HeartGuard VR

Octavia Lea; Lynsay A. Shepherd; Andrea Szymkowiak

HeartGuard VR

Octavia Lea (Developer)
, Lynsay A. Shepherd^* (Contributor)
, Andrea Szymkowiak (Contributor)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Cybersecurity and Computing

Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products

Abstract

Romance scams are a form of social engineering whereby a scammer leads victims to believe they are in a romantic relationship before making a monetary request. Victims suffer a "double-hit": the loss of what felt like a real relationship, in addition to the financial aspect of the scam. Law enforcement and dating platforms frequently run campaigns about romance scams, explaining how to spot potential scammers; this information is often text- based and may not be perceived as engaging. This document presents HeartGuard VR, an immersive virtual reality (VR) serious game experience that explores tactics used by romance scammers in an effort to educate the public about how these scams are carried out and how they can protect themselves.

Supporting publication: Lea, O., Shepherd, L. A., Szymkowiak, A. 2024. HeartGuard VR: immersive romance scam education. In: A. Schönbohm, A. Bucchiarone, F. de Rosa, M. Ninaus, A. Wang, V. Wanick, & P. Dondio (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance: 13th International Conference, GALA 2024, Berlin, Germany, November 20–22, 2024, proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 15348). Springer.

Original language	English
Publisher	itch.io
Media of output	Online
Size	150Mb
Publication status	Published - 5 Dec 2024

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Romance fraud
Romance scams
Human-computer interaction
Serious games
Applied games
Cybersecurity
Virtual reality
Immersive experiences

Access to Document

https://lynsay.itch.io/heartguardvr

Cite this

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N2 - Romance scams are a form of social engineering whereby a scammer leads victims to believe they are in a romantic relationship before making a monetary request. Victims suffer a "double-hit": the loss of what felt like a real relationship, in addition to the financial aspect of the scam. Law enforcement and dating platforms frequently run campaigns about romance scams, explaining how to spot potential scammers; this information is often text- based and may not be perceived as engaging. This document presents HeartGuard VR, an immersive virtual reality (VR) serious game experience that explores tactics used by romance scammers in an effort to educate the public about how these scams are carried out and how they can protect themselves. Supporting publication: Lea, O., Shepherd, L. A., Szymkowiak, A. 2024. HeartGuard VR: immersive romance scam education. In: A. Schönbohm, A. Bucchiarone, F. de Rosa, M. Ninaus, A. Wang, V. Wanick, & P. Dondio (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance: 13th International Conference, GALA 2024, Berlin, Germany, November 20–22, 2024, proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 15348). Springer.

AB - Romance scams are a form of social engineering whereby a scammer leads victims to believe they are in a romantic relationship before making a monetary request. Victims suffer a "double-hit": the loss of what felt like a real relationship, in addition to the financial aspect of the scam. Law enforcement and dating platforms frequently run campaigns about romance scams, explaining how to spot potential scammers; this information is often text- based and may not be perceived as engaging. This document presents HeartGuard VR, an immersive virtual reality (VR) serious game experience that explores tactics used by romance scammers in an effort to educate the public about how these scams are carried out and how they can protect themselves. Supporting publication: Lea, O., Shepherd, L. A., Szymkowiak, A. 2024. HeartGuard VR: immersive romance scam education. In: A. Schönbohm, A. Bucchiarone, F. de Rosa, M. Ninaus, A. Wang, V. Wanick, & P. Dondio (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance: 13th International Conference, GALA 2024, Berlin, Germany, November 20–22, 2024, proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 15348). Springer.

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ER -

HeartGuard VR

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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HeartGuard VR: immersive romance scam education

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