Re:scam - the chatbot designed to waste scammers’ time
New online service has been called ‘the world’s most inefficient and unhelpful chatbot’
An online safety organisation based in New Zealand has created a new program to turn the tables on online scammers.
Independent non-profit online safety organisation Netsafe, based in Auckland, has developed an artificially intelligent email bot dubbed “Re:scam”, which tackles email scammers by simply wasting their time.
If an internet user receives an email they suspect is a scam, they are encouraged to forward the sender’s email address to Re:scam via the email address me@rescam.org, which will then start an automated conversation with the scammer with the sole purpose of wasting their time.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Netsafe has described it as “the world’s most inefficient and unhelpful chatbot”.
Re:scam went live on Wednesday, reports the Guardian, after more than a year of planning and programming. The site reports that New Zealanders lose around NZ$250m (£132m) annually to cyber crime.
To promote Re:scam, Netsafe released a trailer for the service, with some humorous examples thrown in:
The company also launched a separate Re:scam bot Twitter page, publishing examples of the bot’s handywork.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump case
Speed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdown
Speed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - December 20, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - founding fathers, old news, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published