Social Engineering and Impersonation
Advance-Fee Fraud
Advance-fee fraud demands upfront payment for a prize, loan, inheritance, or service that never materializes.
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Social Engineering and Impersonation Terms
Pretexting, phishing variants, romance and pig-butchering scams, deepfake impersonation, and urgency manipulation.
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39 published definitions in this topic.
Social Engineering and Impersonation
Authority Impersonation
Authority impersonation pretends to be police, tax agencies, courts, or regulators to coerce payment or compliance.
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Blackmail Scam
A blackmail scam threatens harm, exposure, or legal trouble unless the victim pays quickly.
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Brand Impersonation
Brand impersonation misuses a company’s name, logo, or domains to phish, sell fakes, or divert payments.
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Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID spoofing falsifies the number shown on a phone so a call appears to come from a trusted source.
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Charity Scam
A charity scam solicits donations for fake or misrepresented causes, often after disasters.
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Consent Phishing
Consent phishing tricks users into granting OAuth or app permissions that give attackers lasting account access.
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Deepfake Impersonation
Deepfake impersonation uses synthetic audio or video to pose as a real person in calls, meetings, or media.
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Email Spoofing
Email spoofing forges the visible From address so a message appears to come from someone else.
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Grandparent Scam
A grandparent scam claims a grandchild or relative urgently needs money for jail, medical, or travel emergencies.
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Homograph Attack
A homograph attack uses lookalike Unicode or confusable characters to mimic a trusted domain or brand string.
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Impersonation Scam
An impersonation scam is fraud that pretends to be a trusted person, brand, or institution to extract money or data.
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Job Scam
A job scam pretends to offer employment while stealing money, identity data, or laundering access.
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Lookalike Domain
A lookalike domain is a registered hostname crafted to resemble a trusted brand’s real domain.
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Lottery Scam
A lottery scam claims the victim won a prize that requires fees, taxes, or personal data before payout.
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Malvertising
Malvertising is malicious advertising that delivers malware, phishing, or scam landings through ad networks.
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MFA Fatigue
MFA fatigue is bombarding a user with push MFA prompts until they approve one out of annoyance or confusion.
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Overpayment Scam
An overpayment scam sends a fake or excess payment and asks the victim to refund the difference.
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Phishing
Phishing is deceptive messaging that tricks people into revealing credentials, installing malware, or approving harmful actions.
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Pig Butchering Scam
A pig butchering scam combines relationship grooming with fake investment platforms that show illusory gains until victims cannot withdraw.
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Pretexting
Pretexting is inventing a believable story and identity to obtain information or access from a target.
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Push-Bombing
Push-bombing floods a device with authentication push notifications to coerce an accidental or frustrated approval.
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QR-Code Phishing
QR-code phishing uses scannable codes to open phishing sites, payment pages, or malware downloads.
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Quishing
Quishing is phishing that uses QR codes to route victims to malicious sites or apps.
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Reshipping Scam
A reshipping scam recruits people to receive and forward packages bought with stolen payment methods.
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Romance Scam
A romance scam builds a fake intimate relationship to solicit money, gifts, or financial access from the victim.
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Sextortion
Sextortion is blackmail threatening to release intimate images or sexual content unless the victim pays or complies.
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Smishing
Smishing is phishing delivered by SMS or similar text messaging.
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Social Engineering
Social engineering is psychological manipulation that tricks people into disclosing information, granting access, or authorizing actions.
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Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is targeted phishing personalized with details about a specific person or organization.
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Task Scam
A task scam pays or promises pay for micro-tasks that actually recruit money mules or harvest fees.
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Tech Support Scam
A tech support scam falsely claims a device has a problem and pushes remote access, paid “fixes,” or gift-card payments.
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Typosquatting
Typosquatting registers domains that catch common misspellings of popular brand or product names.
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Urgency Manipulation
Urgency manipulation is a social-engineering tactic that pressures immediate action to skip verification.
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Verification Fatigue
Verification fatigue is weariness from repeated security checks that scammers exploit to skip or rush validation.
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Vishing
Vishing is voice phishing—social engineering over phone or voice calls.
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Voice Clone Scam
A voice clone scam uses AI-synthesized speech resembling a known person to solicit money or secrets.
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Whaling
Whaling is spear phishing aimed at senior executives or other high-value targets.
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Wrong-Number Scam
A wrong-number scam starts with an “accidental” text and builds rapport that leads to romance or investment fraud.
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