PROS: Performances to Reduce Online Scams

 About PROS

The goal of the "Performances to Reduce Online Scams (PROS)" project is to collect data directly from older adults and offer them targeted assistance in the form of an interactive theater play in order to prevent online scams. 

Led by Katalin Parti, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, co-PI, Pamela Teaster, professor and director of the Center for Gerontology, Susanna Rinehart, associate professor of Performance at the School of Performing Arts, Mason Rosenthal, instructor, post-MFA fellow, School of Performing Arts, and Charles Dye, associate professor of Cinema Production at the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech.

Members

Interview Videos

Where it was performed

Short videos from the show 2023

Photos

Publications

Parti, K., Tahir, F., Teaster, P. (Forthcoming). The Wisdom of the Scammed: Redefining Older Fraud Victim Support by Utilizing the Ecological Systems Framework. Security Journal.

Parti, K., Silis, S., Teaster, P., Rinehart, S., & Dye, C. (2025). “This Is Not a Scam!” Assessment of an Awareness Raising Program Tackling Older Adults’ Scam Victimization in a Multi-Method Study, Journal of Qualitative Criminology and Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.21428/88de04a1.551ea5eb 

Parti, K. (2024). "This is not a scam!" A mixed methods evaluation of findings of an interactive theatre production about scams victimizing older people. REPORT. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/items/8ae92c69-0c9c-4da2-abda-cf2708fceb14

Parti, K. (2023). What is a capable guardian to older fraud victims? Comparison of younger and older victims’ characteristics of online fraud utilizing routine activity theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1118741

Parti, K. & Tahir, F. (2023) “If We Don’t Listen to Them, We Make Them Lose More than Money”: Exploring Reasons for Underreporting and the Needs of Older Scam Victims. Social Sciences, 12(5), https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050264

Parti, K. (2022). “Elder Scam” Risk Profiles: Individual and Situational Factors of Younger and Older Age Groups’ Fraud Victimization. International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime 5 (3), 20-40. https://vc.bridgew.edu/ijcic/vol5/iss3/3/

News Articles

Helpful Resources

• How to Avoid Scam sourced by the Federal Trade Commission
• Update Scam List- USA.gov
• Resources to report scams - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Reduce the number of personal spam calls - National Do Not call registry

Community Partners

• Warm Hearth Village, Blacksburg, VA
• Hamner Theatre, Crozet, VA
• Center for Combating Elder Financial Abuse (ENDEFA)
• AARP Virginia Chapter
• Joeloe Productions, Blacksburg, VA

Are you 60+? Have you or someone you know been victim of scams and would like to share with us how it happened? Please reach out to kparti@vt.edu to schedule an interview.

If you are a representative of a local community and would like to ask for an interactive presentation, please reach out to kparti@vt.edu

Sponsor Message

If you are a potential sponsor, please reach out to PI Katalin Parti: kparti@vt.edu

Sponsors

• Institute of Creativity Arts and Technology at Virginia Tech (2021-2022) 
• Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech (2022)
• Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention at Virginia Tech (2022)
• Commonwealth Cyber Initiative CyberArts Grant in Virginia (2023-24)

Contact

Dr. Katalin Parti (PI):  kparti@vt.edu