Catch The Scam

Background

Amid the global pandemic, scam artists around the globe targeted Canadian seniors thinking that they were easy prey. So, with a client base entirely made up of Canadian retirees, HomeEquity Bank launched an online masterclass that taught seniors the very phone scams they were being targeted with. The masterclass teacher was a former master conman, Frank W. Abagnale, who once stole over $2.5M from banks and was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in hit film Catch Me If You Can.

Insight

To recognize a scam artist, you must think like a scam artist.

Results

Despite a media budget of just $25,000, Catch The Scam generated over 1.2M unique views on YouTube and Facebook – across an audience that typically skews towards traditional media. 

The campaign generated significant top-tier broadcast and online media coverage across Canada and beyond with more than 35 million media impressions. Frank Abagnale was interviewed on national stations like Global News, BNN Bloomberg and Yahoo! News as networks looked to help ensure seniors everywhere could protect themselves from scam artists.

Catch The Scam has been recognized internationally by organizations including The One Show, Art Directors Club, Clio Awards and Applied Arts.