This new AI grandmother is a 'scam' for scammers

Online scams have become a global concern with fraudsters using new tricks to dupe the innocent ones. To tackle the rise of digital fraud, British telecom company Virgin Media O2 has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named Daisy. Modeled after a friendly, chatty grandmother, Daisy is designed to keep scammers tied up in long-winded conversations, wasting their time while safeguarding potential victims from falling prey.

Announcing the AI bot, the company said “This state-of-the-art 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 while highlighting the need for consumers to stay vigilant as the UK faces a fraud epidemic”.

What is scambaiting

According to Forbes, Daisy automates the practice of “scambaiting” – the practice of engaging with scammers, typically online or over the phone, to waste their time, disrupt their operations, and potentially gather information that could help authorities. Scambaiters use various techniques to keep scammers occupied, such as pretending to be potential victims or creating elaborate fictional scenarios to mislead them.

Here’s how the AI bot works

In a demonstration video on YouTube, Daisy appears as a lifelike elderly woman with gray hair, glasses, and a trusty landline phone. In the video, Daisy can be seen keeping the scammers occupied with quirky tales about her cat Fluffy, her passion for knitting, or amusing anecdotes about her family, rather than sharing personal details. Sometimes, she even throws in fake bank details to add to their confusion.


One scammer exclaimed, “It’s nearly been an hour!” To which Daisy cheerfully replied, “Gosh, how time flies!”

“As long as they’re talking to me, they’re not scamming you. And let’s be honest, darling, I’ve got all the time in the world,” Daisy quips in the video.