Malicious actors are constantly finding new ways to gain access to sensitive business information. While many organisations focus on technical threats such as malware and ransomware, some of the most successful attacks rely on simple human psychology. One of these techniques is known as blagging - but what is blagging?
Blagging is a social engineering attack where a cyber criminal impersonates a trusted person, such as an IT technician, manager, or supplier to trick someone into revealing sensitive information such as passwords, financial information, or customer data. Unlike phishing, blagging relies on direct deception and conversation rather than a single fraudulent email or website.
Blagging can lead to large business losses, such as financial issues, downtime, and fines - as well as the potential for the system access to be used for further attacks, such as malware.
This guide covers everything you need to know, such as what blagging is, the difference between phishing and blagging and how you can protect yourself.
Jump To Section:
- What Is Blagging?
- Why Is Blagging Dangerous?
- Common Blagging Techniques
- What Is the Difference Between Phishing and Blagging?
- What’s a Real-Life Example of Blagging?
- How To Prevent Blagging Attacks
- What Should You Do If You Think You’ve Been Compromised?
- Protect Your Business From Social Engineering Attacks
- Blagging FAQs
What Is Blagging?
Blagging is a form of social engineering where a cyber criminal pretends to be someone else so that they can obtain confidential information.
The attacker creates a believable story, or “blag”, that is designed to convince the victim to reveal sensitive data, grant access to systems, or carry out an action that benefits the attacker.
For example, a criminal may call an employee and pretend to be:
- From the IT department or the IT company
- A company director
- A bank representative
- A supplier
- A customer
- A government official
The goal of this deception attempt is to gain the victim’s trust and persuade them to provide information that they wouldn’t normally share, such as login credentials, customer records, financial information, employee details, network access, or security procedures.
Why Is Blagging Dangerous?
Blagging can be a major concern for businesses and organisations because it bypasses technical security controls. Even an organisation with strong firewalls, antivirus software, and access controls can be vulnerable if an employee unknowingly provides information to a convincing attacker.
Successful blagging attacks can lead to:
- Data breaches
- Financial fraud
- Identity theft
- Account compromise
- Business email compromise
- Reputational damage
- Regulatory penalties
When blagging is combined with detailed research and planning, the attacker’s request can appear genuine and highly convincing.
Common Blagging Techniques
There are a variety of techniques that can be used by attackers to make their stories sound convincing.
Impersonation
The attacker may pretend to be a trusted individual, such as a colleague, supplier, manager or service provider.
Authority Exploitation
Because people are naturally inclined to comply with requests from authority figures, attackers might impersonate senior executives or government officials to create pressure.
Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency often encourages victims to act quickly, before they question the request or its authenticity.
Examples include:
- “Your account will be suspended today”
- “The CEO needs this immediately”
- “A payment must be processed within the hour”
Information Gathering
Attackers will often collect information from social media, company websites, and public records before contacting their target.
This allows them to reference real names, projects, or departments - which makes the deception more believable.
Multi-Step Social Engineering
Rather than asking for sensitive information immediately, criminals might gradually build trust through multiple interactions before making their request.
What Is the Difference Between Phishing and Blagging?
Phishing and blagging are easy to confuse, since they’re both social engineering attacks. In practice, they both use different approaches:
| Phishing | Blagging |
| Usually delivered through emails, texts, or fake websites. | Often involves direct communication, such as phone calls or conversations. |
| Typically sent to multiple targets at scale. | Frequently personalised and targeted. |
| Attempts to trick victims into clicking links or entering credentials. | Attempts to persuade victims to voluntarily disclose information. |
| Relies heavily on fraudulent messages. | Relies heavily on deception and conversation. |
| Often automated. | Usually involves direct human interaction. |
Attackers might combine both techniques, for example, by sending a phishing email before following up with a blagging phone call to increase credibility.
What’s a Real-Life Example of Blagging?
One of the most well-known examples of blagging occurred during the 2020 Twitter breach.
Attackers used social engineering techniques to target Twitter employees, reportedly contacting staff to impersonate internal IT staff. By convincing employees to provide access to internal systems, the attackers bypassed security controls and gained access to high-profile accounts - such as Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Apple. The attackers then used these accounts to post cryptocurrency scam messages to millions of followers.
While the incident involved multiple attack methods, the initial compromise came through blagging and social engineering rather than technical vulnerabilities. The breach highlighted how even large technology companies can be vulnerable when cybercriminals manipulate people instead of systems.
How To Prevent Blagging Attacks
Preventing blagging requires a combination of employee awareness, strong processes, and security controls. Key measures include:
- Providing regular security awareness training so employees can recognise social engineering tactics, warning signs and reporting procedures.
- Verifying identities independently by calling back using known contact details and confirming requests through official channels.
- Implementing clear security policies, including never sharing passwords, requiring approval for financial requests, and enforcing secure access procedures.
- Limiting publicly available information on social media, company websites, and staff directories reduces opportunities for attackers to build convincing stories.
- Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) to help prevent unauthorised access, even if login credentials are compromised.
What Should You Do If You Think You’ve Been Compromised?
If you believe you’ve fallen victim to a blagging attack, act quickly:
- Change passwords immediately by resetting any potentially compromised credentials and ensuring strong, unique passwords are used.
- Inform your IT team straight away (or contact a Managed IT Services company) so that appropriate investigations and containment measures can take place. Many IT companies offer Emergency IT Support for immediate assistance.
- Review account activity for unauthorised logins, suspicious transactions, and unexpected system changes.
- Enable or review multi-factor authentication (MFA) and implement it if it is not already in place.
- Monitor for further activity, as attackers may attempt additional attacks once they have gathered information.
Protect Your Business From Social Engineering Attacks
The best defence is a combination of employee awareness, robust security processes, and proactive cyber security measures.
If you’re looking to strengthen your organisation’s cyber resilience, Resolve can help. From security awareness training and phishing simulations to managed cyber security services, our experts can help you reduce risk and protect your business from evolving threats.
Get in touch with Resolve today to discuss your cyber security requirements and build a stronger defence against cyber attacks.
Blagging FAQs
Is Blagging the Same as Phishing?
No. Phishing typically uses fraudulent emails, texts, or websites to steal information, while blagging relies on direct deception and impersonation to persuade victims to reveal sensitive data.
What Does Blagging Do?
Blagging tricks individuals into voluntarily disclosing confidential information, granting access to systems, or performing actions that benefit a cyber criminal.
What Are the 5 Cs of Cyber Security?
The 5 Cs are commonly described as Change, Compliance, Cost, Continuity, and Coverage. Different organisations may use slightly different frameworks, but these principles focus on maintaining effective and resilient cyber security practices.
What Is the Weakest Link in Cyber Security?
People are often considered to be the weakest link in an organisation’s cyber security efforts. This is because attackers frequently exploit human behaviour through social engineering techniques such as phishing and blagging.
What Are the 4 Types of Phishing?
Four common types of phishing are:
- Email phishing
- Spear phishing
- Whaling
- Smishing (SMS phishing)
What Is An Example of Baiting?
An example of baiting is leaving an infected USB device in a public place, hoping someone will find it and plug it into a computer, unknowingly installing malware.
Who Do Hackers Target the Most?
Hackers target organisations of all sizes, but small and medium-sized businesses are often attractive because they may have fewer security resources than larger enterprises.
What Is Smishing vs Vishing?
Smishing is phishing conducted through SMS text messages, while vishing (voice phishing) uses phone calls to trick victims into revealing information.