Know More About Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

Everything here begins with that one email, which is not meant to be clicked on. Most cyber attacks are initiated with an email, message, or social media site. In these attacks, they need not hack the computer. Instead, they hack people. They come into contact with the people and make unusual demands in the name of a fake business, a fake crypto platform, or anything else that is surely fake. Due to unawareness, greed, and misinformation, people tend to click on these harmful links and find themselves being scammed. In many cases, they suffer through financial loss as well as emotional loss.

Phishing and social engineering are scam techniques to make people click the links that are designed to hack their resources. Scammers get access to all the internal information, like account details, pins, passwords, etc. 

There are a few tips to avoid these scams. Even if someone is scammed, there are a few services that may get you out of it.

The concept of Phishing and Social engineering

It is important to study phishing and social engineering attacks, but more important is understanding their comparison.

Phishing Attacks

A phishing attack is a cybercrime where an attacker appears as an official belonging to a bank, company, or investment firm. He approaches you regarding any discrepancy with your account, and to solve it demands your personal credentials to break into your account. 

Social Engineering Attacks

As the word suggests, these attacks are planned, ‘engineered’ by the scammer. This is a long-term process where, rather than directly hacking your network, the scammer approaches you, gains your trust, and lures you into sharing credentials. The word "social" suggests that the scammer will come to you via your social network, usually online. His major tools are social media platforms.

The comparison

Since 2024, people have given 16 billion dollars to these scams. In phishing, the scammer acts as an official, and in social engineering, he is a stranger. Social engineering is a subset of phishing. Phishing is not targeted at one individual. The scammer produces mass emails; those who are unaware click the malicious link mentioned in the email and become the victim. Social engineering might be a targeted one. People who are divorced, lonely, or single relationship status are usually targeted.

After understanding the concept, it is important to know the types of phishing and social engineering. 

Types of Phishing Attacks and Social Engineering

Phishing and social engineering operate in different ways. Both of them have variants among themselves. To find an effective solution, it is important to study the nature and types of the problem. 

Types of Phishing

Phishing scams trick the victim into revealing sensitive information. There are various methods to identify and prevent phishing attacks. The types of phishing are:

• Email Phishing

Scammers draft mail under the pretext of banks, government agencies, marketing messages, etc. These emails contain malware links that can damage your system.

• Spear Phishing

These messages are tailored for a specific person or the business. Scammers mention personal details to get connected. With these techniques, it also appears authentic.

• Whaling

Whaling is a special form of spear phishing aimed at high-profile targets such as executives or senior officials.

• Smishing (SMS Phishing)

Here, instead of e-mails, SMS services are used to trap the victims. They also prompt victims to share personal data.

• Vishing (Voice Phishing)

Vishing includes phone calls where attackers impersonate support agents, banks, or government officials to extract confidential information.

• Clone Phishing

An attacker copies a legitimate email, changes a link or attachment to something malicious, and sends it again to the same recipients.

• Pharming

By means of pharming, scammers make users go from a legitimate website to a fake one by exploiting DNS settings or malicious code.

After knowing the types of phishing, social engineering also has different types.

Types of Social Engineering

The concept of social engineering is broader. It includes methods like in-person or psychological manipulation.

• Pretexting

In this type of scam, the scammer approaches the victim by pretending to be in any official position, like a cyber branch, IT support, etc. Scammers also impersonate businesses.

• Baiting

Scammers put forward exciting offers like free downloads of any paid software or any subscription, with the condition of downloading the file with malware. The victim is not aware that the file is being tampered with. Sometimes they pose as a business and offer a service of benefit. 

• Tailgating / Piggybacking

Here, the hacker follows the person who is authorized to access the system. He simply asks them to hold the door so that he can break in. Here, the person is not aware that he is making space for the hacker to enter.

• Dumpster Diving

Scammers out there are just seeking a chance to access sensitive information. In order to achieve it, they don’t even hesitate to search through trash and dustbins physically to gain bits of information. 

Phishing is a subset of social engineering. These human manipulation tactics are spreading really fast these days. To get a clear idea of how they scam, one needs to get an idea of how these scams have been in recent days. Go through the following real-life story to know exactly how it operates. 

Recent studies

This section discusses the real-life incidents to understand how it really happens and what amount of losses are faced.

Case Study of Phishing Attack

According to BlueVoyant, in 2020, a whaling attack was conducted against the co-founder of the Australian hedge fund Levitas Capital. The co-founder received an email containing a fake Zoom link. When he clicked the link, malware was deployed on the hedge fund's corporate network, generating fraudulent invoices of nearly $8.7 million.

The actual financial losses from the attack were $800,000, but the attack also damaged the hedge fund’s reputation, causing it to lose its biggest client and shut down operations.

Similarly, the case study of a social engineering attack is stated below. 

Case Study of Social Engineering Attack

According to ScienceDirect, various incidents have happened in recent years that caused severe financial loss due to massive social engineering attacks.

For example, in 2020, one of the famous television show’s judges, Barbara Corcoran, was targeted for USD 400,000 in a social engineering attack (10 real and famous cases of social engineering attacks, 2023). The attacker impersonated Corcoran’s bookkeeper and created a phishing email regarding the real estate investment renewal payment. The scam was detected when the impersonated bookkeeper sent a transaction verification email to the legitimate bookkeeper. Moreover, a well-known cybercrime hub was detected in one of the Indian villages named “Jamtara” in September 2021. The network of criminals performed target identification, manipulation, phishing attacks, financial fraud, and many more criminal activities (Jamtara strives to shed cybercrime image through education-based campaign, 2023).

Recent reports show how phishing and social-engineering crimes increase worldwide. In 2025 alone, researchers logged over 1 million phishing attacks, with roughly 31 % aimed at financial services. Business email compromise scams in the form of social engineering rose about 33 %, while more than 700,000 malicious domains were registered for phishing between May and July 2025. These numbers highlight that phishing is the most visible subset of a broader social-engineering threat that keeps expanding across sectors and regions.

After understanding the severity of the scams, now you might feel rushed to know how to stay safe from them. 

Common Prevention Practices Of Phishing And Social Engineering Scams

The following are a few points to avoid these scams. These practices will protect your system from intrusion.

• Use strong passwords

Using a strong password lowers the chances of a scammer guessing the password and logging into your account. Password hacking is the most basic form of scam. Most of the scams begin with this step.

• Enable MFA

Multi-factor authentication is a modern system of protecting your network. Here, the system passes you through many steps to verify it as you. It asks for seed phrases and many other questions that you would only be able to answer. 

• Verify the registration of the business

As a part of social engineering or phishing, if any business is approaching you, it is good to check their official registration. There are several ways to check if they are registered or not. Almost all genuine businesses get themselves registered well in advance.

• Verify the links before you click

Like the business, you can also verify them before clicking. Remember, do not click any kind of links you are not sure about. Scammers can also act as the authority from whom you might expect the email. 

• Keep systems updated

It is very important to keep all your systems updated. An old and outdated system invites much fraud. You cannot employ modern security methods in an old system that might not match the frequency.

• Limit public exposure

Do not use public wi-fi while dealing with sensitive data. In times of remote jobs or work from home, people tend to sit in public places for work. However, hackers can tamper with such networks and can form a path into your system via the wi fi too.

• Stay aware of recent security trends

Education is the best weapon against any crime. Knowing several methods of security or staying aware of new scams happening around, you can be prepared and know about the solution even before the problem arrives. 

These steps will help you to secure your network and keep it safer in the long run. However, even after following these steps, if you feel like you are getting scammed, for this situation too, there are a few steps to be followed. 

What To Do If Already Scammed? 

The following steps can help you get out of the scam and recover your money if you act fast.

1. Cut off all the communication with their ‘so-called support team’. The more you stay in contact, the more easily they can track you down. So avoid clicking any link, even if the title seems helpful. If you receive calls or texts, do not respond or click on any links. Continuing the conversation only gives them more opportunities to manipulate you.
2. Once you stop communicating, gather all the documents. Save every piece of communication you had with the scammer, including emails, chat messages, call logs, text messages, and social media exchanges. Don't forget to preserve timestamps because they help establish a timeline of the scam. These can be used against them if you are looking forward to filing a complaint.
3. Search for a genuine recovery firm and contact them. Remember! Scammers can get back to you posing as a recovery firm. Learn the difference between fake recovery firms and genuine recovery firms. If someone claims funds are stuck and offers recovery service for a fee, treat it as another scam.
4. Do not share private passkeys, seed phrases, or screenshots of your assets with anyone. Scammers often pose as support agents, influencers, or even friends, pretending to help and might say, "Just share your passkey so we can verify ownership,” or ask for a “screenshot of your wallet”; these are traps. The moment you provide such details, you’re handing them the keys to your funds.
5. Do not send more money if you have been scammed and paid any amount earlier.Scammers usually claim they are “almost done” recovering your funds but need extra payment for taxes, legal fees, or processing charges. Once you’ve identified a scam, no additional payment will help. Sending more only deepens the loss.
6. Report to authorities
   File a report with your local police and relevant cybercrime agencies.

• US: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or FTC
• UK: Action Fraud
• India: National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in)
• Australia – Scamwatch

Reporting helps authorities detect organized scam networks and may help others avoid falling victim. 

1.  Inform your bank or payment provider..If any part of the payment went through a bank transfer, credit card, or payment service like PayPal, inform them immediately. While most crypto transactions can’t be reversed, banks may flag the scammer’s account, block future withdrawals, or assist in tracing linked accounts.
2. Warn others
   Share your experience on scam awareness forums, social media groups, or crypto communities. This not only warns potential victims but can also help investigators see connections between cases. The more public the scam becomes, the harder it is for scammers to keep operating under the same identity.

Confront the Scam

Often, many people think that if they are scammed, everything is lost. This is purely a misconception that once you lose, you lose forever. A scammer cannot decide your safety and your planning. All you must do is share your story with others. Seek help from the professionals and never let the scammers get away with your hard-earned money. The voice raised by one eventually motivates others. This is the only way to reduce the increasing cases around you. Stay safe and also ensure the safety of others around you.