Grants.gov listing
Escape The Hack: Countering Cyber Scams with an Immersive Experience for Everyday Indonesians
- Agency
- U.S. Mission to Indonesia
- Number
- PAS-JAKARTA-FY26-04
- Type
- Federal Grant
- Posted
- 2026-06-18T00:00:00+00:00
- Response deadline
- Aug 07, 2026 12:00:00 AM EDT (33 days left)
- Award range
- $100K – $300K
Summary
<p>Indonesia faces a pervasive and evolving cybercrime threat, with online scams growing in number and sophistication – while U.S. families continue to lose their life’s savings to international cybercrime, totaling over $12 billions in financial losses in 2023 alone. Unlike scam compounds in mainland Southeast Asia, criminal scam operations in Indonesia are decentralized and embedded within transnational networks. Thousands of Indonesian nationals have worked in scam compounds in Cambodia, Burma, and Laos, and there is now concern crackdowns in other countries prompting a wave of experienced Indonesian scammers to return home to establish new operations in collaboration with Chinese and other scam groups.</p><p>To strengthen its efforts in combating scams, Indonesia established an Anti-Scam Center (IASC) in 2024 to respond to citizen complaints, block fraudulent transactions, and recover victim funds. IASC data shows an average of 1,300 complaints per day. The IASC reports approximately $500 million in victim losses from November 2025 to March 2026, of which only $9.75 million has been recovered — a two percent recovery rate. To date, IDN law enforcement has not successfully reco…