Awareness

9 Dirty Tricks: Social Engineers' Favorite Pick-Up Lines

Congrats on your inheritance! Okay, you knew that one's the start of a scam. Here are other come-ons you'll encounter when criminals come knocking

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

Page 4

Rubinoff recommends not clicking on any emails of this kind. Instead, if you are concerned about something like your eBay score, go to eBay directly by typing the url into the browser bar on your own.

"You've been let go. Click here to register for severance pay. "
With the economy in the state it is in now, people are afraid for their jobs and criminals are taking advantage of that fear, said Rubinoff. A common tactic includes sending an email to employees that looks like it is from the employer. The message appears to relay news that requires a quick response.

"It can be an email that appears to be from HR that says: 'You have been let go due to a layoff. If you wish to register for severance please register here,' and includes a malicious link."

No one wants to be the person that causes problems in this economy, so any email that appears to be from an employer will likely elicit a response, noted Rubinoff. Lares' Nickerson has also seen cons that use fake employer emails.

"It might say, 'In an effort to cut costs, we are sending W-2 forms electronically this year,'" said Nickerson.