British telecom giant O2 announced what could be the first deployment of conversational AI specifically designed to counter telephone fraud in the UK telecommunications sector.

The hero: a clueless grandma who endlessly and frustratingly digresses while idiot scammers attempt to hoodwink her out of money.

The system, dubbed "Daisy," uses AI models to snare fraudsters in meandering conversations lasting up to 40 minutes, potentially preventing millions in losses across the network's 24 million mobile customers. The tool operates autonomously around the clock, requiring no human intervention to maintain conversations with suspected scammers.

"Stop calling me dear, you stupid [expletive deleted]!” one exasperated teles-cammer shouted in a video O2 aired to show off its new tool.

“Got it, dear!” the kindly AI grandma replied.

The initiative comes as 67% of British adults report concerns about being targeted by fraudsters, with 22% facing weekly fraud attempts, according to a survey O2 did to over 5,000 Brits.

“The newest member of our fraud-prevention team, Daisy, is turning the tables on scammers—outsmarting and outmaneuvering them at their own cruel game simply by keeping them on the line,"Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2, said. The company blocked over £250 million in suspected fraudulent transactions last year alone.

Here’s how it works. When a user receives a scam call, they forward the call to the number 7726, which had been used as a hotline to report fraud. From there, Daisy employs a custom large language model with a "personality layer" that generates real-time responses to the scammers.

The system transcribes incoming voice to text, processes it through the AI model so responses are context-relevant, and converts the text output back to speech, creating natural-sounding conversations that can include fictional personal details and bank information.

The AI was developed in collaboration with Jim Browning, a prominent YouTube content creator known for exposing scam operations.

It's designed to exploit fraudsters' targeting of elderly victims by presenting as a chatty grandmother, complete with meandering stories about family and knitting.

Virgin Media O2's broader fraud prevention strategy includes AI-powered spam detection systems, an automatic firewall, free caller ID, and a scam reporting line.

O2 says they have intercepted 89 million fraudulent text messages in the previous year, only by reports made to the 7726 line. Now, they expect to increase its effectiveness thanks to AI.

"With scammers operating full-time call centers specifically to target Brits, we're urging everyone to remain vigilant," Mackenzie said.

The company recommends customers forward suspicious calls and texts to 7726 rather than attempting to engage with potential fraudsters themselves.

US: More Sophistication, Less Fun

Although not as creative, U.S. carriers are also leveraging AI in their arsenal of anti-fraud technology.

For example, Orion, a key technology partner for several carriers, has deployed AI-driven solutions focusing on predictive modeling and real-time call analysis to identify and label suspicious calls before they reach consumers.

Microsoft has also entered the fray with Azure Operator Call Protection, currently being tested with BT Group, which analyzes live conversations for fraud indicators. These systems, along with emerging technologies like SCAMBlock and Scamnetic, use artificial intelligence as a preventive shield instead of being used as an interactive defense like O2 is doing.

We asked AT&T and Verizon if they had similar plans since this seems like such a fun way to deal with these dirtbags. The AT&T flak gave a general answer about the spam detection software they make available to users and the Verizon flak didn't bother to reply.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair