16.6 – Social Engineering Scams – The Lawyer as Victim

Social engineering refers to a wide range of malicious actions. In a social engineering scam, criminals psychologically manipulate people into revealing specific information, such as personal or financial information, or performing specific actions, such as paying money or transferring gift cards. Common social engineering scams aimed at lawyers and law firms include the bad cheque scam, the phony change in payment instructions, or a phony direction to pay. 

We’ll discuss the specifics of the bad cheque scam, the phony change in payment instructions, and the phony direction to pay in the following pages.