Social engineering is a versatile scam tactic that can occur over the phone, online or even in person.

Santander notes that fraudsters impersonate trusted, genuine companies or individuals, such as a victims’ bank, the police or even personal friends or family members.

One example of a social engineering scam is remote access scams.

These scams will usually see the fraudster impersonating official organisations, persuading victims to give them remote control of their personal computer.