Do You Know What Pretexting Is?

I first heard the term "pretexting" while reading the fascinating book by Ronan Farrow, Catch and Kill.  It's about the lies and deceptions that are told to bury stories, in this case the Harvey Weinstein story.  The term was used in Ronan's discussion of the practice used by The National Enquirer to gather information on a specific story, then pay off the victim, then bury the story.

Pretexting often involves a scam where the liar pretends to need information in order to confirm the identity of the person he is talking to. It is a form of social engineering, in which an individual lies to obtain privileged data.  A pretext is a false motive.  It could be presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information.  It may be creating a completely false identity.

Private investigators and others who gather information often use pretexting.  Such deceptive practices, I can hardly believe it.  In the financial field, the Gramm-Leach Act in 1999 banned the use of pretexting to gain access to financial data.  We've got to be careful of random calls by people posing as someone they're not to gain access to your personal information.  Scammers are out there.  Beware!