How scammers use social engineering

It’s easy to assume that people who fall victim must be “less tech-savvy” or elderly, but that is far from the truth. Scammers don’t rely on their targets being unintelligent - they rely on timing and emotion while impersonating well known financial advisors or institutions, a love interest, or trusted organisations and people of authority.

Anyone can be caught in a vulnerable moment, and scammers are experts at recognising and taking advantage of those moments.

We know that scammers are highly trained. They rehearse scenarios, study human behaviour, and use sophisticated social engineering techniques to manipulate their targets. Their goal is to build trust, form emotional connections, and create a sense of urgency or excitement that prompts victims to act without fully thinking things through. Let’s look at how they exploit natural human responses - fear, loneliness, hope, or the promise of financial gain.

Investment scams:

Emotions targeted: hope and excitement

Hook: Scammers impersonate well known people and financial influencers to ‘promote’ false investments and create trust. They use AI technology to make the impersonation even more convincing.

Line: Scammers continue to build trust through creating a close relationship and provide personalised coaching on the ‘investments’.

Sinker: Once victims have sent funds, they are shown a fake dashboard of fabricated profits, triggering a rush of adrenaline and validation which excites and encourages further ‘investment’ of their lifesavings.

The illusion continues until the victim attempts to withdraw their money. At that point, the scam unravels, withdrawals are delayed, new fees or taxes are demanded, or communication suddenly stops altogether, leaving the victim with significant financial loss and no way to recover their funds.

Relationship scams:

Emotions targeted: kindness, empathy,

Hook: Scammers target individuals who may be vulnerable to isolation—sometimes without the victims even realising it. They cast a wide net by sending large volumes of unsolicited messages across social media platforms and dating sites, aiming to identify a small number of people willing to respond and engage.

Line: Once contact is made, scammers exploit the person’s kindness, empathy, and openness. They frequently use “love bombing”—an intense display of affection and attention—to create a sense of connection and emotional security. With AI deepfakes and voice cloning technology, it’s easy for the victim to believe the love interest is genuine.

Sinker: Once the scammer believes the victim is sufficiently emotionally invested, they claim to have financial hardship or an urgent monetary need. The victim is then pressured or emotionally influenced to help by sending money, “loaning” funds, or even sharing sensitive account details.

These scammers play the long game, investing significant time and effort to extract large sums of money over time.

Threat and Penalty scams

Emotions targeted: fear

Hook: Scammers aim to instil fear. They pretend to be a government body, the police or an authoritative institution. They threaten legal action, arrest or immediate payment demands due to unpaid fines, taxes, or identity involved with illicit activity. They use pressure to get the victims to act quickly as they threaten prosecution.

Line: scammers use phishing - fraudulent links that open to sophisticated websites that look genuine to ask for personal and sensitive information. The texts and calls may come in at “just the right time”.

Sinker: Messages and calls are sent later in the afternoon, where school pick up, grocery shopping, and the busyness of life occurs. At this inconvenient time, people are often in autopilot, they click on a link, quickly put in bank details or card information to move on with their day.

The convincing tactics used by the scammers can trick even the most intelligent, well versed and prepared individual. Migrant and refugee communities are often targeted with threat and penalty scams as they often already have a predisposed fear of the government, whether from their country of origin or Australian Government, and so scammers use this to their benefit.

Recovery scams

Emotions targeted: despair and hope

Scammers might even reach out to the victim some time after the successful scam saying they can assist in recovery of the funds lost for a fee. They prey on the victim’s despair from the scam and aim to provide a sense of hope to obtain the funds back. Unfortunately, this is another ploy to manipulate the victims.

When it comes to scams, remember to stay on guard of your emotions. It’s important to find an objective view of the situation and check in with someone you trust.

Stopping a scam comes down to Stop, Check and Reject. Stop and pause to assess the situation at hand. Check the offer online from verified sources or check in with a friend/family for an objective view. Lastly, Reject the scammer’s advances if you’re unsure. Hang up on the caller, block the number and delete the email or message.