In a world in which bad news dominates, social engineering scams that carry a promise of good news can be incredibly lucrative for cyber criminals.
In one recent example, fraudsters set up a phony job posting using a real recruiter as the contact person for the hiring process. Applicants hoping for a chance at the too-good-to-be-true position were instead talking with a fake email address. About 100 people applied, with many submitting very personal and private information.
The LinkedIn scam is just one of many in a long line of never-ending social engineering examples that exploit our human desire for good news. And because these campaigns are successful, we will continue to see them spread for years to come.
These scams seem to work well on the general public, but surely they can’t be as lucrative in the enterprise setting. Or can they? Why do we keep falling for them? What can businesses and agencies do to level up their social engineering prevention game?
Frank Abagnale, the subject of the film “Catch Me If You Can” and author of “Scam Me If You Can,” has been working with the FBI for more than 40 years assisting with forgery and fraud investigations. Abagnale, one of the pioneers of social engineering scams, has seen it all and understands the psychology behind the scams.
Who Is Susceptible to Social Engineering?
According to Abagnale, the success rate of scams on the general public and the enterprise are just about equal.
“Remember, I used social engineering almost fifty years ago w ..
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