# Escape The Hack: Countering Cyber Scams with an Immersive Experience for Everyday Indonesians

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/pas-jakarta-fy26-04-escape-the-hack-countering-cyber-scams-with-an/  
Official notice: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/362863

> U.S. Mission to Indonesia offered grants of up to $300,000 (at least $100,000) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make one award worth $300,000 in total. Applications closed on August 7, 2026.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Opportunity number | PAS-JAKARTA-FY26-04 |
| Agency | U.S. Mission to Indonesia |
| Status | Forecast |
| Deadline | August 7, 2026 |
| Award ceiling | $300,000 |
| Award floor | $100,000 |
| Expected awards | 1 |
| Total funding | $300,000 |
| Cost sharing | not required |
| Assistance Listings | 19.040 |

## Who can apply

- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Eligible ApplicantsThe following organizations are eligible to apply:● Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations, foundations● Public and private educational institutions● Individuals● Public International Organizations and Governmental institutionsFor-profit entities, even those that may fall into the categories listed above, are not eligible to apply for this NOFO.

## What the grant funds

Indonesia faces a pervasive and evolving cybercrime threat, with online scams growing in number and sophistication – while U.S. families continue to lose their life’s savings to international cybercrime, totaling over $12 billions in financial losses in 2023 alone. Unlike scam compounds in mainland Southeast Asia, criminal scam operations in Indonesia are decentralized and embedded within transnational networks. Thousands of Indonesian nationals have worked in scam compounds in Cambodia, Burma, and Laos, and there is now concern crackdowns in other countries prompting a wave of experienced Indonesian scammers to return home to establish new operations in collaboration with Chinese and other scam groups. To strengthen its efforts in combating scams, Indonesia established an Anti-Scam Center (IASC) in 2024 to respond to citizen complaints, block fraudulent transactions, and recover victim funds. IASC data shows an average of 1,300 complaints per day. The IASC reports approximately $500 million in victim losses from November 2025 to March 2026, of which only $9.75 million has been recovered — a two percent recovery rate. To date, IDN law enforcement has not successfully recovered funds for U.S. victims. Officials state that victims’ delayed reporting (average of 24-48 hours) to the IASC and Indonesian National Police (INP) significantly contributes to law enforcement's inability to recover victim funds. Faster reporting directly correlates with higher asset recovery rates, as fraudulent transactions can be blocked before funds are transferred across multiple accounts or jurisdictions. In addition to harming U.S. citizens, digital fraud hurts U.S. companies as cybercrimes increasingly rely on direct messaging, platform-specific targeting, and syndicate-level tactics, with social media platforms emerging as a major channel for phishing, malicious APK files, fake investment groups, video-call extortion, and account takeovers. Criminal scam groups also tailor tactics across platforms, using Facebook for marketplace, romance, and fake job scams; Instagram for fake investments and impersonation, other platforms are used for donation scams, quick-wealth schemes, and deepfakes. Criminals support these schemes with technical infrastructure such as lookalike domains, fake sub-domains, shortened links, QR-code redirects, free SSL certificates, and resilient hosting to make fraudulent sites appear legitimate and harder to disrupt.

## Questions people ask

### Is PAS-JAKARTA-FY26-04 still open?

No. It closed on August 7, 2026.

### Who can apply for Escape The Hack: Countering Cyber Scams with an Immersive Experience for Everyday Indonesians?

U.S. Mission to Indonesia accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

### What is the deadline for Escape The Hack: Countering Cyber Scams with an Immersive Experience for Everyday Indonesians?

Closed August 7, 2026. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

### How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $300,000 each. About $300,000 in total for one award.

### Who has won Public Diplomacy Programs grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees, Meridian International Center, American Councils for International Education: Actr/Accels, Inc. The program made 13,489 awards worth $358 million in that time.