Administratively Terminated Award
NSF Org:	ITE Innovation and Technology Ecosystems
Recipient:	THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Initial Amendment Date:	September 15, 2022
Latest Amendment Date:	April 29, 2025
Award Number:	2230494
Award Instrument:	Cooperative Agreement
Program Manager:	Michael Reksulak mreksula@nsf.gov  (703)292-8326 ITE  Innovation and Technology Ecosystems TIP  Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships
Start Date:	September 15, 2022
End Date:	April 18, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$5,000,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$5,000,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2022 = $2,500,000.00 FY 2023 = $2,500,000.00
History of Investigator:	Siwei Lyu (Principal Investigator) siweilyu@buffalo.edu Darren Linvill (Co-Principal Investigator) Natalya Bazarova (Co-Principal Investigator) Anita Nikolich (Co-Principal Investigator) Dominic DiFranzo (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	SUNY at Buffalo 520 LEE ENTRANCE STE 211 AMHERST NY  US  14228-2577 (716)645-2634
Sponsor Congressional District:	26
Primary Place of Performance:	SUNY at Buffalo 520 LEE ENTRANCE STE 211 AMHERST NY  US  14228-2577
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	26
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	LMCJKRFW5R81
Parent UEI:	GMZUKXFDJMA9
NSF Program(s):	Convergence Accelerator Resrch
Primary Program Source:	01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	131Y00
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.084

ABSTRACT

As one of the most vexing problems of the century, we are witnessing the escalating speed, scale, and level of sophistication of online deception (spear phishing and catfishing scams, personal information hunting schemes, fake content, impersonation, and disinformation on social media) that have severe consequences (ransomware attack, financial loss, and breach of private information). The most vulnerable demographic is older adults, who are disproportionately targeted for online exploitation, manipulation, and fraud resulting in significant financial loss and emotional distress. Deception Awareness and Resilience Training (DART) aims to equip older adults with the tools they need to recognize various forms of online deception and help others in their social circle avoid or mitigate harm. Designed by experts in education, psychology, communication, cybersecurity, and media studies, the DART curriculum contains high-quality and timely synthetic contents and real-world scenarios. The DART project team includes experts in psychology, communications and media, economics, cybersecurity, computer science, game design, synthetic media, and aging studies. DART deliverables will be developed by a professional development team and tested with older adults.

The DART system consists of two complementary components: (1) DART Learn: a web-based structured, dynamic, and self-paced learning program on online deceptions. (2) DART Practice: an interactive social media simulation that provides a safe and realistic platform for the users to practice what they learned about online deception. (3) DART Play: a set of simple, fun mobile Games on mobile platforms (iOS and Android) designed to familiarize older adults with common deceptions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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