Commonwealth Bank has launched a sophisticated counter-offensive against scammers by deploying thousands of AI-powered bot profiles equipped with Australian accents to engage and disrupt criminal networks. The major bank is fighting scammers with bots that talk back with Aussie accents, turning the table on scammers through a fleet of AI-generated bot profiles designed to engage with and disrupt criminal networks. The bots have been developed by Apate.ai, a cyber-intelligence company originating from Macquarie University, and are engineered to interact with scammers, collect vital intelligence, and disrupt fraudulent operations.
The initiative represents a strategic shift in anti-scam tactics, with the bots designed to waste scammers’ time through lengthy, go-nowhere conversations that tie up their resources and gather critical intelligence. These AI-bots are engineered to engage scammers, gather critical intelligence and disrupt scam operations with near real-time scam intelligence harnessed by CommBank to safeguard both customers and the wider Australian community. The expanded bot network follows a successful pilot program announced by Macquarie University in late 2024, demonstrating the effectiveness of this honeypot strategy in combating fraudulent activities.
The deployment comes amid escalating scam losses across Australia, with Australians losing nearly $119 million to scams in the first four months of 2025, despite a drop in overall reports, with financial losses rising 28% from early 2024. Australians lost more than $2 billion to scammers in 2024 through investment, romance and other scams, highlighting the urgent need for innovative technological defenses. The bank’s approach of “flipping the script” on scammers represents a proactive shift from traditional defensive measures to actively disrupting criminal operations before they can target legitimate victims.