Experts from the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine talk about common scammers' techniques and how to avoid succumbing to their psychological influence and manipulation.
Social engineering is the study of human behavior and the factors that influence it, and is not a type of fraud in itself. However, scammers use social engineering techniques to manipulate victims into giving money, providing information, or taking certain actions.
«"Clicking on a particular link, downloading a particular file and then opening it. That is, these are all measures that encourage a person to take actions that he would not have taken without manipulation," notes Vitaliy Kuzmenko, Deputy Head of the Operational Support and Analysis Department of the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine.
Also, experts distinguish the method of "reverse social engineering".
This type of attack is aimed at creating a situation in which the victim will be forced to contact the attacker for help. For example, the scammer may send an email in advance with phone numbers and contacts, supposedly from the support service, after which, after some time, he may provoke problems in the victim's computer and simply wait for her call.
How to counter attackers who use social engineering methods online:
• Be critical of any offers from strangers, especially tempting ones;
• don't be afraid and don't rush to do what you are asked to do, or even more so what is demanded of you;
• be vigilant with unknown links and attachments – do not open them unnecessarily;
• do not work with personal data in the presence of strangers, especially card details (number, expiration date, CVV code, PIN code), passwords for logging into online banking, or any other passwords and codes sent in SMS messages;
• install and update your antivirus;
• use different passwords to access personal and corporate email, social networks, and banking applications.
Even such a minimal set of tips and rules will significantly increase your cybersecurity!
For more information about what social engineering is, watch the video.