UK company creates AI 'granny' to drive scammers crazy with kitten stories & inability to follow instructions

Meet Daisy, an AI-powered "scambaiter granny" created to outwit scammers and protect real people from falling victim to mobile fraud.

British telecom company O2 designed Daisy—a sweet yet politely infuriating virtual grandma—to raise awareness about mobile scams and tie up scammers by wasting their time.

According to a press release, Daisy now holds the prestigious title of "Head of Scammer Relations" in O2’s fraud prevention team.

Daisy in action

In a video introduction, former Love Island star Amy Hart, herself a victim of mobile fraud, unveiled Daisy to the public.

With endless chatter about her kitten Fluffy and an almost comically poor ability to follow instructions, Daisy expertly frustrates her scammer targets.

One exasperated scammer can be heard yelling, "It's nearly been an hour! For the love of [bleep]!"

Unfazed, Daisy calmly responds, "God, how time flies."

To her audience, she adds with a twinkle: "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."

How Daisy works

Built using advanced AI technology and trained with input from renowned YouTube scambaiter Jim Browning, Daisy engages with scammers in real-time without any need for human oversight.

O2 reports that Daisy has successfully kept fraudsters on the line for up to 40 minutes at a time.

In the weeks leading up to International Fraud Awareness Week (Nov. 17-23), she has shared rambling stories about her family, discussed her love of knitting, and offered scammers fabricated personal details—including entirely fake bank accounts.

By exploiting scammers’ biases about older people and tricking them into believing they’ve hooked a real victim, Daisy has not only wasted their time but also exposed common scam tactics.

This helps O2 customers better protect themselves, the company said.

A bigger mission

The UK mobile company has been investing heavily in the fight against fraud, using AI-powered spam fighting tools and giving new caller identification services for free to all mobile customers to help protect them.

The operator also blocks millions of fraudulent texts and calls from reaching customers phones every month.

"We're committed to playing our part in stopping the scammers, investing in everything from firewall technology to block out scam texts to AI-powered spam call detection to keep our customers safe," Murray Mackenzie, the company's director of fraud, said.

"But crucially, Daisy is also a reminder that no matter how persuasive someone on the other end of the phone may be, they aren't always who you think they are."

Top photos from O2