As you learn about smishing and other scams, you might hear the term ‘social engineering’. This is a technique that cybercriminals use to persuade you to do something by tapping into human emotions like fear, panic, guilt, or greed. For example, they might tell you that your bank account has been hacked. In your fear and hurry to protect your finances, they are hoping you will share personal details. Smishing social engineering could also mean that they contact you claiming that you won a big prize, hoping that your excitement will cloud your judgment and get you to share your money or details.