Australian startup Apate.ai has raised $8.15 million in seed funding to expand its artificial intelligence platform that deploys AI agents posing as potential scam victims. The company says its agents have engaged scammers in more than 2.5 million conversations, consuming approximately 17 years of their time while collecting information that banks, telecommunications providers, and government agencies can use to prevent fraud.
According to Apate’s official funding announcement, the August investment round was led by Lobby Capital, with participation from OIF Ventures, Investible, Concept Ventures, and Baobab Ventures. The company has raised nearly $10 million in total and plans to expand internationally.
How Apate Uses AI Agents to Investigate Scams
Founded in 2024 based on research at Macquarie University in Sydney, Apate operates thousands of AI agents that communicate with suspected scammers through phone calls, text messages, emails, and online platforms. These agents adopt different identities, ages, genders, accents, and languages to maintain conversations and gather information about fraudulent operations.
The company’s platform combines frontier AI models with internally trained systems that learn from previous scam conversations. Its agents can also enter suspicious investment groups, respond to phishing messages, and follow malicious links to investigate potential fraud.
During interactions, the agents attempt to collect bank account numbers, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, phone numbers, fraudulent websites, and information about organizations being impersonated. Customers can access the findings through an intelligence dashboard or assign agents specific investigative tasks.
Founder and CEO Dali Kaafar developed the idea after keeping a suspected scam caller engaged for 44 minutes during a family picnic. He later researched ways to automate these interactions using machine learning and natural language processing.
Banks and Telecom Companies Deploy Apate’s Technology
Apate’s customers include Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom, alongside other utilities and government organizations. Co-founder and chief commercial officer Brad Joffe said TPG had redirected nearly 590,000 calls to Apate’s agents, while an unnamed Australian bank used the technology to disrupt 22 scam campaigns.
Joffe also reported that Commonwealth Bank had experienced a 76% decline in publicly reported scam losses, although he did not attribute the entire reduction to Apate. The company’s approach focuses on collecting intelligence before fraudulent transactions occur, rather than relying solely on blocking suspicious numbers or monitoring payments.
The technology addresses a problem documented in the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, which recorded 22,364 complaints involving AI-related crimes and approximately $893 million in reported losses. Investment scams accounted for more than $632 million of those losses, with fraudsters using AI-generated conversations and impersonations.
Apate Plans International Expansion
Apate currently employs approximately 20 people and plans to use its latest funding to develop its platform and establish a larger international presence. The company intends to open an office in London, expand its operations in the United States, and maintain its technology and research activities in Sydney.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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