Broadly speaking, any type of manipulation associated with behavioral psychology can be considered social engineering. However, the concept does not always include criminal or fraudulent actions. Actually social engineering; It is used and studied in a wide range of fields such as social sciences, psychology or marketing fields.

When it comes to cybersecurity, social engineering is used with malicious intent and is defined as malicious actions that manipulate people into doing wrong things, such as giving out personal or confidential information that can later be used against them or their company. One of the common consequences of these types of attacks is identity theft, which in many cases leads to major financial losses.

Social engineering is often promoted as a cyber threat, but the concept has actually been around for a long time. It can also be used in real-life fraud schemes, especially by impersonating authority figures or IT experts. However, the emergence of the Internet has allowed hackers to implement manipulative attacks on a larger scale. Unfortunately, these malicious activities are also found in the context of cryptocurrencies.


How does it work?

All social engineering techniques are based on the weakness of human psychology. Scammers use emotions to manipulate and deceive their victims. People's fears, greed, curiosity, and even their desire to help others are used against them in various ways. Among the many forms of social engineering, phishing is undoubtedly one of the most common and well-known examples.

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Phishing emails often pose as representatives of legitimate companies, such as a national bank chain, a well-known online store, or email provider. In some cases, these clone emails alert users that their accounts need updating or have seen unusual activity and request personal information so they can verify their identities and fix their accounts. Some people, out of fear, immediately click on the sent links and enter a fake website to present the required information. At this point, the information falls into the hands of hackers.

Software for Scaring (Scareware)

Social engineering techniques are also used to spread scareware. Scareware, as the name suggests, is malicious software designed to scare and shock users. They often create fake alerts that trick users into installing seemingly legitimate but actually fraudulent software or logging into a website that will infect their systems with a virus. Such a technique often feeds on users' fear that their systems will be compromised and persuades them to click on a pop-up or web banner. The message usually says: “Your system is infected, click here to clean it.”

Baiting

Phishing is another social engineering method that creates problems for careless users. It appeals to users' greed or curiosity by baiting them to attract victims. For example, scammers create a website that claims to offer something for free, such as a music file, video, or book. But to access these files, users must create an account and share their personal information. In some cases, there is no need to open an account because the files directly contain malware that infiltrates the victim's system and compromises sensitive data.

Phishing scams can also be seen in real life through the use of USB sticks or external memories. By leaving infected devices, especially in a public place, fraudsters can infect a curious person's personal computer by using it to check its contents.


Social engineering and cryptocurrencies

A greedy mindset can be quite dangerous when it comes to financial markets, leaving traders or investors particularly vulnerable to phishing techniques, Ponzi or pyramid scams, and other frauds. Within the blockchain industry, the excitement generated by cryptocurrencies quickly attracts a large number of new participants into this world (especially during the bull market).

Although most people do not fully understand how cryptocurrencies work, they hear about the potential of these markets to make profits and invest money without doing the necessary research. Social engineering is especially dangerous for these newbies because they often fall prey to their greed or fear.

On the one hand, the desire to make quick profits and make easy money causes these new participants to fall for fake gifts and airdrop promises. On the other hand, fear that their private files have been compromised may lead people to pay ransom. In some cases, users are deceived by false alarms or messages created by hackers when there is no actual ransomware infection.


How to prevent social engineering attacks.

As we mentioned before, social engineering scams are effective because they appeal to human nature. It often uses fear as motivation, leading people to act quickly to protect themselves (or their systems) from an unreal threat. Attacks also appeal to people's greed, luring victims into various fake investments. Therefore, it is important to remember that if a promise seems too good to be true, it is not true.

While some scammers are sophisticated, others make noticeable mistakes. Some phishing emails and even scareware site titles often contain grammatical errors or spelling mistakes and are only effective against people who don't pay enough attention to grammar or spelling. That's why you need to keep your eyes open.

To avoid becoming a victim of social engineering attacks, you need to take the following security measures:

  • Educate yourself, your friends and your friends. Teach them about common cases of malicious social engineering and provide them with basic general security rules.

  • Be careful with email attachments and links. Avoid clicking on ads and web pages of unknown sources

  • Install a reliable antivirus program, keep your software, applications and operating system up to date

  • Use multi-factor authentication solutions whenever possible to protect your email and other personal information. Set up two-factor authentication (2FA) on your Binance account.

  • For businesses: prepare your employees to identify and prevent phishing attacks and social engineering scams.


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Educating yourself and those around you is essential as cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways to trick users into stealing their funds and obtaining sensitive information. While the internet offers a huge scope for these types of scams, they are very common, especially in the cryptocurrency world. Be careful and keep your eyes open to avoid falling into social engineering traps.

Moreover, anyone who decides to trade or invest in cryptocurrency should do research first and have sufficient knowledge about both the markets and the working mechanisms of blockchain technology.

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