Tag: Scam awareness

India – At the world’s largest gathering, Maha Kumbh, creative agency tgthr. partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and The Times of India (TOI) to turn a humble everyday item—the newspaper bag—into a powerful tool for scam awareness.

The Anti Scam Shala campaign reimagined the #ConmanVsCommonMan initiative by embedding its comic strips into everyday newspaper pouches—making scam education part of routine transactions. Available in multiple sizes and regional languages, these pouches offered a simple yet scalable way to spread awareness.

While the comics already run fortnightly across seven newspapers, NPCI and TOI scaled the effort to build greater awareness of digital payment fraud and strengthen trust in UPI.

By tapping into the eco-friendly practice of using newspaper bags—already common among local vendors—the campaign turned an ordinary packaging material into a tool for public education. TOI’s wide circulation ensured the message reached millions in a language they understood.

Aalap Desai, CCO and co-founder of tgthr., said, “Newspaper bags are commonplace in India and quintessentially Indian. They are used everywhere, every single day, and their usage has increased significantly since the plastic ban in India and during the Maha Kumbh.”

Desai continues, “While the Maha Kumbh is primarily about the holy dip in the Ganges, a lot happens around it—daily shopping for items ranging from incense sticks, flowers, and diyas to bangles and everyday essentials like soap and cream. One thing common in all these transactions is the newspaper bag, which is handed to the customer just before they make the payment. So, we thought of leveraging this common yet unique touchpoint and turning it into a learning opportunity. This idea gave birth to the Anti-Scam Shala.”

The Maha Kumbh, the world’s largest gathering with over 65 crore devotees, also became the largest gathering of potential scam victims, creating a significant opportunity to educate people about scams and raise awareness. The event provided the perfect setting to reach a massive number of UPI users in a short time.

Through this campaign, every purchase—whether it was agarbattis or clothing—came with a unique #ConmanVsCommonMan scam, helping shoppers stay informed about the latest frauds and stay safe in their daily activities.

Sameer Sainani, president of Optimal Media Solutions, explained, “Maha Kumbh, the largest congregation of humanity, saw 65 crore people come together, making it an ideal platform to emphasise the safety of digital transactions. The Times of India’s iconic ‘Common Man’ became a symbol of vigilance through the Anti Scam Shala campaign. Paper carry bags with the digital safety message were placed at all points of sale, and millions of devotees were exposed to the digital safety message each time they purchased their puja wares at the Maha Kumbh, thereby reinforcing trust in UPI and digital payments and empowering millions to transact safely at Kumbh.”

“The Anti Scam Shala initiative reinforces our commitment towards promoting digital payments and their safety. TOI is extremely proud of this partnership with NPCI and tgthr. and is committed to the adoption of digital transactions in a safe environment,” he added. 

Australia – The National Anti-Scam Centre has launched its new campaign ‘Stop. Check. Protect.’ campaign, which seeks to tackle the threat of scams by educating the community about sophisticated scam tactics, reminding people that anyone can be vulnerable to scams, and empowering victims to report scams to Scamwatch. 

According to the federal government, this new awareness campaign will make Australia a tougher target for scammers by arming Australians with the tools they need to put a stop to fraudsters.

The government stated that Australians have been losing billions of dollars to scams every year in recent times, with criminals routinely targeting businesses and consumers through fake emails, phone calls, SMS or text messages and social media.

For ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe, there are three steps to staying safe from scams, which are becoming more and more difficult to spot.

“Forty years on, we all still use the iconic ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ message of the 1980s as a handy reminder of how to be sun safe. Now we need all Australians to ‘Stop. Check. Protect.’ to help keep themselves and others safe from scammers,” she said.

She added, “This campaign is about inspiring the behavioural change in every Australian – ensuring we stop and check before acting on that suspicious email, phone call, text message or social media post – that will stop scammers in their tracks.”

Lowe also said building community resilience to scams is particularly important in an environment where criminals are increasingly turning to new technologies, such as artificial intelligence – and impersonating trusted organisations to deceive Australians and steal their money.

“Australian consumers have told us that it sometimes feels like scams are everywhere and inevitable. This campaign will emphasise that we’re not powerless to scammers. When we’re alert, we’re in control. And by stopping and checking when we’re unsure, then reporting scams we’ve seen, we can protect ourselves and others against financial harm,” she added.

The ‘Stop. Check. Protect.’ campaign will be shown across television, online video, and social media from today (Sunday 12 January 2025). It will be supported by a range of other initiatives to promote scam awareness amongst vulnerable groups, including older Australians, First Nations peoples, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

The 10-week campaign will also address community misconceptions around scams by cautioning Australians that everyone is at risk of being scammed.

“Anyone can be the target of a scam at any time. Scams are crimes – and if you’ve been scammed, you’re a victim of crime. There’s absolutely nothing to feel ashamed of or embarrassed about – it could happen to any of us,” Lowe said. “If you are scammed, or you encounter a scam, please report it to Scamwatch so we can take steps to protect others against financial harm. The information you report can provide vital intelligence to help disrupt scams.”

The public information and awareness campaign will complement work being led by the National Anti-Scam Centre to unite Government, law enforcement and industry to disrupt scams, and the criminal groups behind them.