Social engineering in E-F-F-E-C-T

All names, places, titles, and work related information have been changed for the sake of security and privacy. The following article is NOT a textbook for stealing/shoplifting. The following article IS a resource for all security personnel to use as a means of training and defense against social engineering. I decided to work a short day today so I only had time to make my attempts on two stores. I met the District Loss Prevention Supervisor (Charles) at 7a.m. in Middleville and asked him a few questions before I got started. He told me that he and a few of his plain clothed security guys had done this in the past and one of them held the record in the district for getting out the door without getting stopped with a $400 DVD player. I assumed that it must have been a while since that happened if the price was that high. What I said to him next really peaked his interest. “Man, I’m about to walk out that door with $4000 worth of merchandise and I’ll stop and talk to a cashier on the way out.”

Of course, if this guy was really sharp, he would have first negotiated a deal that would allow him to keep whatever he managed to successfully get out of the store. I was shocked that he didn’t.