Great Social Engineering Techniques for Hackers - Get People to Do What You Want

I am having this "hacking/security" blog for more then a year now. Beside cyber security, ethical hacking and technology, I am also interested in some social/natural science fields, like philosophy, and psychology. In this article I would share some manipulation techniques that i know about from my previous knowledge, and experience. Now these techniques can be used in many different ways and I will leave it up to the individual to decide what those ways are. Please realize this isn't mind control and it will not make you able to convince people to do extreme things but maybe change a simple idea in someones mind and make them favor your ideas more. This methods can come in handy for many hackers. Lets start:

Sympathy/Empathy - Believe it or not making someone feel sorry for you can wield great results. You can convince people to do many things with just a simple guilt trip. Examples include a family members death, recent job loss, an scarring event such as being robbed at gunpoint, losing money, or even a simple bad day. Using this can make somebody not only do what you want but they won't feel regret over doing it.

Split Personalities - No this does not mean be nice one second and mean the next. This tactic is great for pressuring someone into something from two fronts. The basic idea of this is to act as two people. This cannot be done in person and is best done online. An example of this methods usefulness is to maybe convince someone to sell something at a cheaper price by having one side of you as friend saying great deal while the other says that they can barely do this and they're unsure if they should. The trick here is to play opposites in a way that pushes the person you want to trick into doing something they wouldn't otherwise do.

If you don't then someone else will - Nothing puts more pressure on someone then giving them the idea of loss if they do not take advantage of the situation. This can be great for selling items. The general idea behind this is to make the person feel as if they will lose a once in a lifetime opportunity if they give up on this offer. You can even use the Split Personalities in mixture with this.

Being Over Understanding - Nothing softens the heart than making a person feel that they're doing a good job. If a situation comes where you have been wrong pretending to be completely understanding can go a long ways. This can general make the person feel more entitled to give you a better experience.

That is all I can come with at the current moment. Please throw suggestion and feedback. This is technically Social Engineering, an art of getting people to tell you stuff that they usually wouldn’t disclose, through the use of words and your appearance. I personally hate these type of people. A good Social engineerer (or as I love to call these types of people, “Bullshit artists”), can make people believe nearly anything. It is always a good idea to be aware of people who you don’t know, but it is also good practice to watch people you DO know. Don’t be getting paranoid about things, because that isn’t what i mean, but Social Engineering is the EASIEST way to hack anything. Hope this helps people gain the upper hand in a poorly setup situation.

Do you have questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to post a comment!

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