Singtel - Innovation in the Use of Video

Name of Organization / Company: Singtel
Category: C01 - C12 Award for Innovation in Communications / PR > C08. Award for Innovation in the Use of Video

Entry Title: Scam Awareness: Jaga your data

COMBATTING SCAMS

Social engineering scams are a prevalent issue around the world. In Singapore, e-commerce and love scams are the most common types of scams but in recent years, a new variant has been on the rise, in which callers pose as tech support staff claiming to be from big companies. On-going scams using the Singtel name have been so pervasive because as a trusted brand with half of the mobile market in Singapore, using our name helps scammers establish legitimacy with their targets and ensure a more successful hit rate.

According to the police, in the first half of 2020, victims lost a total of S$14.9 million, making tech support scams the second costliest scams here last year after investment scams. In such a scam, fraudsters deceive victims into believing their internet connections have been compromised and persuade them to install software applications like TeamViewer under the pretext that this would solve the problem. Once the applications are installed, the scammers would have remote access to the victims' computers and can transfer money out of their bank accounts.

We’ve been doing our part to combat scams such as issuing regular advisories warning the public of the latest scam variants and implementing a fraud management system that uses analytics to block scam calls. But no method or solution is fool proof and despite these efforts and the multiple advisories that the police have also been publishing, scam cases are still on the rise.

OUR SOLUTION

We felt that a public education campaign was in order and took the decision to use video to better illustrate scam scenarios to help Singaporeans recognise scams for what they are. While we were also victims of the scammers, we felt that we had a responsibility to take care of our customers and the broader community.

Titled ‘Jaga your data!’, (jaga: local slang meaning, ‘to guard’), the educational campaign is built on a series of short videos, each playing out a telco-related ruse that has tricked many. The campaign uses humour not to make light but to make the scenarios memorable and drive home the message that everyone needs to do their part in staying watchful to avoid falling prey to scams.

The drama and the dialogue between the characters, which is the recounting of the scam by the victim and the scepticism of the family member or friend - becomes a post-mortem of the incident, helping viewers recognise the red flags, without being dull or too instructional. We also made sure that different generations of seniors, millennials and mature adults are featured to make these messages relevant to a wide demographic. Lastly, we injected a large dose of humour to raise awareness of a tough subject in an easy to understand way.

The videos were posted on our social media channels and on Singtel TV. We worked closely together with the police to spread the word about our campaign, and timed the campaign together with the launch of Scamshield, an application that actively blocks calls and filters spam messages from blacklisted numbers, launched by the National Crime Prevention Council, a non-profit organisation.

RESULTS

The campaign has chalked up close to 4 million views since the campaign’s launch at the end of November 2020, attracted extensive positive coverage in the mainstream press, and received positive feedback from the public, the industry and community watchdogs, as people felt we are owning the issue rather than avoiding it. By serving up anti-scam lessons with a dash of humour with the aim of making the messages stick, we hoped to have foiled some of these scammers’ efforts by encouraging Singaporeans to stay vigilant to protect themselves and their families.

Files & Links:

2021 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards_C01 & C08_SINGTEL (Appendix).pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woEEgXEToNU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wURhppR6skQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-i98DjHVjw