Australia’s CommBank is taking action against scammers by introducing a fleet of thousands of AI-generated bot profiles aimed at engaging with and disrupting criminal networks that target consumers.
The AI bots, developed by Apate.ai—a cyber-intelligence firm spun out from Macquarie University—are designed to combat the rising use of AI by scammers to exploit Australians. “This is about flipping the script,” states James Roberts, CommBank’s general manager of group fraud. “While scammers engage with a bot, they aren’t targeting an Australian. The near real-time intelligence gathered is transformative in our efforts to protect customers and the wider community.”
When scammers initiate contact via calls or texts, the bots engage them in extended conversations, collecting intelligence that feeds real-time insights into CommBank’s scam control systems and the broader anti-scam ecosystem.
Professor Dali Kaafar, CEO and founder of Apate.ai, explains, “Our system is based on a ‘Honeypot’ strategy. In partnership with telco providers, we operate a vast network of dedicated phone numbers designed specifically to attract scammers. When a scammer contacts these numbers, they are met with AI-powered bots rather than real individuals.”
The bots are intentionally crafted to evade detection, making them highly effective for intelligence gathering and disrupting scam operations. Each bot features diverse identities—varying in gender, age, tone, and cultural nuances—and is tuned with Australian slang and humor to enhance realism.
This bot network follows a successful pilot program conducted with Macquarie University in late 2024. “Since the pilot’s announcement, we have seen an expansion in both scale and sophistication,” notes Roberts. “Hundreds of thousands of scam calls have been diverted to bots, providing valuable intelligence that generates near real-time alerts and protective blocks for CommBank customers.”