When Lucy Openshaw’s teacher mentioned to the class that she’d fallen victim to a scam over the phone, it got the 13-year-old thinking about how susceptible older generations are in a rapidly changing landscape. “Part of the issue is that sometimes they don’t really understand how a lot of modern technology works,” she explains.
For anyone who has had to ask their child or grandchild to figure out a new iPhone feature on their behalf, her observation might seem pertinent. So when Lucy and two of her friends in the seventh grade, Marcus Michael and Isla Hillam, were invited to take part in the Cyber Cup—a two-day, student-focused design challenge supported by industry mentors—the decision on what project to work on was an easy one.
Hosted by youth-led Perth non-profit Bloom, the Cyber Cup is dedicated to offering high-school students the chance to solve real-world cyber problems. “We’re passionate about building a pipeline of bold, creative and socially conscious change makers,” says Lisa Longman, Bloom’s director of innovation. “Our goal is to empower young people, particularly those who might not see themselves as ‘traditional’ entrepreneurs, to turn their ideas into impact.”
“If we can teach even a few people to recognise a scam message, that would be great.” - Isla Hillam
The team developed a concept to not only combat the prevalence of scams but to arm those who might be most vulnerable to them in the future. “There are things you should know to be able to protect yourself from scams that some adults don’t realise,” says Marcus. “For example, some people don’t know how to tell if a phone number is from Australia or not. If it’s not, there’s a higher chance it could be a scammer.”
