AI chatbots have found a new purpose in helping companies and individuals protect themselves against scams and unauthorized data collection, The Guardian reported.

AI startup Apate is deploying its new chatbots to divert potential scam calls away from victims and prevent massive financial losses or even a data breach attack.

The technology basically works by redirecting calls from scammers to conversational chatbots, keeping the scammer busy on the line and disrupting their operations.

Apate founder Dali Kaafar, a professor at Macquarie University, even touted that the chatbot can even be used to collect information about scammers, including their behaviors and notable targets to further improve the AI's capabilities.

Once the technology becomes more widely available, Kaafar and his team expect that the Apate chatbot will help companies save billions of dollars from telecom scams.

AI Being Used to Fight AI

The rise of anti-scam chatbots like Apate's follows a growing trend in the tech industry in using generative AI to combat other AIs as the technology becomes more prevalent in cybercrime operations.

Several US departments, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, have already deployed their own teams to handle AI in their anti-cybercrime operations.

Even the Department of Justice has deployed its own AI group to help protect the department against the rise of AI-powered cyberattacks.

These are in addition to other AI companies that have started offering AI-powered services to protect their users from deepfake scams.

AI Scams are Getting Worse

Despite new efforts to combat its rise, online scams have continued to increase as cybercrime groups employ more sophisticated technology to fool their victims.

Cybercrime analyst Scamwatch recorded a dramatic increase in scam reports since 2021, in time with the surge in generative AIs and conversational chatbots during the pandemic.

The records even coincide with the AI's capabilities as phishing and identity theft topped the charts for the most reported method of scams used on victims.

Multiple agencies have already warned people to end all contact immediately with potential scammers and not further engage with them.