ABOUT

Remitly didn’t want to lecture British Pakistani communities about scams like a bank manager. So, they hired a hustler. Chabuddy G - the king of side-quests - flipped from scammer to whistleblower, hosting a pirate radio show called Don’t Get Scammed FM. From the back of a van, over Bhangra beats, he broke down real scam tactics with finance expert Bola Sol. No jargon. No finger-wagging. Just culture, comedy and cold hard truths. Launched during peak remittance season, the campaign delivered major earned impact: record search spikes, 123.7M reach and strong penetration in key South Asian communities.

BRIEF
Remitly wanted to build awareness and trust among British Pakistani communities sending money home to family overseas.

Research revealed that many people still relied on hawala, an informal trust-based money transfer system that can leave users vulnerable to fraud and scams.

The challenge wasn’t awareness of scams. It was trust in the messenger.

Traditional warnings from financial institutions often felt distant, judgemental and culturally disconnected. For Remitly to break through, it needed to communicate through culture, not corporate language.

CREATIVE

We built the campaign around a simple insight: to talk credibly about scams, we needed someone who understood them from the inside.

That person was Chabuddy G.

Known from People Just Do Nothing, Chabuddy represents a familiar hustler archetype within British Pakistani culture. For the campaign, we reimagined him in his “reformed” era, using his insider knowledge to expose scams rather than profit from them.

The result was Don’t Get Scammed FM, a 48-minute pirate radio-style show blending comedy, music and practical advice.

Broadcasting from the back of a van, Chabuddy teamed up with personal finance expert Bola Sol to unpack the realities of scams and informal money transfers through humour, storytelling and real community experiences.

The campaign launched during the Q4 remittance spike, when money movement and vulnerability to fraud are at their highest.

Supported by earned media, interviews, social amplification and a campaign hub, the work was designed to drive discovery organically within the communities most affected.

RESULTS AND EFFECTIVENESS

The campaign delivered strong earned performance and meaningful community reach:
Biggest spike in Remitly searches during 2025
51,000 unique visitors to the campaign landing page
168 pieces of coverage
123.7 million earned reach
100% positive sentiment
1,331 brand mentions
98% of coverage included a Remitly backlink

Regional analysis against ONS data also showed 45% penetration across key South Asian communities including Leicester, Bradford, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Blackburn, Slough and London.