CommBank deploys AI-powered bots to fight scams

The bots engage scammers, gather intelligence, and disrupt scam operations, it said.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is making use of AI-powered bot profiles to fight against scams.

The Australian bank said that it has “a fleet of thousands of AI-powered both profiles” engineered to engage scammers, gather intelligence, and disrupt their scam operations.

These bots are deployed by Apate.ai, a cyber-intelligence firm that spun out from Macquarie University.

Every day, Apate.ai deploys thousands of conversational AI bots to disrupt scammers targeting unsuspecting Australians, via text-based conversations and voice calls.

This bot network follows a successful pilot program announced by Macquarie University in late 2024.

Apate.ai’s system is based on a “honeypot” system, said Dali Kaafar, CEO and founder of the company.

“In collaboration with our telco partners, Apate.ai operates a vast and constantly growing network of dedicated telephone numbers connected to the telcos networks and designed specifically to be discovered and targeted by scammers.

“When a scammer dials or messages one of these numbers, they actually engage in conversations with one of our AI-powered bots and not a person,” Kaafar said.