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What Social Engineering Is and Why It Works
What Social Engineering Is and Why It Works Social engineering is tricking people into giving information or access. No exploit needed, just human nature. People want to be helpful, especially under pressure or when someone sounds like authority. A caller pretends to be “IT support” and asks for you
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What this card says
What it is
Social engineering is tricking people into giving information or access. No exploit needed, just human nature.
Why it works
People want to be helpful, especially under pressure or when someone sounds like authority.
Example
A caller pretends to be “IT support” and asks for your password to “fix” your account.
The fix is to verify by calling back on an official number.
| Trigger | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Authority | "I am calling from the bank / your manager / income tax." |
| Urgency / fear | "Your account will be blocked in 10 minutes!" |
| Greed / reward | "You won ₹10,00,000 – click to claim." |
| Trust / familiarity | A message that looks like it is from a friend or a known… |
| Helpfulness | "I am new here, can you just let me in / share the OTP?" |
Learn more in the lesson: 27.1 What Social Engineering Is and Why It Works