Google: Refreshing a Brand for a New World of Scams
In 2020, Google and the Cybercrime Support Network asked SRC to reinforce their work in the much-needed space of scam prevention. We created a new brand, Scam Spotter, to help elderly people, who were most at risk, avoid falling victim to gift card scams.
Now, in 2025, scamming has made its way into seemingly every corner of the digital world, and it's not just older people getting scammed. According to the FTC, "Younger adults report losing money to fraud more frequently. In 2024, 44% of those aged 20-29 reported a loss, compared to 24% for those aged 70-79."
The Task.
Scam Spotter needed an update to reflect a world where, thanks to AI, everyone's being targeted and the scams are more convincing than ever. And, we wanted to remove the shame and stigma so we can all help each other stay safe.
Our Approach & Solution
We needed to update the brand to reflect the new reality and reach a wider audience, but we found through extensive research — a 90-plus-page document on who gets targeted (everybody!), how (all the digital platforms where they spend their time!), and how often (young people get scammed more frequently, whereas older people get targeted for more money) — that even as the scamming landscape evolves, the main prevention tool is the same: pause for a gut check.
In collaboration with Upperquad, we brought that message to life through a beautiful and direct website, a new look and feel, clear and easy-to-digest resources, and a series of clever visuals depicting a thwarted scammer – all designed to help people develop smart habits to avoid everyday scams.
Impact & Results
With its new look and feel and clever illustrations, this site is helping Google and Prevent Cybercrime arm people across the spectrum of age, geography, gender, and socioeconomic status, with clear, easy-to-digest resources to protect themselves and those around them from gift card scams. The site has 100M views so far! And we completed it ahead of schedule.
