Scam calls have become a major financial threat, costing Americans billions of dollars annually.
Romance scams, fake IRS calls, and phony purchase confirmations are just some of the tactics employed by fraudsters. But a new weapon is emerging in the fight back: Artificial Intelligence.
Lenny: The OG Scambaiter
9to5Mac described the "scambaiters" as unsung heroes who have long waged war on scam calls. What they aim to achieve is to frustrate the scammers.
Scambaiters leave scammers on the phone for as long as possible, limiting their ability to target other victims. In some cases, they even manage to acquire details of bank accounts used for laundering stolen money, facilitating their closure.
A popular scambaiting tool is "Lenny," a series of automated voice messages triggered when the scammer falls silent. Lenny's rambling monologues are surprisingly effective at keeping scammers engaged for extended periods.
Enter the AI Chatbot Army
Telecom companies are taking the fight to the next level with the deployment of AI chatbots - essentially advanced versions of Lenny. These chatbots, like "Ibrahim," engage scammers in conversation, pretending to be potential victims.
Ibrahim, for example, portrays a polite, cooperative man with an Egyptian accent. When contacted by a scammer, Ibrahim expresses uncertainty about any recent purchases, deflecting attempts to extract personal information with humor, per The Guardian.
Apate: Learning from Deception
Developed by Professor Dali Kaafar of Macquarie University, these chatbots operate under the banner "Apate," named after the Greek goddess of deception. Apate's purpose extends beyond wasting scammers' time. These AI systems actively gather intelligence on scam techniques, learning to identify and warn others about them. Additionally, Apate feeds valuable information to law enforcement agencies.
The Learning Loop: AI Refining Its Tactics
When a telecom company identifies a scam call and diverts it to Apate, the AI chatbot takes over, engaging the scammer in conversation.
Apate employs a variety of strategies, constantly testing and refining its approach to keep scammers on the line for extended periods. Through trial and error, Apate learns the most effective tactics, simultaneously collecting valuable data. This data includes the duration of the call, peak call times, the information scammers seek, and their preferred methods of persuasion.
A Final Note: Consumers Should Hang Up
While scambaiting can be entertaining, ordinary consumers are best advised to simply hang up when contacted by a suspected scammer. Reporting the call to your phone company or relevant authorities is a more constructive course of action.
The rise of AI chatbots represents a significant development in the fight against telephone scams. As these systems evolve, we can expect even more sophisticated techniques to be deployed, ultimately making it more difficult for scammers to succeed.
Meanwhile, Google introduced its own AI-powered scam call detector. However, it wasn't well-received by the users because of its privacy concerns.
