Social Engineering Scams: How to Protect Yourself and Your Finances

Many scams today rely less on hacking and more on human manipulation—a tactic known as social engineering. In this blog, First National Bank and Trust explains how scammers use deception, urgency, and fear to trick people into revealing sensitive information through phishing, pretexting, and baiting. By learning how these scams operate and following simple prevention steps—like verifying sources, avoiding suspicious links, and protecting login details—you can safeguard your personal and business finances.

When you hear the words “bank fraud,” you might think of criminals using sophisticated technology to break into the bank’s computer system, or a common thief swiping credit cards. But in reality, many scammers don’t use these tactics at all. They use human psychology to trick people into handing over their personal information. These manipulation tactics are known as social engineering scams.
Despite the cleverness of these scams, they can be avoided by knowing how they work and how to recognize them. Safeguard your personal and business finances by being aware of these scams and taking proactive protective measures.

What Are Social Engineering Scams?

The aim of social engineering scams is to get their targets to willingly hand over sensitive information, or to perform a specific action that gives scammers access to their information. They use deception, manipulation, and fear to get you to act in a way you normally wouldn’t.
Social engineering scammers can reach you in a variety of ways—over the phone, through the internet, and even in person. They’re designed to appear official and create a sense of urgency, and there is frequently the threat that something bad will happen if you don’t act immediately.
The three most common forms of social engineering are:

• Phishing scams. These include fraudulent emails, texts, or websites pretending to be from an official company
• Pretexting. This is when a scammer pretends to be a representative of a financial institution or other company you have an account or dealings with.
• Baiting. Like the name suggests, scammers use incentives to entice customers into making compromising decisions.

Below, we’ll unpack in greater detail how these scams work as well as steps you can take to protect yourself.

Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are the most common type of social engineering scam. These scams can likely be found in your email inbox or text messages right now.
But how can you recognize a phishing scam? They often have the following characteristics.

• They’ll mimic an email from your bank. These emails might say there’s suspicious activity on your account and ask you to act, usually through clicking a link or opening an attachment.
• They include a link that takes you to a fake login page which is then used to steal your username and password.
• They impel you to act immediately, frequently threatening to lock your account in a short time frame.

Phishing works by creating urgency. When you receive an official-looking message asking you to act, you’ll want to fix it quickly and act in an unsafe manner. Scammers are counting on this. However, when you receive an unexpected or suspicious message, there are steps you can take to avoid falling victim.

Protecting Yourself from Phishing Scams

• If asked to click a link, hover over it to reveal the website before clicking. Scam websites may appear similar to the official websites, but contain misspellings, numbers instead of letters, and other small differences.
• Do not open attachments from unknown senders. They may contain malware that can steal information from your device.
• If you accidentally visit a suspicious website, change your passwords immediately.
• Call your bank if you suspect anything. Most banks, including First National Bank and Trust, will never ask for login details or account information via text or email.

Pretexting Scams

Pretexting scammers create scenarios meant to get you to hand over your information. As opposed to phishing scams, which rely on malware and digital deception, pretexting involves believable but fabricated situations (the “pretext”) in order to manipulate the victim. For example, you might receive a call from someone pretending to be from your bank’s fraud department asking to verify account information, or they might pretend to be a vendor you do business with requesting payment details.
Pretexting scammers often use real information, such as your name or workplace, to create a sense of authority. Because scammers sound official, they’re often successful at tricking their targets into willingly giving them sensitive information.

Protecting Yourself from Pretexting

Pretexting can be difficult to detect at times. However, the following guidelines can prevent you from getting scammed:

• Don’t give sensitive information over the phone or text. This includes full account numbers, PINs, usernames, and passwords.
• If someone requests sensitive information, hang up and call the bank back directly. Use the Contact Us information from the official website. Do not use contact information provided over the phone or in a text.
• Trust your instincts. Nobody should be requesting this information from you.
• Stay calm. As with phishing scammers, they’ll try to create a sense of urgency. If you’re beginning to feel stress or fear, it’s a sign you’re being manipulated.

Baiting Scams

Baiting scams do just that—they bait you with tempting offers, hoping you’ll bite. The bait could be many things, but some examples are:

• A free software download that is secretly carrying malware
• A pop-up ad offering prizes, discounts, or other incentives
• Fake QR codes embedded in emails or even posted in public areas
• Phony job listings that require downloading applications or clicking on links

Scammers count on their victims being curious and enticed by what the bait is offering. Recognizing potential baiting scams is the first step to avoiding them.

Don’t Fall Victim to Baiting Scams

Follow these tips to avoid compromising your personal information:

• Don’t download files, click on links, or scan QR codes from unverified sources.
• Rely only on trusted, verified sources for apps, files, and software.
• Remain skeptical of prizes, job listings, or other offers that seem too good to be true. They usually are.

General Online Security Tips

In addition to recognizing social engineering scams, the following tips are recommended for all customers who use digital banking.

1. Use strong, unique passwords for all your accounts. A password manager can help you keep them distinct, so you don’t have to remember them.
2. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all possible accounts.
3. Monitor your accounts regularly for unauthorized transactions.
4. If you run a business, educate your employees on scams and internet safety.

Social Engineering Scams Beyond the Internet

Some social engineering scams don’t occur online at all. They can occur in person, through the mail, or over the phone. To learn more about these scams, check out our post on 7 non-internet related scams to watch out for.

Fraud Protection at First National Bank and Trust

Banking customers and businesses in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois are prime targets for fraud. Scammers count on you making a simple mistake that will compromise your personal or business finances.
At First National Bank and Trust, our goal is to keep your finances and information as secure as possible by monitoring accounts for suspicious activity, providing fraud alerts, and using the latest security technology.
First National Bank and Trust has provided financial peace of mind to businesses and individuals across the area for more than 140 years. With locations in places like Beloit, Janesville, Delavan, Rockton, Roscoe, Elkhorn, Argyle, Williams Bay, Winnebago, and Walworth, you can be sure that there’s a convenient location near you.
If you ever suspect fraud, contact us immediately. And remember to practice internet safety and stay one step ahead of fraudsters!