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Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed

Apate.ai deploys AI agents as undercover targets for fraudsters, gathering intelligence on how scams actually work; most firms use agents to speed things up.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on Best of BBN
Published 4:57 AM ET, Thursday, October 15, 2026

Photo: Tedder · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0

▶ As it aired · Tech

Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from Best of BBN at 4:57 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are TechCrunch's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: A data center — Photo: Tedder · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

First reported by TechCrunch: “Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence”.
Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 4:57 AM ET on Best of BBN, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.
Topics: AI.

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

TechCrunchApate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed so they can gather fraud intelligence

What BBN said about it

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentA company called Apate sends AI agents undercover to get scammed, so it can collect intelligence on how the fraudsters actually work.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the bot's whole job is falling for it. I love that for him.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentIt's a decoy, Kenji. The scammer wastes time on software while the company learns the script.

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