DocScam features interactive quizzes, real-life examples and safety tips to educate users about potential scams. Credit: iStock PUGUN SJ
A group of students from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has developed a way to make spotting scams easier, with a simple-to-use scam awareness application (app).
Launched on Google Play this week, Android users can download the app, called DocScam, for free.
The app guides users through a series of questions and prompts which pre-empt common scams, to educate and explain whether it may be genuine or in fact a scam.
The app features interactive quizzes, real-life examples and quick safety tips, as well as a website, docscamau.com, to support distribution.
ECU computer science student Chandumal Udagedara, who is also head of the project group Scam Slayers, says the main goal is to educate people about identifying scams.
"More than 495,000 scams were reported in Australia in 2024, resulting in estimated losses of more than $2 billion," Mr Udagedara said. "Because of this, we wanted to do something to teach people to understand what to look out for if they have a suspicious email or message.
"We hope they can learn to recognise what is legitimate and what is not, in a fun and engaging way."
Mr Udagedara said the app is user friendly and requires no personal information to be shared.
"DocScam is a free app that anyone can download, and users are not required to log in – there is no personal data required for this app," he said. "We wanted to minimise any hassle so it as simple to use as possible, especially for anyone who may not be tech-savvy."
The app is broken down into three main categories where scams occur; Job Offers, Deliveries, and Seasonal, which incorporates timely scams targeting users around Christmas, Boxing Day sales and Black Friday sales.
"Our research showed these were the most common areas and times for people to be targeted," Mr Udagedara said.
Scam Slayers is a group of students from various Information Technology-related courses at ECU, with Raween Gamage, Rasangi Rathnayake, Udamini Hettiarachchi and Chomilka Yenuli joining with Mr Udagedara.
The project was jointly supervised by Dr Mohi Ahmed and Derek Tighe.
"Scam gamification has a lot of potential, and this mobile app is definitely going to help fight scammers," Dr Ahmed said.
While DocScam is currently available on Android, the team is working to develop a cross-platform app with iOS in due course.
