Page 13 - IAV Digital Magazine #608

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AI Tool That Sounds Like A Grandmother CreatedToWastePhoneScammers’ Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_SdCfZ-0s
Story by Martyn Landi
Phone
giant O2 has cre- ated an AI tool that sounds like an elderly grand- mother and will keep phone scammers on calls and away from the general public.
The company said it had creat- ed the so-called “scambaiter” tool in response to research which found that seven
in 10 people wanted to get their own back on scammers, but did not want to waste their own time in doing so.
The firm said it had worked with leading scam- baiters – people who take on and disrupt scam-
mer networks – to get phone num- bers linked to its AI tool, known as Daisy, added to known lists used by scammers to target vulnerable
consumers, and had been given the voice of an elderly grand- mother to play on scammer biases about older peo- ple.
It said the tool had been suc- cessful in keeping numerous scam- mers on calls for up to 40 minutes at a time and frustrated them with meandering stories and expla- nations about their tech use, as well as providing
false personal information and made-up bank details.
O2 said that by tricking fraudsters into thinking they were scamming a real person, Daisy has pre- vented them from targeting real vic- tims, but had also exposed the com- mon tactics used so the firm can help customers better protect themselves.
Murray
MacKenzie, direc- tor of fraud at Virgin Media O2, said: “We’re com- mitted to playing our part in stop- ping the scam- mers, investing in everything from firewall technolo- gy to block out scam texts to AI- powered spam call detection to keep our cus- tomers 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 sim- ply by keeping them on the line.
“But crucially, Daisy is also a reminder that no matter how per- suasive 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 tar- get Brits, we’re urging everyone to remain vigilant
and help play their part in stop- ping fraud by for- warding on dodgy calls and texts to 7726 for free.”
The tool has been created as part of Virgin Media O2’s Swerve the Scammers cam- paign, and has been taking calls in the run-up to International Fraud Awareness Week, which is next week.
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