If you're the type of social engineer who's fluent In manipulating entities "using old-school attack vectors", such as tricking your victim to give you their username & password to their Twitter account by pretending to be an agent that's performing a routine security upgrade, or perhaps SEing your doctor for a medical certificate to have time off work when you're not sick to begin with, you would be very familiar with the strategies used to successfully achieve the objective at hand. As a result, you'd know precisely what to expect with every SE, and how to apply your skill set to penetrate your target's defense mechanism with minimal complications. Now If you happen to register on any "major social engineering board/forum" and start sifting through messages posted by other users, you'd be at a complete loss as to what they're discussing.
For example, there'll be posts pertaining to using the "DNA method" to claim that the package did not make Its way to the correct address, or members saying that they successfully "SEd" by using the missing Item method and had their account credited for the full cost of the purchased Item. Given you're proficient In the original style of SEing, what you've just read above, particularly all the "abbreviations" I've used, will leave you In a state of total confusion and the reason for that Is because there's a new breed of social engineering which Is known as "company manipulation and exploitation". Although It's been around for a while, "It continues to expand with new methods and attacks" hence In that sense, It will always be classed as a relatively "new breed of human hacking". Allow me to explain what this Involves.
SE'ers hit companies of all shapes & sizes to the likes of John Lewis, Argos, Zalando, ASOS, Currys PC World, Amazon as well as countless other online and In-store retailers, by fooling their representatives to Issue refunds Into their accounts and dispatch replacement Items at no extra cost. For the most part, this requires a very calculated and strategic approach and without proper method formulation and a flawless execution thereafter, the SE may well and truly end In failure. Given you've almost read three paragraphs of this article, I'd say It's very safe to assume that you're Interested In learning exactly how this type of social engineering operates, yes? I thought as much. In order to do that and as per the objective of this tutorial, It's of the utmost Importance to familiarize yourself with the "abbreviations" used In all facets of the aforementioned SEing.
You can then start your career by reading my Beginner's Guide To SE'ing, and then navigate this blog to take In as much Information as your learning capability allows you to absorb. On the other hand, even If you're an advanced SE'er who's been In the scene for many years to date by offering a refunding service and the like, or perhaps you're very well acquainted with the terminology used In the above-mentioned capacity, I strongly suggest you checkout every topic listed below- as I'm quite confident that there are a few "abbreviations" unbeknownst to you. Before I begin, what you're about to read contains every social engineering "abbreviation" that's commonly used and discussed on all SEing forums and messaging platforms (such as Discord) that operate on a very large scale. To make It easy to follow, I've placed everything In Its respective category that's brief and straight to the point, so without further delay, let's get this started.
Social Engineering Abbreviations:
As per the title of this topic, this relates to the term "social engineering", which also Includes abbreviations for "social engineer", "social engineered" and basically anything of similar context.
SEd
This Is also used with an apostrophe as SE'd, but they both denote the same thing which Is "Social Engineered". In my experience, seldom Is It used as the latter. It's predominantly abbreviated.
SE'er
Used to describe the person who social engineers, hence SE'er Is short for "Social Engineerer". As you can see, Its long form doesn't make sense, so It's always used as SE'er.
SE'ers
This Is similar to the one just above, with the only difference being plural. It's commonly used to refer "Social Engineers" as SE'ers, and you will find that It's quite popular In discussions.
SEs
Although SEs Is not a commonality In SEing communities, It's still very Important to know what It denotes- which Is "Social Engineerings". Due to the latter having no meaning, SEs takes Its place.
SEing
SEing Is the most widely-used abbreviation In social engineering forums/boards. If you haven't worked It out, It's short for exactly that- "Social Engineering". Both the former & latter are accepted equally.
SE
As with the above, SE Is also frequently used and has two definitions. The first Is "Social Engineer" and depending on the context of the sentence/message, It also means "Social Engineering".
SE'able
Even though you won't come across SE'able too often, many boards continue to post It In their messages, for the reason that Its meaning of "Social Engineerable" Isn't part of the SEing vocabulary.
Company Related:
This pretty much speaks for Itself, so there's no point going Into detail. In short, It contains the abbreviations that social engineers use when referencing company's requests, terms and so forth.
PR
When the company opens an Investigation, they usually ask you to file a "Police Report" to move forward with your claim. Many SE'ers shorten the term to PR when posting In forums.
CSR
Mostly used by Intermediate or advanced social engineers, CSR stands for "Customer Service Representative", which Is the agent who's handling the claim at the time of the SE.
Rep
If you've just started SEing online entities and you're not part of a social engineering community, you'd be at a loss as to what Rep denotes. Its definition Is "Representative"- much the same as CSR above.
Stat Dec
Almost always used In Its long form as "Statutory Declaration", a Stat Dec Is very similar to an affidavit but Is not legally binding on Its own. This may also be required with a company Investigation.
RMA
An abbreviation of "Return Merchandise Authorization", an RMA Is Issued by a company to approve a refund or replacement by returning the Item. SE'ers predominantly reference It as RMA.
C&D
When the SE'er goes too far with obtaining refunds/replacements, a C&D notice, also written as "Ceased and Desist", Is sent by the company to the SE'er asking to Immediately stop his activity.
POP
Before a company can refund the SE'ers account or dispatch a replacement Item free of charge, they sometimes ask for a POP, meaning a "Proof Of Purchase" which Is pretty much self-explanatory.
POD
When a claim has been approved, Instead of sending the Item back, some companies request a POD - "Proof Of Destruction" that clearly shows the device been destroyed, such as cutting the cord on a computer mouse or breaking buttons on a keyboard.
AR
Not every company offers an AR, which stands for "Advanced Replacement", but those that do, It means that they will send a replacement Item before the defective product Is returned to them.
AWB
If you're a beginner SE'er, you've most likely never come across an AWB, nor Its long form of "Air Waybill". It's a receipt Issued by an International carrier (for air freight) to confirm the shipment.
Item & Method Related:
There are many methods that are discussed and written only as abbreviations, so It's paramount to familiarize yourself with the lot. There's only a couple related to Items, but It's worth listing nonetheless.
DNA
Put simply, DNA stands for "Did Not Arrive", which Is a common method used to say that the SE'er did not receive the package that was delivered to his address (or otherwise) by the carrier.
DNA'd
As with the above, DNA'd means the same, but Is used In past tense rather than In Its present form. It's short for "Did Not Arrived"- which Is not grammatically correct, hence It's always abbreviated.
DNA'ing
This refers to what the social engineer Is currently doing with the DNA method. An example Is: "I'm DNA'ing the monitor I ordered from Dell". It's only used and written as DNA'ing.
DNA'able
Again, this relates to the DNA method and Is used to say whether an Item Is/Isn't DNA'able. For Instance, someone may comment: "That laptop Is DNA'able particularly with FedEx".
DNA It
This Is the last of the abbreviations pertaining to the DNA method, and Is only used as DNA It, which means to go ahead and claim that you did not receive your package from the carrier driver.
Partial
On Its own, Partial can be Interpreted In so many ways but In social engineering parlance, It's taken from "The Partial Method", whereby you order a bunch of Items and say that one or more were missing.
PEB
Further to the partial method above, PEB which Is defined as "Partial Empty Box", Is exactly the same In how It's formulated and applied. You'll find that some SEing communities use It more than others.
EB
If you're familiar with the missing Item method, you'd certainly know that EB means the same thing, by saying you received an "Empty Box", which social engineers abbreviate It as EB.
LIT
Not that common at all, LIT Is an abbreviation for "Lost In Transit" which (as Its name Implies), suggests that the package the SE'er has sent back to the company, Is lost In transit/shipment.
Drop
When the SE'er doesn't want to use his own home to accept deliveries, he'll use one that's vacant and doesn't belong to him. This Is known as a Drop, or "Drop House" and also referred to as a "Drop Address".
Box
If the representative asks you to return your Item for a refund, rather than doing that, you'll Box the company by sending an empty box/package. This of course, relates to the "Boxing Method".
FTID
The biggest piece of garbage to hit the SEing sector, Is called the FTID method. The author can't even get the title right, namely "Fake Tracking ID"- It's not fake at all. The actual shipment Is fictitious.
TID
When packages are sent & received, a "Tracking ID" Is used to keep track of the consignment whilst In transit, and to also confirm It's reached the correct destination. Most SE'ers shorten It to TID.
SN
By Itself, you'd think that SN has no relevance to social engineering whatsoever, when In fact It's used quite often with the serial number method. If you haven't worked It out, It's short for "Serial Number".
TN
When a product has been purchased and Is being shipped to the delivery address, a "Tracking Number" Is assigned to the package. It allows the SE'er to see exactly where the package Is In transit. TN stands for Tracking Number.
Payment System Abbreviations:
Everything listed In this topic pertains to all forms of payments, Inclusive of credit cards, PayPal and a service provided on Internet forums/boards. Given It's obviously only abbreviated, the list Is quite short.
SNAD
Similar to the wrong Item received method, SNAD which Is short for "Significantly Not As Described", Is used when filing a dispute through PayPal to get a refund by claiming that the description of the Item that was ordered, was different to the one that was received.
INR
As with the above example regarding a PayPal dispute, the only other reason you can use to get a refund, Is for an INR ("Item Not Received"). This Is the same as the good old DNA method.
VCC
A VCC Is defined as a "Virtual Credit Card". Unlike your physical plastic card, this Is simply a disposable number that's associated with your real card. SE'ers use a VCC to anonymize their payment gateway.
CC
Although CC Is easily Identified as belonging to "Credit Card" discussions, It's often abbreviated by SE'ers due to either a matter of convenience, or because the forum's admin has Implemented keyword filtering to disallow using the term Credit Card altogether.
EFTPOS
Hardly spoken In social engineering communities, but still worthy of mentioning. EFTPOS Is short for "Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale". If you have a bank account, you'll know what this relates to, so there's no need to go Into detail.
GC
If for one reason or another, you cannot get hold of a Virtual Credit Card, you can use a GC as an alternative option. SE'ers mostly refer to It as GC, and not Its full name being "Gift Card".
MM
A MM service Is very popular on Internet forums, whereby a trusted user acts as the "Middle Man" to ensure the transaction runs smoothly for the buyer & seller. The MM holds the funds to make sure that the buyer gets his product, and the seller gets his money.
In Conclusion:
As you've realized, the purpose of this article, Is to provide you with every abbreviation (I can think of) that's commonly used by mostly Intermediate and advanced social engineers on Internet forums and chat gateways. If you're reading this as a newbie In the art of human hacking, do take the content (In every topic) on board and be sure to absorb every abbreviation- as you will need most of It when communicating with others, and reading messages from fellow SE'ers. Now If you have something that I've forgotten to document, please leave a comment below, and I'll reference your name when I add It to Its respective topic. But do remember that this Is based on "common abbreviations", and not those that're rarely used and hardly known In the social engineering sector.
