What is Social Engineering?

Publication Date: 03/01/2025

Modus Operandi

Social engineering is a manipulation tactic used by criminals to exploit human psychology and obtain confidential information from unsuspecting victims. Criminals know that the weakest link in the security chain is a human and will pose as technical support engineer, or bank staff, and will exploit the victim’s inclination to trust. The victim then willingly divulges any information requested by the criminal. Victims are sometimes manipulated by criminals pretending to be technical support engineers, who instruct them to follow steps to “fix” their computer. The victim then unwittingly installs malware, which sends their personal or confidential information back to the criminal.

Tips

• Keep your software up to date, using the latest security patches available.
  Ensure that you have the latest antivirus software applications installed on your computer.
• Do not give control of your computer to a third party who calls you unexpectedly.
• Do not rely on call line identification (CID) alone to authenticate a caller. Criminals spoof CID numbers. They might seem to be calling from a real company or a local number, even if they’re not in your country.
• Never share your password, credit card, or financial information with anyone claiming to be tech support over the phone.
• If you’re concerned about your computer, call a reputed security software company directly and ask for help.
• Never respond to emails appearing to be from your bank that request your personal details. No bank will ever ask you to confirm or update your account details via email.
• Do not click on links or icons in unsolicited email.
• Never provide your online ID, password or PIN to anyone.
• Change your PIN and passwords frequently.
• Place sensible transaction limits on your accounts.