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Our financial institutions have invested fully in state-of-the-art defenses against cybercrimes. All the efforts notwithstanding, fraud continues to happen as cybercriminals innovate to keep ahead of the game.

- ALEX MAGNO

A lot of the scams that proliferate rely less on the technical vulnerabilities of our financial systems and more on pure psychological manipulation to deceive intended victims into divulging sensitive information. These manipulative methods are now referred to as "social engineering" in the catalogue of cyberthreats.

Among the most common tactics of "social engineering" used by cybercriminals is the inducement of a compelling sense of urgency on the part of the intended victim. Attackers create an artificial crisis to pressure targeted individuals into acting hastily to comply with malicious instructions without carefully assessing the legitimacy of particular requests for personal information.

Phishing emails, for instance, might claim that an account faces suspension unless requested information is provided by the intended victim. By instilling fear, cybercriminals reduce the likelihood of the target thinking critically before responding. In this method, the target is left no alternative except compliance with sensitive information requests.

Creating a false sense of urgency is actually an old tactic. Remember how it used to be that domestic helpers were duped with phone calls claiming their employers were rushed to a hospital and instructing them to take out money or valuables. Today's cybercriminals simply moved this tactic online.