Social Engineering and Social Media

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into giving up confidential information. The types of information social engineers seek varies, but typical tactics trick victims into giving them the victim’s passwords or banking information. Sometimes the social engineer manipulates the victim to access the victim’s computer and secretly install malicious software in order to give them access to the victim’s passwords and banking information as well as giving them control over the computer or mobile device.

Criminals use social engineering tactics because it is usually easier to exploit a victim’s natural inclination to trust than it is to discover ways to hack software. For example, it is generally simpler to fool someone into giving up their password than it is to try hacking their password.

Social engineers manipulate a person into giving them personal or sensitive information.

Fraud Schemes

Criminals use Social Media sites to pass off fraud schemes such as investment dealings. They create pages that seem legitimate but are actually traps to entice possible investors.

Phishing Schemes

Criminals use Social Media to steal personal information such as logins and passwords from people in an attempt to commit identity theft. The primary method used is to send fraudulent links across followers/friends of an account in hopes of people clicking on the link which will then log the password and login of those users.

Data mining

Companies use Social Media to collect vast amounts of data from the people using the sites. This information is then sorted and used in identity theft and other fraudulent schemes.