A new app designed to shield consumers from increasingly sophisticated AI-generated scams is launching today. Savi, a security startup co-founded by brothers Patrick and Ryan Coughlin, aims to provide a real-time defence against fraudulent texts, emails, and phone calls that leverage advanced artificial intelligence to mimic real individuals and situations. The company recently announced it had secured £5.5 million ($7 million) in seed funding, led by Acrew Capital, to bring its innovative protection tool to market.
The inspiration for Savi emerged from a deeply personal and alarming incident. Approximately two years ago, Patrick Coughlin's mother received a phone call from a scammer who had convincingly spoofed her daughter's number and voice. The caller claimed to have kidnapped her daughter, demanding a ransom of $1,200 (approximately £940) immediately. The scammer even referenced a local supermarket frequently visited by the daughter. Fortunately, Coughlin's mother maintained her composure, contacted her daughter directly, and quickly discovered the entire ordeal was an elaborate AI-generated fraud.
This harrowing experience highlighted a critical shift in the landscape of cybercrime. Patrick Coughlin, who previously held senior roles in national cyber defence and at tech giants like Splunk and Cisco, recognised that the same level of sophistication once reserved for targeting government agencies and large corporations was now being deployed against individual consumers. The proliferation of powerful and affordable Large Language Models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools has drastically reduced the cost and effort required for criminals to perpetrate highly convincing scams, making it financially viable to target a broader audience.
The ease with which AI can now clone voices from just a few seconds of audio – often sourced from publicly available social media posts – underscores the pervasive nature of this threat. Criminals can also readily access personal information online to make their scams even more believable. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, individuals reported losing £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) to imposter scams in 2025 alone, triple the amount reported in 2020. While older demographics are frequently targeted, recent research also indicates a growing susceptibility among younger generations, with Gen Z reportedly falling for text scams about 25% of the time.
Savi's app, available for iPhone and Android, represents a proactive step in empowering consumers against this evolving threat. Before its official launch, the founders tested their AI scam detection model through a free website called Scamwise. This anonymous platform allowed users to upload suspicious texts, photos, or emails for analysis, attracting 50,000 submissions within four months. The data gathered from this initiative has undoubtedly contributed to refining the app's capabilities, aiming to provide users with a robust defence against the increasingly realistic and emotionally manipulative tactics employed by AI-powered scammers.