Apate.ai Raises $8.15 Million to Deploy AI Agents Against Scammers

3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Oct 14

$8.15 million in seed funding will help Australian startup Apate.ai expand a business that sends AI agents undercover to engage scammers and extract fraud intelligence before real victims are hit.
Thousands of agents answer calls, messages and emails, follow phishing links and infiltrate online groups, collecting details such as bank accounts, crypto wallets, phone numbers, malicious sites and impersonated brands.
Apate says its bots have burned 17 years of scammers’ time across 2.5 million conversations; customers including Commonwealth Bank of Australia and TPG Telecom use the data to sharpen anti-fraud defenses.
The company says TPG diverted nearly 590,000 calls to its agents, Commonwealth saw a 76% drop in publicly reported scam losses, and another Australian bank used the system to disrupt 22 scam campaigns.
Founded in 2024 from Macquarie University research, Apate is pitching at TechCrunch Disrupt as AI-driven fraud grows—FBI complaints tied to AI crimes topped 22,000 in 2025, with $893 million in losses.