Michaela
An AI-powered bot named Daisy is giving scammers a hard time by annoying them with persistent, frustrating conversations. Designed as a virtual grandma, Daisy has become an unexpectеd tool in the fight against fraudsters, turning the tables by wasting their time and disrupting their schemes.
O2, a British telecom provider, created Daisy at the end of last year to tackle phone fraud. Since its launch, Daisy has proven to be an effective tool in disrupting scams by engaging fraudsters in lengthy, unproductive conversations, helping to minimize their impact and highlight how AI can be used to fight back against such schemes.
The Guardian reports that the AI bot was created with the assistance of Jim Browning, a well-known “scam baiter” who is famous for wasting criminals’ time. Brоwning helped plant phone numbers on websites, particularly those promoting seemingly “too good to be true” competitions, where fraudsters were likely to find them. After a few days of anticipation, the expected scam calls finally began to flood in.
Daisy the virtual grandma was trained using actual scam call data to understand the deceptive tactics used by fraudsters. Instead of falling for these schemes, she replies with a clever combination of confusion and politeness.
In a sample call released by O2, when asked to download harmful software, Daisy might spend several minutes searching for her glasses, then recall how her grandson usually helps her navigate technology, leading to prolonged, unproductive conversations. By the end, the virtual grandma has already engaged these scammers in a 40-minute-long conversation about recipes and knitting.
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“You know, back in my day we didn’t have all this technology. Evеrything was much simpler. What about you, dear?” Daisy said. When the scammer would respond in anger, saying that her “profession is bothering people”, Daisy would respond by saying: “I wouldn’t want to bother anyone. I’m just trying to have a little chat.”
By the end, Daisy left scammers fuming and frustrated, as they found themselves stuck in 40-minute conversations about knitting and recipes, only to face their schemes fall apart.
Reports indicate that scammers have begun sharing Daisy’s number among their call centers, with each scammer attempting — аnd failing — to extract any valuable infоrmation from her.
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Simon Valcarcel, marketing director at Virgin Media O2, explained that the project’s primary goal was to raise awareness about phone fraud, rather than rolling out Daisy on to a larger scale.
While some scammers eventually realized they were speaking to an AI, future updates to Daisy could feature different accents, personalities, or even regional slang. These enhancements would make it harder for fraudsters to detect that they are interacting with a bot, improving Daisy’s effectiveness at wasting their time.
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MICHAELA
Michaela is a news writer focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain topics. She prioritizes rigorous research and accuracy to uncover interesting angles and ensure engaging reporting. A lifelong book lover, she applies her passion for reading to deeply explore the constantly evolving crypto world.
