What is pretexting? Definition, examples and prevention

Pretexting definition

Pretexting is form of social engineering in which an attacker tries to convince a victim to give up valuable information or access to a service or system. The distinguishing feature of this kind of attack is that the scam artists comes up with a story — or pretext — in order to fool the victim. The pretext generally casts the attacker in the role of someone in authority who has the right to access the information being sought, or who can use the information to help the victim.

Pretexting has a fairly long history; in the U.K., where it’s also known as blagging, it’s a tool tabloid journalists have used for years to get access to salacious dirt on celebrities and politicians. But today it’s commonly used by scam artists targeting private individuals and companies to try to get access to their financial accounts and private data. And pretexters can use any form of communication, including emails, texts, and voice phone calls, to ply their trade.

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