Building digital resilience: protecting vulnerable Australians from cyberscams

auDA is committed to strengthening trust in Australia’s digital ecosystem and enhancing digital inclusion. In July this year, auDA’s R&D Grant Program awarded $1.5 million to Monash University’s CyberAbility project for research and development to reduce the impact of scams among people with cognitive disability. This Scams Awareness Week (2025), auDA invited Dr Kate Gould and Dr Jao-Yue Carminati from the CyberAbility team to share their views on the importance of building digital resilience and protecting vulnerable Australians from cyberscams. They write:

Cyberscams are a significant threat, costing Australians over $2 billion in 2024. From romance scams that exploit trust and generosity, to preying on fears through threats, the impacts of cyberscams extend far beyond financial losses. Scam victims are often left with lasting emotional distress and shame, and fractured relationships. 

While anyone can fall victim to a scam, people living with cognitive disabilities such as brain injury, intellectual disability, and dementia, are particularly vulnerable. Sophisticated scammer techniques make warning signs increasingly challenging to recognise. Yet despite this vulnerability, current prevention efforts by disability services, government agencies, and technology platforms often fall short, leaving this community disproportionately exposed to harm.

Colin is an acquired brain injury survivor who became victim to an online romance scam in 2014. Together with Clinical Neuropsychologist and project lead, Dr Kate Gould, Colin’s living experiences catalysed The CyberAbility Project. Working collaboratively with and for people with cognitive disabilities, The CyberAbility Team at Monash University has conducted over a decade of research and resource development to enhance the online safety of vulnerable Australians.

The urgency of this work became clear when surveys revealed that over half of 100 neurorehabilitation clinicians had supported a client with brain injury who had been scammed. Further in-depth interviews with survivors, families, carers, and clinicians highlighted the complexity of the scam journey and emphasised the need for tailored prevention and support resources for people with acquired brain injury (ABI).

CyberAbility’s suite of co-developed resources help to support tackling scams at every stage. From building digital literacy to prevent scams, to supporting survivors through the emotional fallout of being scammed, resources include:

• The CyberAbility Program -a free online program that helps people identify and avoid scams, and features interactive cybersafety tips and videos of people with ABI sharing their real-life cyberscam stories. This program has demonstrated improvements in cybersafety knowledge, skills, and confidence for the majority of participants.
• The CyberAbility Scale - a simple self-assessment tool that takes 15 minutes to complete and is backed by research. It helps with early identification of at-risk individuals and tracking improvements in cybersafety skills over time. The CyberAbility Scale was developed with support from a $40,000 auDA Community Grant in 2022.

Recovery is just as critical as prevention. The hidden toll of scams often lies not only in the money lost, but in the emotional strain. Scam survivors have consistently reported that the psychosocial impacts of cyberscam victimisation are equally, if not more, debilitating than the financial losses. In 2023, we designed a cyberscam psychosocial adjustment intervention with and for people with ABI and their close others, called ‘Smooth Sailing After Scams’.

The 10-session group intervention program delivered by allied health clinicians covers topics of cybersafety and adjusting to the impact of the scam on finances, emotions, relationships and lifestyle. Following an initial pilot, the program will now undergo a larger-scale national trial, with funding support from auDA.

Enabled through the support of auDA’s R&D Program funding, and partnerships with the National Anti Scam Centre, Westpac, Queensland University of Technology, Brain Injury Matters and disability consumers, the CyberAbility team will improve frontline responses for cyberscam victims. This includes conducting a national trial of a co-designed psychological support program for victims and updating cybersafety education training to empower people with disability to participate more securely online.

The CyberAbility team will explore the experiences of frontline services, such as banks and scam services, when supporting Australians affected by cyberscams. By understanding the challenges and insights of these frontline teams, we aim to identify gaps in current practices and highlight effective strategies for assisting victims.

Through co-designed resources and training, we aim to upskill frontline service staff in addressing the psychological and cognitive manipulation used by scammers to effectively support scam victims with cognitive disabilities.

Digital inclusion is not just about having access to the internet. It’s about being able to participate safely, confidently, and meaningfully in online spaces. When vulnerable Australians are disproportionately targeted by scammers, their ability to benefit from the digital world is compromised. CyberAbility is designed to close that gap, helping individuals build the confidence and tools they need to protect themselves, and promoting safer, more inclusive online participation.

This Scams Awareness Week, and beyond, the CyberAbility team encourages you to consider your family, friends, customers and clients who may be additional vulnerable to scams. Create a safe culture by regularly discussing emerging scams in an accessible and non-judgemental way, and role model how to ask for help if something looks off. These strategies can go a long way to enabling people to feel comfortable coming forward and reducing feelings of shame.

Encourage ongoing learning through CyberAbility’s free CyberAbility Scale self-assessment quiz and CyberAbility Training Program, and via free online resources from ScamWatch.

The Monash CyberAbility Project works together with people with living experience of brain injury and scams to research and design cyber safety resources. The CyberAbility Project includes Monash University researchers, people with living experience of being scammed after ABI, and disability services who are working together to understand how to help people with ABI stay safe from scams. Learn more about CyberAbility.

auDA’s R&D program is a component of auDA’s broader Public Benefit Program, designed to support community-led programs and innovative research to unlock the social and economic value of the internet for all Australians. Learn more about the auDA R&D Program and Public Benefit Program on the auDA website.