In criminal literature, there are several common ways that characters use social engineering to obtain sensitive information from security guards: ### Impersonating an authority 1. **Disguised as a maintenance worker** - Criminals may dress in clothing that looks like professional maintenance workers and carry simple tools, such as an electrician's tool kit or a plumbing repair sign. They claim to have received a repair request and need to perform a facility inspection or repair in a specific area, such as saying "I am from XX Maintenance Company. I received a notice that there is a problem with the circuit here and need to come in to check the distribution box." Security guards will often let down their guard at seemingly reasonable repair requests and allow them into the relevant area. Once inside, criminals can take the opportunity to observe the surrounding environment and look for opportunities to obtain sensitive information, such as checking the layout of employee offices, where documents are stored, etc., or talking to employees and inadvertently extracting information. 2. **Imitating a superior** - Criminals may imitate the tone and manner of a superior to call the security guard or go directly to the security room. They may say that they are a senior executive of the company, such as "I am from the general manager's office. I need to enter the XX area to get an important document. Please let me in." Security guards generally do not dare to stop them easily out of respect for their superiors' authority. After entering, they will pretend to be looking for documents, communicate with employees they meet, and ask about sensitive matters such as the progress of important company projects and customer information. For example, while pretending to look for documents, they will chat with employees passing by: "How is the progress of that big project recently? I heard it is very critical. I have to understand the situation and report it to the leader." ### Exploiting sympathy 1. **Make up a tragic story** - Criminals will make up a sympathetic story to attract the attention of security guards. For example, they may say that they are job seekers from other places, their wallets have been stolen, their mobile phones have run out of power, and now they urgently need to contact a department or person in the company to inquire about the interview situation. They ask the security guards to help make a phone call or let them wait in the security room for a while to use the phone. While waiting, they may chat with the security guards and try to get the security guards to know about certain situations in the company, such as the location of important departments of the company, the general pattern of access control codes, etc. Or, they will say that they have a relative who works in the company and suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. They cannot contact him no matter what and want to ask the security guard to help find the phone number of the relative's department so that they can go to the hospital to visit him. 2. **Pretend to be lost and ask for help** - Criminals will deliberately wander around the company and wait for the security guards to patrol and ask for help. They may say that they are in this place for the first time and want to find a company or a specific person in the company, showing a very anxious and helpless look. The security guards may tell them the specific route and location in detail out of kindness. While pretending to listen carefully, the criminals may ask for some other information about the company, such as whether the company has any major events recently, whether the security measures will be strengthened, etc., to prepare for possible subsequent actions. ### Establish a harmonious relationship 1. **Frequent communication and getting close** - Criminals will chat with the security guards frequently and gradually establish a certain harmonious relationship. They may stay near the security room for a while every day, starting with light topics such as weather and sports events, and slowly getting closer to the security guards. As the relationship gets better, they will start asking about the daily situation of the company, such as the flow of people going to and from get off work every day, the working hours of different departments, etc. For example, they may say: "Have you watched a football game recently? I like that team very much. Hey, there are so many people coming in and out of your company every day. Do you think the security pressure is quite high? Is it very busy during rush hour?" Through these seemingly ordinary exchanges, you can collect useful information for yourself. 2. **Give small favors** - Criminals will give security guards some small gifts, such as drinks, cigarettes, etc. These small favors will make the security guards feel good, so they are more willing to communicate with them and provide information. For example, when the weather is hot, give the security guards a few bottles of iced drinks and say: "It's too hot, you've worked hard, drink some water to quench your thirst." After the security guards accept the gifts, they may relax their vigilance against the criminals. When the criminals ask about the company's safety precautions, the access control of important areas, etc., the security guards may answer in more detail and may even inadvertently reveal some key information. ### Exploiting information asymmetry 1. **Misleading the security guards** - Criminals will deliberately provide some wrong or misleading information to make the security guards inadvertently reveal the correct information. For example, they may say: "I heard that the company is going to change the access control system recently. Have they started to install the new equipment?" If the security guard corrects them and says: "It's not changing the access control system, but upgrading the monitoring equipment." In this way, the criminals confirm the company's new security measures. At the same time, they also know that the security guards are paying attention to the company's security dynamics. They may further ask about the specific situation of the monitoring equipment upgrade, thereby obtaining more sensitive information. 2. **Clever questions** -