Santander enlists Kurupt FM to educate under-25s about scams in anti-'Kuruption' push
Santander has deployed the Kurupt FM crew of People Just Do Nothing fame to help it target under-25s as part of an anti-scam drive.
Santander employs Kurupt FM to help fight online fraud
Following research from the bank which found that those in the under-25 age bracket were three-times more likely to act on instruction in scam correspondence, the BBC sitcom characters have an important message for customers: 'Don't get Kurupted.'
Santander claims 25 often fall victim to such scams, in part, due to a readiness to give away details online, particularly through social media. It found 85% of under 25's have shared their details on Instagram, which could leave them open to identity theft, while a quarter have entered personal details in a website using unsecured WiFi.
"We saw how much young people were being affected," explained Andy Freeman, head of social media, digital and marketing transformation at Santander. "You read on the media about older people being affected but the largest cohort of people are 18-24-year-olds, so we had to do something about it."
As such, Kurupt FM have been brought on board to help Santander tackle online crime, in a way that would resonate with a younger audience by ad agency Engine.
"Engine came to us and said how about working with Kurupt FM?" Freeman recalled. "When we approached them, as you would expect, they weren't necessarily interested in working with a bank."
But, Freeman said that after the agency explained what the push was about, they became interested in the cause and putting their own spin on the creative.
The result is 'MC Grindah's Deadliest Dupes' is a three episode mini-series, fronted by the aspiring garage MC and pirate radio host himself. The films humorously plays out a number of scenarios whereby young people may come a cropper to online fraud.
"There were three important messages we wanted to get across," explained Freeman. "So looking at both the data that we see internally and what we see from the industry, we knew there was an increase in online scams, identity theft and money mules."
Throughout each episode, MC Grindah interrogates three people found guilty of these three forms of online fraud.
'The Identity Thief' sees Steves - the endearing but slightly dim member of the group - come face to face with 'fake Steves' who's been stealing his identity online all because he entered his details on a fake website, in order to view an 'Alien autopsy'.
While relaying the poignant message that this can lead to trouble, MC Grindah unwittingly and quite readily hands over his password to 'Fake Steves.'
In 'The Online Scammer,', meanwhile, Grindah turns to his pal and full-time conman, Chabuddy G. Together they demonstrate how easy it is to get ripped off when buying products online when they don't exist.
The final episode stars MC Grindah's DJ partner, Beats. Set in a greasy spoon, the two interrogate a 'notorious money launderer' who spent time in prison for scamming.
However, it soon becomes clear to the audience at least that this lad is not a hardened criminal, but just a regular guy who accidentally misused his bank account during freshers week.
Although it is Santander's first work specifically targeting under-25's, the bank has a track record in anti-fraud campaigns.
"We're always trying to do innovative things on the subject, which is obviously very serious and I guess quite dry to talk about," says Freeman.
In 2017, the bank plonked Jenson Button in a 'Phish & Chips' van, where he swapped copies of scam emails and text messages received by customers for fish and chips.
The stunt was the educate the public so they learn to avoid being conned by phishing emails and smishing messages.
Santander has also worked with Love Island 2018 finalist, Wes Nelson, to spread the importance of keeping personal details and passwords a secret.
The digitally-led campaign will run across Santander's social media throughout the year.
