Social engineering is a method of manipulation seeks to exploit people (usually confidential information such as login credentials, bank information, etc.) using social behavior such as trust. Social engineering can happen unknowingly since lying and subterfuge are components used by social engineers in their methods. Examples of social engineering include

• phishing / spear phishing attacks (usually in the form of emails or other digital messengers)
• vishing (phishing or pretexting via phone calls)
• water holing involves using a trusted website to lure victims in rather than attacking them directly