[GUIDE] How to Social Engineer!

[Aldun]

Hey guys,

I'm a quite active scammer, and I scammed loads of accounts and gold in a zillion different way. However, almost every scam (even the simple ones many people use) require Social Engineering. Some scams just a little, others are very dependant on it.
In this guide, I will tell you what Social Engineering is, how it works and how to use it.

Table of Contents
I. What is Social Engineering?
II. What can I use it for?
III. How do I use it?
IV. Some tips
V. SE in real life ^^.


I. What is Social Engineering?

From now on, I will call Social Engineering SE, for the sake of simplicity.

From the dictionary:

1. The use of communication skills and quick wits in order to turn a scenario into a favorable situation

Or another:

The attempt to control social behavior.

In other words, this means you use your communication skills to get something you want. In the ways of scamming, this means mostly that you get the victims trust, and the things you want from him.

There are many different ways to use this. There is no "Social Engineer scam", it's just a part of most scams, and some really rely on it.

II. What can I use it for?

For many, many things. In a TCG scam, you use it to convince your victim that you can be trusted, and that you have the card.
In an account-trading scam, you use this much to get your victim as far as giving all his info before you give it.

SE is very much based on trust and convincing. You will need good communication skills for it and you must not expect to be good at it for once and for all, as every situation is different, and you will need to do different things for it.

III. How do I use it?

As this depends very much on every situation, I will give a few examples and show you the SE part in it, and why I used it thére.

Example 1
Let me remind you, it normally isn't this easy, I just give you a short example

[Trade] Me: WTS Spectral tiger loot card, PM me

[from now on, Whispers] Guy: hai, 5k for it?

Me: for 7k, it is a deal =)

Guy: ok, add me on msn and show me the picture, my msn is

Me: a picture?

Guy: ye, as proof u got the card, just make it with your mobile or so

Me: im very sorry, but i have no camera on my mobile, and my husband took my normal at the divorce

Guy: oh okay, but how do u want to proof me then that u really got the card?

Me: well, i wouldnt want to risk me level 80 account for just 7k eh? and ucan just report me if i scam u, then u get ur money back and i get banned

1 of the SE parts here is obvious: I type the same way as he did. He doesn't use captials, so I don't use it either. He talks with "u" instead of "you" so I do this too. This makes him feel you more as a 'friend', and thus he trusts you more.

I will quote little parts from this (short) conversation, and explain why I used it like this now.

Me: im very sorry, but i have no camera on my mobile, and my husband took my normal at the divorce .

Unless you ofcourse got the card, you can't take a picture, so you have to find a way around this. I make up an excuse of not having a camera. As you see, I say I got no camera on my mobile; this indicates I'm not a very wealthy man, which he probably isn't either, and thus, I gain more trust.

Secondly, you see the part and my husband took my normal at the divorce .
This isn't just an excuse to get around the part of giving a picture, it also makes the victim think you're a woman. This increases the chance of getting trust by loads. Also, it indicates a bit that the divorce wasn't that long ago, thus making him feel sorry for you.

Me: well, i wouldnt want to risk me level 80 account for just 7k eh? and ucan just report me if i scam u, then u get ur money back and i get banned

I assume you use a scammed account for it, and if this is a level 80, this excuse is very good, as the victim will think something like "hmm indeed, he wouldn't risk it like that if he wanted to scam me".
Ofcourse, you don't really care as you launder/sell the money, and most likely you won't get banned anyway as Blizzard has no clear proof that you didn't give the code, as you couldve given it on MSN. (yes, TCG selling ingame is just allowed).

Another example:

[Guy on Markeedragon]: Trading my Orc hunter, level 80 and he has full T8! Please add me on . I'd like to have a rogue for it.

[Me on msn]; Hey, I'd like to trade your Orc Hunter for my account. It has a level 80 Undead Rogue on it, together with a level 70 Priest and Shaman.

[Guy]: Ah nice, can I see them ingame? Tell me your server and I'll make an character there to check.

[Me]: I'm sorry, but I ran out of gametime and I don't want my rogue anymore, that's why I'm trading it. I don't like spending another 13$ just to show it, I'm not that rich ;<.

[Guy]: Oh.. Can I have the armory link then please?

[Me]: .

[Guy]: Nice! Any chance I can have your ID?

[Me]:
[Guy] Okay, let's switch the info then. I'd say changing the names first, then the SQ/A and then acc/pass?

[Me]: Sure, tell me your name

[Guy]: Ok, my name is

[Name]: Okay, and mine is
[Guy]: [
[Me]: My SQ/A is [SQ/A from a trialaccount you just made, with the name you gave etc.

You'll get the point now I guess

Again, this goes quite easy, normally the conversations are way longer but I just took a few important things I experienced

As you see, I took over his spelling again: Capitals, comma's, correct grammar etc.

It has a level 80 Undead Rogue on it, together with a level 70 Priest and Shaman.

Not only it has the Rogue he wants, but also a Priest and Shaman. This (hopefully) makes him want the account more. I told that they are level 70, because trading 3 80's for 1 80 is quite suspicious.

Again, acting like a girl really helps. But be careful, stay in this role all the time!

I'm sorry, but I ran out of gametime and I don't want my rogue anymore, that's why I'm trading it. I don't like spending another 13$ just to show it, I'm not that rich ;<.

This is just an excuse to avoid showing it ingame. If you really have any character with the class he wants (scammed or not), show this for ultimate trust But ofcourse, if you haven't, you can't do that. However this may seem like a weak excuse, you'll be surprised how many people will fall for this if you do it the correct way.

.

As you see, I tell him I'm the OO and that he's transferable. Giving someone un-asked extra information is good for gaining trust.


IV. Some tips

- Try to take over someones grammar, so they will trust you earlier.

- Before contacting your victim, think out your scam and excuses in general lines. They won't be always needed, but if you make up weak excuses, you'll fail.

- Be confident, don't avoid questions, but answer them. By acting like you're the smart guy and he shouldn't act too dumb, he will do what you want easier (but don't exaggerate this!!!).

- If someone asks you how they can know that you won't scam them, answer fast, with something like "I wouldn't risk my account" or "I can't do that because ...".
As almost everyone asks this, try planning on this: act like a girl, act like really needing the account/money/whatever etc.

- Always ask questions yourself: if you look like you don't really trust them, they will have a "harder job" not trusting you.

- Stay friendly!


V. SE in real life;

As I said before, SE isn't only used by scamming. It can, and also is, used much in real life. You can use this to order food for free, get a free parket ticket or get paid twice for something.

As thefatgiant said somewhere on this page, you can SE for a free pizza. A much common and very easy way to do this (mostly works at the more local stores and only the one that deliver), is ordering an unusual (as in, a pizza almost no one ever orders) pizza and giving up your real address. When the guy comes to give the pizza, act very surpised and say you never ordered anything. However some stores have some sort of rule about this (the guy will throw it away/eat it himself or w/e), there's a high chance you can get it for free, or at least way cheaper.

Another example: when walking through a mall, you know those little stands where they sell Egg rolls, fish etc ? Well, mostly these people aren't the smartest, and a good way to not pay for something is this:

First, order something and wait till they put it in the fryer or w/e. While they're getting what you want, make some noise with your wallet, pretending as if you put down some money. When they turn back, asking for the money, tell them you already put it down there. To make this way more believable, use a friend who walks by (on "Coincidence"), and get in a conversation to him (turn your back to the stand). This way you have some sort of alibi why you don't know where the money is now. This worked for me many times, and every now and then I see someone else use this


I hope this helped
-Aldun

[Suckaah]

Very nice guide, +Rep

[Aldun]

Very nice guide, +Rep

Thanks =)!
(yes, this is a really-not-so-obvious bump ;>)

[[Ban Hammer]]

46 views and 1 reply - ouch +Rep for the effort mate! This should be stickied tbh, truely awesome.

EDIT: Gah, gave out too much recently Will try again tommorow.

[vuth]

It really is a good guide. Too bad I already gave out my rep for today.

[Atoslayer2]

nice guide! i dunno if ican rep you ill try

[Aldun]

nice guide! i dunno if ican rep you ill try

Yep, you could ^^ Thanks all!

[chiem]

Wow! Really nice! This can help me alot! Man this is awesome, +REP 2!!

[Aldun]

Wow! Really nice! This can help me alot! Man this is awesome, +REP 2!!

Thanks =) Just 29 rep to go <3

[X-CON]

Nice guide

[chancer]

Nice guide. +Rep. I might use this sometime. Can anyone point me to a guide to keep the accounts you scammed? I'm really wanting a Mage, Priest, or Paladin.

[thefatgiant]

I social engineered a free pizza once, but this is filling. +rep

[Aldun]

I social engineered a free pizza once, but this is filling. +rep

Thanks for the rep ^^ And yes, SE can be used everywhere. I use it in real life at least once a month at the McDonalds; I pay for 1 McFlurry and I get a full meal <3.

[unknown1234]

Very nice guide OP (:

[Ganjah]

lulz, this is good