Social Engineering — The Art Of Hacking Humans

Social engineering is the technique by which an attacker can make a person do something that is not usually in their best interest. In this article, we will look at a few common ways Social Engineers try to manipulate you.

Disclaimer: My articles are purely educational. If you read them and cause damage to someone, that's on you. I don't encourage any malicious activity or black hat practices.

Remember the Nigerian scammers sending you emails about the rich prince that needs your help? All you had to do was transfer a thousand dollars in exchange for a multi-million dollar fortune.

There are similar scams that have circulated the internet: The IRS scam, Lottery scams, and so on. These are broadly classified as the Advance offer scams. You have something waiting for you but you have to pay an advance to receive it.

To the average person, these will seem like poorly executed scam attacks, but these scams have made thousands of people lose their hard-earned money. In some cases, their life savings.

Social engineering is the act of manipulating someone into divulging information or doing something. This action is usually…