O2 has released a campaign featuring a scambaiting chatbot to battle phone scammers, after data from the mobile network showed one in five people in the UK experienced a fraud attempt every single week.
The campaign, conceived by VCCP’s AI creative agency Faith, features Daisy, a conversational AI designed to speak with scammers.
Daisy was created to keep scammers on the phone for as long as possible in the hopes that they have less time to scam real people. O2 and Faith worked with scam-baiter Jim Browning to ensure Daisy is equipped with the best tactics to keep scammers on the phone.
The campaign is made up of a two-minute video showing Daisy in action, plus two shorter, 30-second clips created to run on social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok.
The video features former Love Islander and scam victim, Amy Hart teaming up with Daisy. The mobile network hopes that the use of a familiar face will help its message connect with a Gen Z audience who often think of themselves as too smart to fall for phone scams.
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Virgin Media O2 marketing director Simon Valcarcel said “At O2, we’ve been investing heavily in the fightback against fraud and this campaign demonstrates the lengths we’re willing to go to keep our customers safe. I’m thrilled to launch the newest member of our fraud team, Daisy: She’s our secret weapon against scammers – indistinguishable from a real person, an AI hiding in plain sight, dedicated to wasting fraudsters time!”
“Yet she also shows no matter how persuasive callers seem, they aren’t always who you think they are – so we all must remain vigilant. With scammers operating full-time call centres specifically to target Brits, we’re urging everyone to leave the scambaiting to the professionals and instead help play their part by forwarding-on dodgy calls and messages to 7726 for free.”
According to O2, its new AI is indistinguishable from a real person and was designed to play into scammers’ “stereotypical views” that older people are easier targets for scams. Her voice was modeled off a VCCP staff member’s grandmother to ensure believability.
The conversational AI is able to interact in real-time and works 24/7, providing stories about her family, her passion for knitting, and telling scammers false personal information including made-up bank details.
