Apate sends AI agents undercover to collect scam intelligence
Sorted AI16 OctAustralian startup Apate deploys thousands of AI agents that pretend to be victims: they answer scam calls, reply to shady messages, follow phishing links, and join social groups. The company says its agents have wasted 17 years of scammers' time across 2.5 million conversations, and try to pull bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, and fake sites before a real customer is hit. Customers include Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom. Apate says TPG diverted nearly 590,000 calls to its agents, Commonwealth saw a 76% drop in publicly reported scam losses, and an unnamed Australian bank used outbound agents to disrupt 22 scam campaigns. It raised $8.15 million in seed funding in August and is pitching at TechCrunch Disrupt.
Why it matters: If you run a bank, telco, or utility fraud desk, undercover agents that gather IOCs before customers lose money are a different play than after-the-fact number blocking. Ask vendors for diversion and loss numbers, not just demo call recordings.
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