Threat intelligence / Technique

Pretexting

An adversary engages in pretexting behavior to solicit information from target persons, or manipulate the target into performing some action that serves the adversary's interests. During a pretexting attack, the adversary creates an invented scenario, assuming an identity or role to persuade a targeted victim to release information or perform some action. It is more than just creating a lie; in some cases it can be creating a whole new identity and then using that identity to manipulate the receipt of information.

Technique

TypeTechnique

External ID—

First seen2026-10-17

Last seen2026-10-17

Confidence

—

An adversary engages in pretexting behavior to solicit information from target persons, or manipulate the target into performing some action that serves the adversary's interests. During a pretexting attack, the adversary creates an invented scenario, assuming an identity or role to persuade a targeted victim to release information or perform some action. It is more than just creating a lie; in some cases it can be creating a whole new identity and then using that identity to manipulate the receipt of information.

Labels

attack-patterncapec

8 recorded

Relationships

child-of

from Harvesting Information via API Event Monitoring

Technique

child-of

to Information Elicitation

Technique

child-of

to Manipulate Human Behavior

Technique

child-of

from Pretexting via Customer Service

Technique

child-of

from Pretexting via Delivery Person

Technique

child-of

from Pretexting via Phone

Technique

child-of

from Pretexting via Tech Support

Technique

mapped-to

to Gather Victim Identity Information

Technique

1 external

References

capec

CAPEC-407