A Study of Cybersecurity Awareness Among Digitally Less Literate People with A Community-Driven Fraud Reporting Application

The widespread use of mobile phones for payments, social media, online shopping, and banking has significantly increased exposure to cyber fraud, particularly among individuals with limited digital literacy.Such individuals often struggle to distinguish genuine communication from fraudulent attempts, making them vulnerable to impersonation calls, phishing links, and requests for sensitive information such as One-Time Passwords (OTPs), UPI PINs, or bank details.This research examines the level of cybersecurity awareness among digitally less literate people, focusing on common fraud scenarios encountered in daily life, including fake calls, OTP fraud, UPI fraud, and impersonation of officials or company representatives.As part of this study, a community-driven mobile application is proposed to assist users in identifying suspicious phone numbers.The application allows users to check whether a number has been previously reported for fraud, submit their own reports with supporting details, and view administrator-verified warnings when a number accumulates multiple approved reports.The application further educates users through simple, visual explanations of common fraud types and appropriate protective responses.To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, participants' awareness levels are assessed through a pre-intervention questionnaire, followed by exposure to the application and its awareness material, and a subsequent post-intervention assessment.Comparing the two results enables measurement of improvement in participants' ability to recognize and respond to suspicious situations.This study aims to highlight the challenges faced by digitally less literate individuals and to demonstrate the potential of a simple, accessible application in strengthening their preparedness against cyber fraud.