Social Engineering on the Internet: How Scammers Manipulate People

When visiting internet resources, every user is confident that they will not fall for scammers and will not be deceived because they are cautious. But few suspect that scammers are good manipulators and psychologists. By studying social engineering, they can easily gain the victim's trust and manipulate their actions.

Social Engineering and Internet Scammers

Social engineering is a method of manipulating a person by exploiting their weaknesses, allowing scammers to make the victim perform the actions they need. They use the method of trust to gain the victim's personal information.

Internet scammers use social engineering methods in various ways:

• phone calls;
• phishing emails;
• sending text SMS messages.

Why does a person react to a scammer and start trusting them? The answer is simple, in most cases, internet scammers pose as:

• a person known to the victim;
• bank employees;
• law enforcement representatives;
• social service or tax office workers.

Scammers' Manipulations on the Internet 

No matter how the scammer attacks the victim, their main goal is to gain the victim's trust to obtain information by putting pressure on them. Skillful use of social engineering allows scammers to make the victim reveal personal data, make a payment, or purchase unnecessary goods.

Sometimes scams are carried out on a large scale involving a group of people simultaneously. To achieve their goals, scammers use advertising and fake sites on social networks, where links to fraudulent applications are posted. Such advertising products contain enticing offers:

• large discount on goods;
• promotional offers;
• profitable investments;
• quick big earnings;
• prizes for participating in surveys;
• questionnaires to receive a discount.

A person may not immediately realize that they have become a victim of scammers because the people offering favorable conditions seemed friendly.

How to Protect Against Social Engineering

To protect against social engineering, you should follow some rules:

• do not participate in overly tempting promotions and offers;
• keep bank account and card information confidential;
• do not disclose information to strangers, be careful about disclosing personal data;
• do not share passwords and PIN codes from banking or bank cards;
• do not transfer funds to people who put pressure on you;
• verify information about a company with a limited-time promotion;
• do not rush to buy goods, pay attention to the literacy of the interlocutor in correspondence;
• do not visit official sites through additional links sent in emails or received on social networks;
• do not share information with people who suddenly appear in your life;
• always log out of your account before closing a financial site;
• do not save passwords on websites, it's better to enter them anew each time.

Online Social Engineering Methods 

Online social engineering methods on the internet are very effective because scammers use ways to play on human emotions, such as compassion, fear, desire to help, love.

To gain the victim's trust and make them, against their will, follow instructions. Scammers present themselves as different personalities.

Various methods of psychological pressure are used here, they may play on the fact that a relative is in trouble or in a serious condition in the hospital. A man may pretend to be in love and turn out to be a marriage swindler who can extract money. They act aggressively, talking about an urgent payment and inevitable card or phone blocking, driving the victim to a psychological breakdown and using pressure to achieve their goal.

This state of the victim is called frustration, they start trusting the scammer. This leads to the disclosure of personal data, incomprehensible monetary investments, or payments.

Social Engineering: How Not to Become a Victim

To avoid becoming a victim of social engineering, you should show:

• composure;
• control over your emotions,
• not chasing easy gains;

If you receive offers of quick earnings, do not fall for such proposals. It is clear that with minimal investment, there will be no significant income, so attentiveness should outweigh emotionality. Caution when communicating with unfamiliar people by phone or on social networks should also be a priority.

Types of Scammers' Manipulations

During a scam, scammers use various types of manipulations with a person's psychological state:

• apply moral pressure,
• pretend to be a friend;
• play on pity
• evoke compassion;
• ask for help.

Various tricks are used while the scammer probes the situation and looks for ways to influence the victim. It may take some time, which allows the victim to orient themselves and refuse further cooperation.