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Virgin Media O2 Deploys AI Decoy To Waste Scammers' Time (pcmag.com)

(Friday November 15, 2024 @11:52AM (msmash) from the pushing-the-limits dept.)


British telecom Virgin Media O2 has deployed an AI tool to [1]combat phone scammers by wasting their time with fake conversations, the company said. The AI system, named Daisy, uses voice synthesis to mimic an elderly woman and engages fraudsters in lengthy discussions about fictitious family members or provides false bank details, keeping them occupied for up to 40 minutes per call.

Virgin Media O2 embedded phone numbers connected to Daisy within scammer call lists targeting vulnerable individuals. The system, developed with help from anti-scam YouTuber Jim Browning, automatically transcribes incoming calls and generates responses without human intervention.

Further reading : [2]Google Rolls Out Call Screening AI To Thwart Phone Fraudsters .



[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/this-ai-granny-bores-scammers-to-tears

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/11/14/1650231/google-rolls-out-call-screening-ai-to-thwart-phone-fraudsters



Daisy and Lenny (Score:3)

by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

What a pair.

For those who don't know Lenny: [1]https://www.lennytroll.com/ [lennytroll.com]

[1] https://www.lennytroll.com/

Re: (Score:2)

by Monoman ( 8745 )

My first thought too

Doing this instead of IPv6 support (Score:1)

by xack ( 5304745 )

I hate being a Virgin Media customer, but stuck because the alternative is a 36 megabit connection from the old fttc network.

"provides false bank details" (Score:2)

by NettiWelho ( 1147351 )

Kitboga's bot is better, it was actually able to get valid bank details from scammers so their account can be shut down

so virgin media does bank fraud? (Score:2)

by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 )

so virgin media does bank fraud?

Re: so virgin media does bank fraud? (Score:2)

by ArmoredDragon ( 3450605 )

That wouldn't be fraud, it's notifying the bank(s) involved to flag the account as itself likely being used for fraudulent purposes, at the very least freezing the account (and the fraud activity) until a review is conducted. Basically put up a red flag that may lead to yet more red flags that gum up the fraudster's enterprise.

Banks (Score:4, Funny)

by JBMcB ( 73720 )

Kitboga goes the extra mile and creates fake bank web sites. He has the scammers enter in their bank details themselves, which then gets forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

My favorite videos are the sisyphean-level captcha setups he has the scammers jump through to access his fake bank or bitcoin wallet. At the beginning they are clicking on the pictures of stairs. At the end they are solving differential equations, answering obscure trivia questions about bacteria, and guessing pantone codes for color swatches.

To all the naysayers (Score:2)

by smooth wombat ( 796938 )

See, there is a good use for AI. Wasting scammers time is worth all the money put into AI.

Good-until the scammers use AI bots to call victim (Score:2)

by ZERO1ZERO ( 948669 )

What is the outcome when we have AI bots calling up people to scam them and then they end up speaking to AI bots designed to waste their time, will the scammers hit back with AI bots designed to pre-screen or detect AI scam bot timewasters. Where doe sit end. Will this recursion provide a new means of perpetual energy?

Re: (Score:2)

by ClickOnThis ( 137803 )

> What is the outcome when we have AI bots calling up people to scam them and then they end up speaking to AI bots designed to waste their time, will the scammers hit back with AI bots designed to pre-screen or detect AI scam bot timewasters. Where doe sit end. Will this recursion provide a new means of perpetual energy?

I suppose that could happen, but we're safe for now because that kind of AI requires expensive support.

This is an arms race. Both sides will improve their methods, but my hope is that the crooks will always be behind.

Comcast Support? (Score:2)

by gkelley ( 9990154 )

Whenever I contact Concast for support I'm pretty sure I'm talking to a bot.

Re: (Score:2)

by The-Ixian ( 168184 )

The fact that you can't tell is somewhat impressive, if you think about it.

\o/ (Score:1)

by easyTree ( 1042254 )

How is this new? Anyone who's used customer service for the past decade knows Daisy well.

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