pretexting
Pretexting is a social engineering tactic used to commit fraud by presenting a false story or scenario to gain a victim's trust in order to manipulate them into revealing sensitive information, downloading malware, sending money, or otherwise compromising personal or organizational resources. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, a person may not obtain or try to obtain customer information about another person “by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee,” agent, or customer of an institution. Many states also have laws which prohibit pretexting. In 2006, a pretexting case involving several corporate executives at Hewlett Packard led to criminal charges. That same year, President Bush signed the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the use of pretexting to buy, sell or obtain personal phone records, except when conducted by law enforcement or intelligence agencies.
For additional information in the Hewlett Packard case see:
- CNN - Now, HP is a Criminal Case
- Combating Pretexting: Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act
- Owner, Employee and Contractor of Private Investigative Firm Sentenced in Connection With Pretexting
- Hewlett Packard’s Pretexting Scandal: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce - House of Representatives - One Hundred and Ninth Congress - Second Session September 28, 2006
[Last reviewed in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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