Meet Daisy, AI chatbot that thwarts scammers by wasting their time
Daisy, the AI chatbot by Virgin Media O2, mimics elderly victims to thwart scammers, keeping them occupied during calls.
British telecom firm Virgin Media O2 recently launched Daisy, a custom-made human-like Chatbot that answers calls in real time, keeping fraudsters on the phone for as long as possible in order to anger and disappoint them, just like they do with customers worldwide.
This advertisement, which is reportedly the first of its kind, was launched in response to a Strand Partners study that revealed one in five British citizens experience a scam attempt every week.
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Who is Daisy and what does she do?
Daisy capitalises on fraudsters' preconceptions about elderly victims by posing as a real-life relative of a VCCP team member. Fraud gangs frequently target the elderly, but anybody may become a victim. Daisy becomes the quintessential "scambaiter" by capitalising on the prejudices of scammers.
Daisy, who was just named O2's "head of scammer relations," poses as an elderly person, which puts her in a group that is more susceptible to scammers. Daisy is able to spend all day and night on the phone with scammers, unlike human scammers who occasionally need to take a shower and sleep.
“While they're busy talking to me, they can’t be scamming you, and let’s face it, dear, I’ve got all the time in the world, ” Daisy says in an O2 video.
She appears in the video as a gray-haired, pearl-encrusted, AI-generated woman speaking on a pink telephone. Daisy may come out as a kind neighbour, but she successfully thwarts fraudsters with long, pointless chats.
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In the video, which includes audio from real conversations, fraudsters can be heard getting angrier as Daisy keeps chatting without giving them the sensitive information they need, such credit card numbers and bank account details. An irate con artist moans, "It's almost been an hour, for the love of (inaudible expletive)," to which Daisy coolly replies, "Gosh, how time flies."
In a different conversation, Daisy only wants to discuss Fluffy, her kitten. She is also content to give scammers fictitious personal information, such as fictitious bank account information, or to ramble on about family members and her love for knitting.
Daisy listens to a caller, converts their speech to text, and then uses a proprietary big language model to reply. This process integrates many AI models. According to VCCP Faith, the London creative firm behind Daisy, a character "personality" layer gives her a charming British grandmother persona, based on a team member's grandma for authenticity.
O2's anti-fraud squad added Daisy's dedicated phone number to fraudsters' contact lists. In a statement, O2 said, "Daisy has stopped scammers from targeting actual victims and, more importantly, has exposed the common tactics used so customers can better protect themselves by tricking the criminals into thinking they were defrauding a real person and playing on their biases about older people."
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With 67% of people worried about being targeted and 22% receiving threats every week, fraud is a growing worry in Britain. When someone tries to con them or their loved ones, 71% of British people are eager to get back at them. Daisy and Amy Hart, a reality TV personality and celebrity influencer, collaborated on a promotional film that aims to expose fraud practices.
Hart talks about her own experience, describing how almost £5,000 was taken from her account in a matter of minutes after a fictitious bank call on the morning of a friend's wedding. Hart's experience has motivated her to use her position to educate and protect others by spreading the word about scammers.
Hart reflected on her experience, saying: “I've partnered with O2 and AI scambaiter Daisy to take the fight back to them, keeping them busy with calls going nowhere, because I know first-hand just how sophisticated nasty fraudsters can be. It's alarming to watch how far fraudsters would go to steal everything, even bank account information and passwords, regardless of the person they're talking to. Anyone may fall prey to a scam, regardless of age, therefore we should always exercise caution when responding to unusual calls or texts."
