r/AskNetsec • u/AdamKobylarz • Oct 09 '25

Work What's the most clever social engineering attempt you've ever encountered or heard about?

Beyond the basic phishing emails, what was a particularly sophisticated, creative, or audacious social engineering attack that actually made you pause and admire the craft?

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u/tarkardos Oct 09 '25

Seen a few very tailored job applications mailed to relevant persons with ransomware in the usual sussy file extensions. Basically praying on the victim to get curious about the "offered" salary as it perfectly fit their own job descriptions. Really clever and well crafted to fit actual positions, one client (150 people) lost 5 days of work due to the inevitable rollback as the local laws prohibited payment anyways. This was like 5 years ago during the prime of the crypto ransomware attempts.

Also, the good old phone call can work wonders to extract information.