Centennial College students are learning about today’s most complex social challenges, and applying that knowledge on the global stage. At the 24-Hour Conference on Global Organized Crime (OC24 Conference), hosted by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Centennial faculty and students participated in a panel on “pig-butchering” scams. These scams are a rapidly growing form of financial fraud linked to organized cybercrime. They disproportionately target older adults and other vulnerable populations through online romance and investment deception. The panel explored how the scams operate, why seniors are at greater risk, and how social service and public safety professionals can help. You can view the OC24 Conference panel here after registering.
Under the leadership of Dr. Delon Omrow, Associate Dean of Public Safety and Community Care, Centennial College students Julius Warnauth, Tamara Odushu, Emily Cullen and Chloe Choachuy gained rare, real-world experience by researching, presenting, and co-authoring a published article based on their work, which you can read here at the Digital Life Institute. The experience reflects two core pillars of a Centennial education: Giving students career experience, and advancing social good. We spoke to Dr. Omrow, along with Julius and Tamara, to learn how the panel came to be.
How Centennial College Secured a Spot on the OC24 Cybercrime Panel
Dr. Delon Omrow is the Associate Dean of Public Safety and Community Care at Centennial College. He holds a PhD in Environmental/Socio-legal studies and a master’s degree in criminology, with expertise in organized crime and transnational environmental crime. Beyond teaching, he actively advances crime prevention research and developed a database used by law practitioners for intelligence gathering. He continues to stay involved in his field while leading programs at Centennial College.
“I've been a collaborator with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime for about five years now,” Dr. Omrow explains. “Even during my postdoc at Ontario Tech University, the Dean and I hosted webinars and workshops with law enforcement in Uganda, the United States, and elsewhere. It's a wonderful community of inquiry and practice. There is a competition every year to submit a proposal, and I've participated for all five years.”
This year, he pitched a form of cybercrime called ‘pig butchering’ as the topic.
“What made me choose this particular topic is shared interest in the role that organized crime plays in facilitating these crimes,” Dr. Omrow says. “Pig butchering is a rather provocative term. It has to do a lot with cyber-crimes, cryptocurrency fraud, and of course these romance scams that have become so pervasive in the last 5 to 10 years as a result of the acceleration of technology.”
He credits his student collaborators with helping make the proposal a success.
“They brought great energy and that analytical wit that made the proposal strong and competitive,” he adds. “We were the only Canadian post-secondary educational institution that was accepted into this panel.”
Meet the Centennial College Students Selected for the OC24 Conference
Dr. Omrow selected four standout students from Centennial College’s public safety and community care programs. The panel featured Chloë Choachuy (Police and Public Safety Foundations), Emily Cullen (Community and Justice Services). Julius Warnauth (Social Service Worker) and Tamara Odushu (Developmental Services Worker).
“I'm studying Social Service Work at Centennial,” Julius says. “I decided it was partially my way of giving back to the community, but I also wanted to make an impact in the world.”
“I'm studying the Developmental Service Worker program,” Tamara says. “I chose the course because it aligns with my personal values, which include care, kindness, compassion, and advocacy for vulnerable populations.”
Dr. Omrow credits program coordinators with helping identify the students. “I immediately reached out once I found out that the proposal was accepted, and zeroed in on what the topic and themes would be. I reached out to my program coordinators and asked, who are your star students in the program?”
When asked why they were chosen, the students offered their own insights.
“Being a standout student comes from taking what we've learned and applying it not only in our own lives, but to things that are bigger than us,” Julius says. “So, going out of our way to ask questions in class, trying to understand things fully.”
“I think that it's also part of the reason too, and being passionate about what you love,” Tamara adds.
Student-Led Cybercrime Research at Centennial College
Once assembled, the four Centennial College students began researching cybercrime topics connected to their fields of study.
“Needless to say, this was a project that was based on research,” Julius says. “A lot of the work we did was compiling first-hand research that other people have done regarding pig butchering scams, as well as doing a little bit of our own, putting it all together, and then forming the presentation based on that. As for me specifically, I was also looking at cumulative disadvantage theory alongside Tamara, and we examined that and its relation to pig butchering itself.”
“For the presentation,” Tamara says, “I focused on looking for sources from people who were actually the victims of pig butchering scams, mostly the elderly, because they are part of the individuals who are vulnerable. And for the article, I also looked for major resources and research on individuals who are Canadians who are also victims of pig butchering scams and online AI scams.”
Dr. Omrow praises the students’ investigative approach. “Chloe, as a student in the Police Foundations program, brought that analytical lens for understanding how organized crime operates transnationally and the real impacts on people living nearby in the GTA. Emily kept the research accurate and sources up to date.”
“Dare I say the perfect choice was made,” Dr. Omrow adds. “Once I met the students and shared the idea for next steps, they were enthusiastic. The written piece was completed during the holiday break, and they worked tirelessly to submit it to the publisher at the Digital Life Institute on January 5th.”
Understanding “Pig-Butchering” Scams and Organized Cybercrime
“Pig butchering scams are an extension of organized cybercrime, where criminals establish a rapport with unsuspecting victims.” Dr. Omrow explains. “The metaphor of the pig and the butchering means you meet the victim, create a relationship through a romance scam or promise of fortune, fatten them up emotionally, and then go for the kill, cleaning them out of their life savings.”
The students’ article highlights many case studies.
“In the article that Tamara, Julius, Chloe and Emily worked on,” Dr. Omrow says, “there are cases of people exhausting their 401Ks in the United States and Canada, depleting retirement savings due to these scams.”
He also praises the students’ social service perspective
“I’ve really got to shout out Tamara and Julius,” he adds, “because they brought a very unique lens of social service work and developmental service work by looking at the role that these criminals play, especially in targeting marginalized communities and marginalized people within society. Tamara did a fantastic job of honing in on this idea of cumulative disadvantage, whereby the older you get, you might not be tech savvy, you might be living on your own, you might be developing some kind of disability, and that makes you extremely vulnerable to these types of scams. And Julius looked at the mitigation piece. What role do social service workers play? And how can our role as members of the care economy be leveraged to educate people on pig butchering scams, and also mitigate the impacts of these scams?”
Career-Ready Skills Gained through OC24
In addition to becoming published academic authors, the Centennial College students gained valuable career-ready skills through the OC24 panel, including research, public speaking, teamwork and advocacy, all critical for careers in social services, public safety and community care.
“Our presentation skills weren't initially top-notch,” Julius admits, “but thanks to Delon and his mentorship, he drove all of us to practice more. We pretty much nailed everything when it came to the actual presentation.”
“The experience helped me develop my teamwork skills, my research skills, and particularly my public speaking skills,” Tamara adds. “As a Developmental Services Worker, I am an advocate, so it actually helped me to improve on my public speaking in a respectful manner that can engage everyone and get across what we want to deliver.”
“As a future social service worker, and hopefully social worker,” Julius reflects, “public speaking shouldn't be something that deters me from the job.”
How the OC24 Panel Expanded Professional Networks for Centennial College Students
Participating in the OC24 panel also opened valuable professional and social opportunities for the students.
“After it was announced that we were doing this,” Julius explains, “just walking the halls, I've met students that haven't even talked to me before, that I haven't even known, but they're like, hey, aren't you Julius? And the number of conversations just about how serious of an issue that we were going to talk about would be, and just representing the social service worker program as a whole was a pretty surreal opportunity for me.”
Beyond networking, the students achieved a unique milestone: published academic work with their names on it.
“One of the things that was woefully lacking in my undergraduate studies, even my masters, I would say, was the opportunity to connect and to get that mentorship, to get that guidance and more importantly, published,” Dr. Omrow explains. “It's very unlikely you'd ever meet a college student who is a published author, and you've got four at your disposal here, Emily, Tamara, Julius and Chloe.”
“Just being given the opportunity to engage in such meaningful work goes a long way,” he adds. “This builds confidence, strengthens professional identity, and equips students with the skills required for whatever career they pursue after graduation.”
At Centennial College, learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. Students gain hands-on experience, collaborate on meaningful projects, and receive guidance from expert faculty, preparing them to tackle real-world challenges and make an immediate impact in their careers.
By Anthony Geremia