Social engineering scams come in many forms, but most social engineering examples follow a similar playbook—manipulating human emotions like trust, fear, or curiosity to deceive victims into revealing sensitive information. Cybercriminals don’t need fancy code to slip past security. They exploit trust, fear, curiosity, and urgency, turning everyday interactions into security nightmares. Here’s how they pull it off:
1. Phishing: The digital bait-and-switch
Imagine getting an email from your bank claiming your account is locked. Panic sets in, and before you think twice, you’ve clicked the link, entered your login, and—boom—your credentials are in a scammer’s hands.
Common phishing tactics:
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Urgent language (“Your account is in danger!”)
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Spoofed sender addresses (it looks legit)
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Fake login pages (a pixel-perfect trap)
2. Tailgating: The door-to-door con
Sometimes, the easiest way into a system is literally through the physical front door. Tailgating happens when an attacker follows an employee into a restricted area by pretending to belong there.
How they pull it off:
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Pretending to be a delivery driver
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Carrying fake credentials
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Flashing a convincing smile
3. Business email compromise: The costly deception
Imagine your CEO sending you an urgent email asking for an updated vendor payment or a wire transfer. It appears legit—the right name, business logo, even the tone is recognizable. The catch is that it’s a scam.
Business email compromise (BEC) is a highly targeted type of cyber fraud where threat actors pose as trusted people like partners, executives, or vendors. BEC scams are carefully crafted, often using stolen credentials to bypass traditional security measures, making them different from phishing attacks, which cast a wider net.
How it works:
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Find the target: Attackers research company executives, LinkedIn profiles, and press releases to identify who has access to sensitive data.
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Set the trap: They either spoof an executive’s email address or gain access to a real email account through phishing, credential misuse, or malware.
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Begin the manipulation: Once inside, they craft convincing messages that exploit urgency or authority, like impersonating the CEO requesting a wire transfer.
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Convince the employee: The employee believes the request is legit, and complies by sending the money. Once fraud is detected, it’s too late, as funds have already been laundered through multiple accounts.
4. Baiting: The too-good-to-be-true-trick
Have you ever picked up a free USB drive from a trade show? How do you know it wasn’t planted by an attacker? Baiting lures victims with promises of free gadgets and downloads, exclusive deals, or enticing software, all laced with malware.
Examples of baiting:
