Dubai is taking a more creative approach to cybersecurity awareness. The Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) has officially concluded its “Don’t Get Played” campaign, recording more than 15,000 website users and 22,000 sessions while engaging communities through interactive activities, digital storytelling and partnerships with more than 30 cafés and restaurants across the emirate. Beyond its public awareness achievements, the campaign’s closing ceremony marked another important development: the signing of seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to strengthen cybersecurity collaboration, develop national talent and expand professional training and knowledge exchange. As online scams, identity impersonation and AI-generated deepfakes become increasingly convincing, Dubai is reinforcing an important message: Pause. Verify. Don’t Get Played.
Dubai is taking a more creative approach to cybersecurity awareness, bringing online safety messages into everyday community life.
The Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) has officially concluded its “Don’t Get Played” campaign, launched in October alongside Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The initiative combined digital storytelling, interactive activities, public competitions and partnerships with local businesses to help residents recognise increasingly convincing online scams.
The campaign recorded 15,134 website users and 22,003 sessions through its digital content and interactive experiences. It also attracted more than 500 competition entries, with a total prize pool of AED 230,000.
But the announcement goes beyond campaign statistics. At its closing ceremony, DESC confirmed the signing of seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with partner organisations, extending the initiative into a wider programme of cybersecurity collaboration, professional development and knowledge exchange.
For Dubai’s cybersecurity ecosystem, the agreements signal a continued effort to connect public awareness with the development of the people and capabilities needed to protect an increasingly digital economy.
Meet Yado Salama: A Different Face of Cybersecurity Awareness
One of the campaign’s most distinctive elements was “Yado Salama”, a virtual Emirati grandmother created to communicate cybersecurity lessons through familiar cultural references and everyday situations.
Rather than relying on traditional warnings or technical explanations, the character used storytelling to help audiences recognise the signs of fraud.
Across five weeks, Yado Salama introduced four fictional scammer characters, each representing a different fraud tactic. These included identity impersonation, fraudulent messages, misleading offers and AI-generated deepfakes.
The central message was simple: “Pause. Verify. Don’t Get Played.”
The approach reflects an important shift in how cybersecurity awareness is delivered. People are more likely to engage with security advice when they can connect it to situations they encounter in their daily lives.
A suspicious message claiming to come from a bank, an unexpected prize notification, a fake delivery update or a voice message that appears to come from a family member can all create moments in which people act before checking the facts.
Yado Salama was designed to make those moments easier to recognise.
From QR Codes to Coffee Shops: Bringing Scam Awareness Into Everyday Life
DESC also experimented with practical ways to demonstrate how easily people can be attracted to suspicious digital offers.
One initiative used QR codes and a fictional free-coffee promotion to simulate the type of attractive offer that can lead users towards untrusted links.
The exercise highlighted a familiar problem: people often scan QR codes or click promotional links without first checking where they lead.
The campaign also included an interactive activation at Al Khawaneej Walk from October 22 to 30, where visitors could test their ability to identify cyber scams.
More than 30 cafés and restaurants across Dubai joined the initiative, helping bring cybersecurity awareness into everyday community settings.
This community-based approach is particularly relevant because cyber fraud is no longer limited to technical environments. It increasingly reaches people through social media, messaging applications, QR codes, online shopping platforms and everyday digital services.
Seven MoUs: Moving From Awareness to Cybersecurity Capability Development
Perhaps the most important long-term development from the campaign is the announcement of seven Memoranda of Understanding between DESC and partner organisations.
The agreements are intended to expand cooperation in several areas, including:
- Developing national cybersecurity talent and specialised professional capabilities.
- Delivering cybersecurity training programmes and workshops.
- Organising conferences and knowledge-sharing activities.
- Conducting cyber simulation exercises.
- Sharing expertise, experience and industry best practices.
- Strengthening institutional cooperation and national cyber readiness.
- Promoting a stronger cybersecurity culture across the community.
The seven agreements represent an opportunity to connect awareness initiatives with more structured capability development.
Cybersecurity awareness helps individuals recognise threats, but a resilient digital ecosystem also requires skilled professionals, capable institutions, effective incident-response processes and collaboration between government and industry.
The MoUs are intended to support these wider objectives. DESC has not detailed the individual agreements or identified all seven partner organisations in the announcement, so their specific responsibilities and implementation timelines should be confirmed through subsequent disclosures.
DESC: Collaboration Is Essential to Building a Cyber-Resilient Dubai
Commenting on the campaign’s outcome, H.E. Amer Sharaf, CEO of Cybersecurity Systems and Services at the Dubai Electronic Security Center, highlighted the importance of using innovative approaches to communicate cybersecurity messages.
He noted that Yado Salama helped simplify complex awareness messages by connecting them with familiar everyday situations, making it easier for community members to recognise fraud tactics.
Sharaf also emphasised that the seven MoUs reaffirm DESC’s commitment to developing cybersecurity capabilities, exchanging expertise and expanding cooperation with partners.
The broader ambition, he said, is to support Dubai’s vision of becoming the safest city in cyberspace.
This direction reflects the growing importance of cybersecurity as an economic and public-service priority. As government services, financial transactions, businesses and personal activities become increasingly digital, protecting the ecosystem requires more than technology alone.
It also requires informed users, trained professionals and coordinated action.
Why This Matters for the UAE and the Wider Middle East and Africa
Dubai’s campaign offers an interesting example for other governments and organisations across the Middle East and Africa looking to improve cybersecurity awareness.
Across the region, digital transformation is creating new opportunities in financial services, e-government, telecommunications, healthcare, education and commerce. At the same time, these developments increase the number of people and organisations exposed to phishing, identity fraud, social engineering and increasingly convincing AI-generated scams.
The challenge is not simply to tell people to be careful online. Awareness programmes need to demonstrate what fraud looks like, explain how manipulation works and give people practical ways to verify suspicious requests.
For businesses, the same principles apply internally. Employees are often the first people to encounter fraudulent emails, fake supplier requests, impersonation attempts or suspicious links. A single mistake can expose corporate credentials, financial information or sensitive business systems.
For cybersecurity service providers, training organisations, technology companies and academic institutions, the seven MoUs also highlight opportunities to contribute to the region’s cybersecurity talent pipeline.
The next step will be translating these cooperation agreements into measurable programmes, practical training opportunities and stronger institutional capabilities.
Ten Cybersecurity Lessons Individuals and Organisations Should Take Away
The campaign’s message can be translated into practical actions for both everyday users and corporate security teams.
1. Pause before responding to urgent requests.
Fraudsters frequently create a sense of urgency to prevent people from thinking clearly. Treat unexpected demands for money, credentials or sensitive information with caution.
2. Verify identities independently.
If someone claims to represent a bank, government department, supplier or senior executive, contact them through an independently verified telephone number or official communication channel.
3. Never trust a link simply because it looks familiar.
Check website addresses carefully before entering passwords, payment details or personal information. Be particularly cautious with shortened links and unexpected QR codes.
4. Treat AI-generated voices and videos with caution.
A familiar voice or convincing video is not sufficient proof of identity. Verify unusual financial or sensitive requests through another trusted channel.
5. Enable multi-factor authentication.
Use MFA on email, banking, business applications and other important accounts. Prefer phishing-resistant authentication methods where available.
6. Protect personal and corporate information.
Avoid sharing passwords, one-time verification codes, identity documents or confidential business information in response to unsolicited requests.
7. Establish clear financial verification procedures.
Organisations should require independent confirmation for changes to supplier bank details, urgent payments and unusual financial instructions.
8. Keep devices and applications updated.
Apply security updates to operating systems, browsers, mobile applications and business software to reduce exposure to known vulnerabilities.
9. Report suspicious activity quickly.
Encourage employees and members of the public to report suspected phishing, impersonation, fraudulent websites and compromised accounts without fear of blame.
10. Make cybersecurity awareness continuous.
Move beyond annual presentations. Use regular awareness sessions, simulated phishing exercises, practical demonstrations and role-specific cybersecurity training to build lasting security habits.
Organisations seeking to strengthen their security posture can also explore Saintynet Cybersecurity for cybersecurity consulting, professional training, vulnerability management and security awareness initiatives.
Beyond One Campaign: The Importance of Sustained Cybersecurity Awareness
The success of “Don’t Get Played” demonstrates the value of making cybersecurity understandable, accessible and relevant to everyday life.
The combination of a culturally familiar virtual character, public engagement, competitions and community partnerships gave the campaign a different approach from conventional awareness programmes.
However, the real measure of success will come after the campaign ends.
Will people become more likely to verify suspicious messages? Will businesses introduce stronger procedures against impersonation and payment fraud? Will the seven MoUs lead to new training programmes, specialised cybersecurity talent and practical collaboration?
These are the outcomes that will determine the campaign’s longer-term value.
For DESC and its partners, the next opportunity is to maintain the momentum through measurable initiatives, regular engagement and continued investment in cybersecurity capabilities.
Final Thoughts
Dubai’s “Don’t Get Played” campaign has brought cybersecurity awareness closer to the community, reaching more than 15,000 website users and generating over 22,000 sessions.
Its seven newly announced MoUs add another dimension to the initiative, focusing on training, talent development, knowledge exchange and institutional cooperation.
The message is relevant well beyond Dubai: technology alone cannot create a secure digital society. People must understand the risks, organisations must build the right capabilities, and institutions must work together.
As AI makes digital impersonation and fraud increasingly convincing, the ability to pause, verify and act responsibly is becoming an essential part of everyday digital life.
Pause. Verify. Don’t Get Played.
Stay informed. Stay secure.
