim-data-nwz2lwx8c) · Cyble · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cyber](https://daily.dev/tags/cyber), [#startup](https://daily.dev/tags/startup), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#fraud-detection](https://daily.dev/tags/fraud-detection) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u"},"datePublished":"2026-10-14T18:01:36.975Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T18:02:04.703Z","description":"Apate.ai, an Australian startup founded out of research at Macquarie University, deploys thousands of AI agents that pose as potential scam victims to engage...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ed44494a45b15b78e51947c4ba908d3b?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ed44494a45b15b78e51947c4ba908d3b?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCrunch","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCrunch","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tc","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"cyber,startup,ai-agents,fraud-detection","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCrunch","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apate-sends-ai-agents-undercover-to-get-scammed-so-they-can-gather-fraud-intelligence-s06gyjv8u#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is Apate.ai and how does it use AI agents against scammers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Apate.ai is an Australian startup that deploys thousands of AI agents posing as potential victims to engage scammers across calls, texts, emails, and social media, extracting details like bank accounts, crypto wallets, and phishing sites before real people get hurt. Founded in 2024 from Macquarie University research, it has logged 2.5 million scammer conversations and wasted 17 years of scammers' time, serving customers like Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom. Anyone tracking how AI is reshaping fraud prevention can follow developments like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much money did AI-related scams cause in losses according to FBI data?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The FBI received more than 22,000 complaints of AI-related crimes resulting in about $893 million in losses, with over $632 million coming from investment scams where fraudsters used AI to run conversations and deepfake voices or appearances of celebrities, executives, and trusted figures. Developers building fraud-detection or security tooling can track this kind of threat data on daily.dev."}}]} ```