Apate.ai, an Australian startup founded in 2024, uses thousands of AI agents to impersonate potential victims and engage scammers in conversations to collect fraud intelligence. The company has so far wasted 17 years of scammers’ time across 2.5 million conversations, gathering critical data for banks, telecom firms, government agencies, and utilities, according to techcrunch.com.
The AI agents deployed by Apate answer scam calls, respond to suspicious messages and emails, follow phishing links, and join social media groups to bait fraudsters. These agents simulate diverse profiles with different ages, genders, accents, and languages to keep scammers engaged long enough to extract information such as bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, and malicious websites. Apate then provides this intelligence to its customers to enhance their anti-fraud strategies, techcrunch.com reported.
Apate’s approach differs from typical AI use cases focused on speeding workflows or product delivery by actively infiltrating scam networks to extract actionable insights. The startup’s technology helps organizations detect and prevent fraud by revealing scammer tactics and infrastructure before victims are harmed. Apate was named a finalist at the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, underscoring its relevance in the fraud prevention sector, according to techcrunch.com.
Apate is presenting its technology to a panel of venture capital judges at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, held this week through October 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, where it aims to secure further investment and partnerships, techcrunch.com stated.