It’s a common misconception that people who fall victim to fraud and scams are gullible or that fraud primarily affects our elders. In reality, anyone can fall prey to scammers. That’s because scams often rely on a psychological trick called social engineering to pressure targets into following along – and social engineering is something every person is vulnerable to, even the smartest among us. Am I at risk of fraud?

What is Social Engineering

Social engineering is a specific kind of manipulation where someone attempts to fool, trick, or pressure you into doing something you wouldn’t otherwise do. It’s peer pressure on steroids, where a fraudster tries to trap their target using social expectations and deep emotional responses.

You might expect these tactics to rely on negative emotions like fear – and they certainly can – but often, they prey on our good intentions instead.

“Most people want to help others, and criminals know this,” explained Rick Clark, Director of Information Security with First Merchants Bank. “So, they’ll exploit that goodwill if they can.”

How Social Engineering Works

So, how do scammers use social engineering? According to Rick, there are a few different tricks they might employ, depending on whether they are operating an in-person scam or a phone scam.

Face-to-face, a scammer might:

• Praise you in front of others to create a sense of camaraderie and to get you to let your guard down.
• Create engaging conversation, taking care to pick out something personal they find in your area, office, or person and using that to start a conversation.
• Attempt to create a sense of urgency. That allows them to make you feel flustered and rushed, and they are in control – enabling them to suggest ways to cut corners or to prevent you from looking at things too closely.

Over the phone, bad actors may use one or more of these tactics:

• Background noise, such as a loud location or a crying child, to create a sense of urgency or compassion.
• Side conversations with another person to make it seem like they are rushed and need their request completed immediately.
• They may be either extra polite to try and get on your good side or incredibly rude to try and get you to finish the interaction as quickly as possible.
• Pretending to be sick to appeal to your good nature.
• Create confusion by asking random questions, which helps them achieve their end goal.
• Offer to process a fraud claim immediately for you over the phone.

How to Spot Social Engineering Scams

Since social engineering is a tactic used in scams, rather than a specific scam type, you can spot it the same way you would any other scam.

Something might be a scam if:

• Someone is trying to create a sense of urgency, pressure you, or push you into rushing to take action.
• Poor grammar or spelling in written or emailed requests.
• Threatening you with arrest, reveal of compromising information, or other serious consequences.

What To Do If You Encounter a Scam

If you encounter a scammer, there are a few things you should do.

“First, you should stop all communication with the scammer – hang up the phone or stop replying to the messages,” Rick said. “Then, I’d immediately call your bank and let them know. Enable account alerts, and change your login IDs and passwords – especially for your bank accounts.”

So, how can you avoid social engineering and scams, in general?

“Be alert. If someone says they’re with the IRS or a billing company, but you did not initiate the conversation, then there’s a high risk it could be a scam,” Rick explained. “Hang up the phone or delete the message. If it’s a text message, you can report it to your phone carrier.”

But the most important thing, Rick said, is to take a moment to pause before taking any action or providing any information.

“Think before you click, text, or call someone back,” he encouraged. “Did the conversation start without you initiating? Is there a sense of urgency? Does the message seem odd or off? If yes to any, then it’s likely a social engineering attack, and you should exit that conversation immediately.”

Want to know more about protecting yourself from scams? Visit our Security Center for tips and a breakdown of current scams.

We’ve also put together a handy reference to help you know if a text is from First Merchants. We encourage you to save these numbers in your phone so you know they’re us. If you think you've been targeted by a scammer and have provided private information about your First Merchants accounts—like account numbers, PINs, usernames, passwords, or one-time security codes—contact us immediately at 1.800.205.3464.