Sometimes committing fraud by exploiting system vulnerabilities can be harder than committing fraud by exploiting people's weaknesses. Committing fraud by exploiting such human weaknesses is called social engineering.
The main biases and human behaviors can be listed as follows:
- The feeling of winning (“You have won a prize of X TL” messages…)
- Fear of authority (“We are calling from the police” etc.…)
- The desire to help (“We would give our lives for our country” etc.…)
- Fear of missing out (“This offer is valid only for today”…)
- Laziness (“You don't need to go to the branch for this, we can do it from here”…)
- The desire to feel valued (“It is an honor for us to work with a valuable person like you, sir. May I have your personal number?”)
- Insufficient knowledge (“What could happen if I give my card number?”)
- Making promises (“We will get back the fees for the loans you used before without charging you anything. For this, you need to share your details with us.”)
When we consider the items above, the situation in at least one of them has happened to all of us. Fraudsters do not sit idle. It pays to be cautious…
