S’pore firm uses art and animation to educate students about scams

SINGAPORE - Local outfit Eyeyah! is using art to educate young people about scams.

The art, animation and design educational platform publishes magazines to educate young people on social issues. In 2024, the company partnered social media giant Meta, the Singapore Police Force (SPF), National Crime Prevention Council and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to come up with a 44-page magazine focused on scams.

Speaking to The Straits Times, the platform’s education liaison Isabella Andrews, 28, said the art and animation in the magazine are just an introduction to wider education efforts that include talks and workshops.

The magazine is filled with activities and prompts that urge students to think more deeply about the topic. They include illustrations that require students to spot the irregularities between spoofed and real websites, spotting unusual or glitched pictures that represent deepfake content, and a word puzzle filled with common digital threat terms.

The team also uses different techniques to help students absorb the facts and figures.

Ms Andrews said: “For example, we cut one big image by breaking it down into smaller pieces and ask students to discuss what they see.

“By doing this, they realise that different parts of the same image can have different messages.”

The company’s senior designer Rebecca Lou, 28, said: “We encourage them to spot key elements in certain scams, such as by asking them to differentiate between a fake text and a real text, or spotting the difference between legitimate and fake websites.

“With the new knowledge, we hope they can take the observational techniques into the real world and apply them to their lives online.”

Ms Lou added that the activities also intentionally force the participants to slow down while taking in the information presented.

This is because most scams create a fake sense of urgency for victims, which could see them lose their money quickly without taking time to process the situation.

“Most scams make the victims panic, so they would be flustered and lose their money. We want to encourage children to slow down and take their time to understand what’s going on,” added Ms Lou.

“They need to know it’s fine to slow down and think.”

A spokesman for SPF said schools are reaching out to the police for content to keep students and the wider community informed on the latest scam trends.

He added: “Younger people who are comfortable navigating the digital space may at times be overconfident in their abilities to avoid scams, and not take protective measures to enhance their scam resilience.”

To date, some 35 primary schools, nine secondary schools and institutes of higher learning such as Lasalle College of the Arts and Temasek Polytechnic have requested and received the company’s scam magazine for their students.

With the new school year approaching, Eyeyah! is preparing free magazines for any local school keen on taking them.

The company is looking to host workshops and assembly talks as well, and planning to launch conversation cards for teachers to use in the classroom.

“This will allow them to use our materials during lessons, and the cards provide information that can explain a topic quickly in 30 minutes or so,” said Ms Lou.

Losses spike

The total number of scam cases reported in Singapore climbed from 9,545 cases in 2019

to 46,563 cases in 2023,

despite efforts by the authorities, banks and schools to combat the menace.

According to the police’s midyear scam and cybercrime statistics released on Aug 22, the number of scam cases in the first half of 2024 increased by 16.3 per cent to 26,587, a new high, from 22,853 during the same period in 2023.

Losses have also spiked. The first half of 2024 saw victims lose at least $385.6 million, a 24.6 per cent increase compared with the $309.4 million lost in the first half of 2023.

Young people aged 19 and below accounted for 7.2 per cent of all scam victims in the first half of 2024.

Ms Beatrice Tan, head of Cyber Youth Academy, said young people are a vulnerable demographic despite being digital natives.

Cyber Youth Academy is a division of Cyber Youth Singapore, a non-profit organisation that aims to help Singaporeans adopt technology safely.

Ms Tan said: “Growing up with the internet can make it harder for them to discern risks, as scams have evolved from obvious threats, like fake websites and suspicious e-mails, to more sophisticated tactics, such as phishing links disguised as messages from trusted brands or services.”

Ms Michelle Yao, co-founder of Cyberlite, a social enterprise focused on online safety education, said efforts to educate young people on scams are becoming increasingly urgent as the world moves online and errant actors become more sophisticated.

She added: “We are now living in a digitally connected society where our identities, money, work and social interactions are all online – this is all very valuable data for bad actors and scammers.

“With young people, their whole life, such as school, friends, gaming, shopping and entertainment, is online, and so they have higher trust in social media platforms and games – this can make them prime targets for bad actors.”

Ms Yao said young people in Singapore are especially vulnerable to gaming-related scams in multiplayer games. Scammers in these situations approach and entice the children through the game with the promise of free upgrades or rare in-game items.

In return, the children will have to do something that could include giving up their login credentials.

Those in their late teens are more likely to fall for e-commerce or shopping scams as they may make purchases from unverified sellers.

At least 2,000 victims

lost around $1 million to concert ticket scams

between January and May, with the bulk involving Taylor Swift’s six-show tour in Singapore.

Those with details relating to such crimes or in doubt can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or go to

police.gov.sg/iwitness

For more information on scams, call the ScamShield helpline at 1799 or go to

www.scamshield.gov.sg

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we used the outdated Anti-Scam Helpline and website. This has been corrected.