16th November 2024

AI "Granny" can combat fraudsters

British telecoms company Virgin Media O2 has created a human-like AI "Granny" to answer calls in real time from scammers, keeping them on the phone and away from customers for as long as possible.

Amid an epidemic of phone scam callers in the UK, Virgin Media O2 has unveiled the newest member of its fraud prevention team – a chatbot called Daisy. As the "Head of Scammer Relations", this AI Granny's mission is to talk with fraudsters and waste as much of their time as possible with human-like rambling chat to keep them away from real people.

Created using a range of cutting-edge technology and trained with the help of one of YouTube's best known scambaiters, Jim Browning, Daisy is a human-like AI practically indistinguishable from a real-life elderly woman. Able to interact in real time without any input from her creators, Virgin Media O2 has put Daisy to work around the clock answering suspicious calls.

Daisy combines language models with advanced speech recognition and synthesis, enabling her to listen and respond to fraudulent calls instantaneously, and is so convincing she has successfully kept numerous fraudsters on calls for up to 40 minutes at a time.

New research from Virgin Media O2 reveals that seven in ten (71%) British consumers would like to get their own back against scammers who have tried to trick them or their loved ones. However, not wanting to waste their own time ranked as the biggest reason (53%) for why the public would be unwilling to bait scammers themselves. Two-thirds of Britons (67%) are now concerned about being the target of fraud and one in five (22%) are experiencing a fraud attempt every single week. Last year alone, Virgin Media O2 intercepted and blocked more than £250 million in suspected fraudulent transactions – equivalent to one every two minutes.

In the run up to International Fraud Awareness Week (17–23 November), Daisy has told frustrated scammers meandering stories of her family, talked at length about her passion for knitting and provided exasperated callers with false personal information including made-up bank details. By tricking the criminals into thinking they were defrauding a real person and playing on scammers' biases about older people, Daisy has prevented them from targeting real victims and – most importantly – has exposed the common tactics used, so customers can better protect themselves.

"I know first-hand just how sophisticated nasty fraudsters can be," said influencer and reality TV star, Amy Hart. "That's why I've teamed up with O2 and Daisy to take the fight back to them, keeping them busy with calls going nowhere. But whilst I love a wind up, it's scary to see the lengths scammers go to steal everything from passwords to bank details, regardless of who they're speaking to. Whether you're young or old, anyone can be a victim of a scam and that's why we can never be too careful when it comes to unexpected calls or texts. If you have even the tiniest doubt about who you're speaking to, the best thing to do is to hang up the phone and call back on a trusted number."

After receiving a call from someone who said they were calling from her bank on the morning of her friend's wedding, Ms. Hart fell victim to a scam which saw over £5,000 drained from her account in a matter of minutes. This harrowing experience has left Ms. Hart passionate about spreading the word on scammers and exposing their tactics to help keep others safe. She worked with O2 and Daisy to produce the video below.

"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," explained Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2. "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."

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