![]() Pretexting schemes that involve physical access to a building or facility often use tailgating or piggybacking to do so. Social engineering pretexting often carries an elaborate backstory so incorporating smishing as part of a pretexting cyber security attack is common. ![]() If smishing is used as part of a pretexting scheme, the SMS might be something simple and seemingly harmless to set the stage for a larger attack. Likewise, smishing, or SMS phishing, happens when a predator tries to lure you into a scheme using text messages. Phishing has grown into such a big cyber security problem that vishing - voice phishing - has been categorized as its own subgroup. Finally, an SMS arrives with a seemingly legit payment link to steal your money. This might then be followed up by another email about contributing toward a gift. Phishing attacks try to trick people into clicking malicious links.įor example, a pretexting scenario might be established by a phishing email inviting you to a surprise party for someone you vaguely know, such as a colleague from another department. But unlike regular phishing ploys, social engineering pretexting often uses a more focused spear phishing attack as a way of initiating and sustaining a connection over a longer period of time. The vast majority of pretexting scams involve phishing attacks designed to trick people into revealing personal information or clicking on a link that may lead to a malware infection. Let’s take a look at some of the specific techniques that may be used as part of a pretexting scam Phishing Pretexting scams can use social engineering tactics to take advantage of a victim’s emotions.īecause this kind of social engineering attack relies entirely on a victim's belief in the pretexting story - and willingness to comply with the attacker’s requests - when planning a pretexting attack, fraudsters usually seek to target victims that are:ĭepending on who they’re targeting, and what kind of data they’re after, scammers leverage an entire playbook of pretexting tactics. These stories tap into a victim’s emotions and suspend any suspicions they may have. Pretexting tactics usually involve a scammer playing a convincing character that’s used to develop a fake, but plausible, story that the victim can relate to. Instead, pretexting scammers take advantage of people's trust and trick them into compromising their own security by freely divulging private information. Unlike other cyber-threats, pretexting attacks don’t rely on computer hacking or other technical methods to breach systems. Pretexting attack - social engineering techniques This helps manipulate the victim into accepting the scammer's story and sharing sensitive data such as account passwords, social security numbers, and even credit card details. The element of the pretexting definition that sets it aside from other forms of social engineering is the highly detailed or specific story - the pretext - the scammer creates.
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