Grandma fights phone criminals

Granny cons conmen at own game - 17th February 2025

More than $1.03 trillion dollars was successfully scammed by fraudsters in 2024, reported the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA). A huge proportion of these scams originate with a humble phone call, with likely targets being the elderly and vulnerable. Recently, a 78-year-old English granny named Daisy has been fighting back with a vengeance.

Far from being a little old lady, Daisy's an AI bot commissioned as a digital barrier by Virgin Media O2. Working in conjunction with an online scambaiter, the telecoms company planted Daisy's contact details on telephone registers utilised by scammers to ensnare victims. Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud at Virgin Media O2 states "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."

After dealing with over 1,000 scammers, Daisy achieved that with flying colours as very few of them recognised that she was in fact an AI creation. The con artists seeking to access her funds were frequently kept on the line for upwards of 40 minutes. Her chitter-chatter with scammers commonly revolves around her passion for pastries, her fictitious feline companion Fluffy, her ignorance of technology, and her difficulties locating her spectacles.

With scammers relying on time and deception to con people, Daisy fails to focus on the task in hand, that of allowing access to her bank accounts. This can result in intense frustration on the part of the caller. That in turn sets off alarm bells regarding the legitimacy of the speaker's organisation.

Daisy, the 'Head of Scammer Relations' at O2, can only stem the tide of calls. The other aspect of her role is to shine a light on the tactics deployed by the tricksters, enabling enhanced anti-fraud measures to be developed.

While AI's been applied to an assortment of industries, including finance to avert fraudulent transactions, insurance to prevent dishonest claims and even tax offices to spot fake filings, Daisy's probably the most amiable of the AI systems.

O2 hope that Daisy will also help raise awareness of the dangers scammers pose, and encourage people to be more wary when responding to an unknown caller.