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Topics: Phones, Technology, UK News, Artificial Intelligence, Business
Joe Yates
Topics: Phones, Technology, UK News, Artificial Intelligence, Business
People deal with scammers in different ways, some hurl abuse down the phone, others code an AI tool to disguise themselves as an 'elderly grandmother' - but whatever way you do, it's important to have fun with it.
Fraudsters who cold call your phone have to be some of the worst people on the planet, to put it nicely - they're blood-sucking parasites.
O2 is the epic phone company, hailing from the UK, to have created a genius AI tool designed at simply wasting scammer's time.
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It might sound weird hearing that a digital communications company has gone after the pirates who try and coerce your loved ones to transfer thousands of pounds to their offshore accounts, but following a recent survey, they decided to do just that.
Having asked Brits whether they wished to get back at these crooks who persistently dial us up, seven out of 10 people said that they would like to but that they simply don't have the time.
So, the British telecoms service put it on itself to create a 'scambaiter' tool, having worked with some of the best professional scambaiters in the world - people who work to disrupt scammer networks and call sites.
Hilariously, the AI tool, which has been dubbed 'Daisy', mimics the voice of an 'elderly grandmother' and since being rolled out has been a huge success. 'Daisy' has managed to keep vermin on the line for as long as 40 minutes - as its aim is to waste their resources so scammers have less time to target people.
Director of fraud Murray MacKenzie, of Virgin Media O2, said: “We’re committed to playing our part in stopping the scammers, investing in everything from firewall technology to block out scam texts to AI-powered spam call detection to keep our customers safe.
“The newest member of our fraud-prevention team, Daisy, is turning the tables on scammers – outsmarting and outmanoeuvring them at their own cruel game simply by keeping them on the line.
“But crucially, Daisy is also a reminder that no matter how persuasive someone on the other end of the phone may be, they aren’t always who you think they are.
“With scammers operating full-time call centres specifically to target Brits, we’re urging everyone to remain vigilant and help play their part in stopping fraud by forwarding on dodgy calls and texts to 7726 for free.”
Taking to Reddit, people shared their views on the flagship scambaiter program.
One person joked: "By 2030 90% of phone calls will be AI scambots talking to AI grandmothers."
While another wrote: "Fight fire with fire."
And a third penned: "Looks like I'm staying with O2 when I renew, f*** scammers."