Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) has taken a bold step in the AI arms race against scammers. In partnership with Apate.ai, a cyber-intelligence firm spun out of Macquarie University, the bank has deployed an advanced bot system designed to trap scammers, gather real-time intelligence, and support rapid fraud prevention efforts. These bots are part of a broader AI-led strategy to protect Australians from rising scam threats using smart technology and a unique honeypot approach.
AI Bots Now Talk Back to Scammers
Unlike traditional spam filters, CommBank AI bots don’t block and move on, they engage. When a scammer reaches out via phone or text, the system routes the call to a sophisticated AI-powered bot. This bot mimics human responses, holds long conversations, and captures valuable behavioural data. This is about flipping the script, said James Roberts, CommBank’s general manager of group fraud.
Scammers are using AI to target Australians, we’re turning the tables by using AI to fight back. These bots don’t just slow scammers down, they help stop them. Every conversation fuels CommBank’s internal fraud prevention system, which uses the data to detect threats, trigger alerts, and block attempts in near real time. The bank’s aim is clear: turn scam attempts into intelligence-gathering opportunities.
Honeypot Strategy at the Core
The entire system runs on Apate.ai’s Honeypot Strategy. In collaboration with telecom providers, Apate.ai operates a vast network of fake phone numbers scattered across telco infrastructure. These numbers are seeded to look appealing to scammers, designed to be dialled or messaged. When scammers engage, they’re unknowingly speaking to bots, not real people. Professor Dali Kaafar, CEO and founder of Apate.ai, explained that their team crafts the bots with different identities, age, gender, tone, and cultural nuance.
They even use Australian slang and humour to make the interactions believable. This realism helps the bots remain undetected, allowing them to stretch the scammer’s time, collect deeper intelligence, and disrupt fraud operations at their core. The AI is designed to adapt and improve its performance the more it interacts.
Pilot Success Drives Full Rollout
The program began in late 2024 as a pilot with Macquarie University. Its early results pushed CommBank to expand the project quickly. The rollout has since grown in both scale and technical sophistication. Since the pilot, we’ve diverted hundreds of thousands of scam calls to bots, Roberts confirmed. The intelligence gathered from those calls has allowed us to detect scams faster and block them before they reach customers.
CommBank directly integrates these bots into its fraud prevention systems. The live insights they provide enable faster response times and a more proactive defence approach. Real-time analysis of scam patterns helps the bank stay ahead of evolving threats.
AI Boosts National Fraud Defence
The initiative doesn’t stop with CommBank. The gathered intelligence contributes to Australia’s wider anti-scam ecosystem. Shared data improves cross-sector coordination and strengthens national fraud prevention frameworks. This technology is a game-changer, Roberts added. It’s not just about protecting CommBank customers, it’s about raising the bar for scam defence across the country.
Each AI-powered call adds to the system’s learning loop, improving detection accuracy and refining bot responses. CommBank’s AI grows more precise with each interaction, building a shield that adapts and evolves in real time. CommBank has placed AI at the centre and built more than just a defence, it has created an offensive tool that directly targets scammers, delays their operations, and protects real victims from harm.
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