‘Scamathon’ highlights the $3.8m a week given to cyber scammers

Scammers thank New Zealand very much for their kind ‘donations’ in a Telethon-like event for National Cyber Security Centre. Special Wellington, MBM and Honeymoon Films staged the happenings for Cyber Smart Week at the end of October. 

The campaign was inspired by $ 3.8 million. That’s the amount New Zealanders unwittingly give to cyber scammers every single week. And they take it from us by preying on our kindness and generosity. 

“Scammers appeal to us, to take advantage of us,” says Bethany Omeri, Head of Strategy at Special Wellington. “The perception is often that it’s the individual’s own fault for falling victim. But the reality is, it’s because scammers use calculated tactics to get into our hearts and wallets.” 

To show the scale of this unfortunate display of collective generosity, National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) annual Cyber Smart Week riffs off the ultimate donation mechanic: the Telethon. Long before the internet, Telethon was a staple of fundraising efforts in Aotearoa. The 24-hour televised events saw people phoning in to pledge money and hourly updates accompanied by “Thank you very much for your kind donation” singalongs.

A dark riff

Mark Forgan, Executive Creative Director at Special Wellington, explains this malevolent take: “The Scamathon wraps the sinister scale of this issue behind a sickly sweet veneer. Darkly highlighting how scammers prey on our willingness to give, give, give.” 

The scammy spectacle played out over the course of a week, taking over broadcast, social feeds, digital and outdoor. Each day saw the release of more all-singing, all-dancing, all-scamming content, as Scammers appealed from the bottom of their heartless hearts to help them reach their goal. Dynamic tickers across digital and Lumo outdoor ticked up every single second, tracking their progress in real time.

Says Kaitlin Mitchell, Business Director at MBM: “Every touchpoint was designed to make you feel like you were tuning back into The Scamathon in real time: making it an unmissable event, and an unmissable message.” 

Penny Tunnicliffe, Campaigns Manager at NCSC, says: “Online protections like strong passwords and two-factor authentication are something people have heard time and time again, but often don’t implement because they think they wouldn’t fall for a scam.

“The Scamathon gave us a bold way to bring to life an unsettling truth – that everyone’s kindness, busyness and willingness to please is being preyed upon. And that without the right online protections, The Scamathon will keep going on and on.” 

Home of Telethon

The weeklong event was brought to life by Honeymoon Films at the home of New Zealand’s original Telethon, Avalon Studios.

“The unique challenge of this project was in crafting executions that simultaneously worked hard on their own, but also built towards a compelling arc that evolved over the course of the week,” says director Louis Sutherland.

“Infused with our real-life experiences of being scammed, dark humour blends with a sharp social commentary on the manipulation tactics scammers use. Having Avalon Studios onboard to give us access to the original Telethon studio added massively to the authenticity and scale.” 

Much like the original Telethons, this campaign was a collective effort, says Matt Barnes, Lead Business Partner at Special Wellington.

“Scamathon week drew plenty of attention to this important cause, with a record number of organisations getting involved by sharing resources to protect businesses and individuals alike. I’d say bring on Scamathon 2025 – but hopefully this works its socks off to stop it in its tracks.” 

View the full week’s worth of Scamathon films here. 

Credits

• Creative Agency: Special Wellington 
• Media: MBM 
• Production: Honeymoon Films 
• Director: Louis Sutherland 
• Executive Producer: Breigh Sutherland 
• DOP: Marty Williams 
• First AD: Sarah Bicknell 
• PM: Carly Breytenbach Editor: Nathan Hickey 
• Production Designer: Benjamin Milsom 
• Wardrobe: Sheshe Weir 
• Sound Design: Chris Ward 
• Composition: Joe Callwood 
• Colour/Online: Gareth Evans, Kyle Awa 
• VFX: Tim Hamilton 

The post ‘Scamathon’ highlights the $ 3.8m a week given to cyber scammers appeared first on stoppress.co.nz.

stoppress.co.nz