Additional Pretexting Tools

Other tools exist that can enhance a pretext. Props can go a long way in convincing a target of the reality of your pretext; for example, magnetic signs for your vehicle, matching uniforms or outfits, tools or other carry-ons, and the most important—a business card.

The power of the business card hit me when I was recently flying to Las Vegas on business. My laptop bag usually gets scanned, rescanned, then swabbed for bomb dust or whatever. I am one of those guys who doesn’t really mind the extra security precautions because they keep me from blowing up in the air, and I am happy with that.

Yet I realize that 90 percent of the time I am going to get extra attention by Transportation Security Administration (TSA). On this particular trip I had forgotten to take my lock picks, RFID scanner, four extra hard drives, bump keys, and plethora of wireless hacking gear out of my carryon laptop bag. As it goes through the scanner I hear the lady working the xray say, “What the heck?”

She then calls over another gentlemen who stares at the screen and says, “I have no clue what the heck that stuff is.” He then looks around, sees my smiling face, and says, “Is this you?” I walk over to the table with him as he is emptying my RFID scanner and my large case of lock picks and he says, “Why do you have all of these items and what are they?”

I had nothing planned but decided at the last second to try this move: I pulled out a business card and said, “I am security professional who specializes in testing networks, buildings, and people for security holes. These are the tools of my business.” I said this as I handed him a business card and he looked at it for about five seconds and then said, “Oh, excellent.

Thanks for the explanation.”

He neatly put all my items back in, zipped the bag up, and let me go. Usually I go through the bomb screening, the little dust machine, and then a patdown, but this time all I got was a thank you and a quick release. I began to analyze what I did differently than normal. The only difference was that I had given him a business card. Granted, my business card is not the $9.99

special from an online card printer, but I was amazed that what seemed to have happened was that a business card added a sense of license to my claims.

My next four flights I purposely packed every “hacking” device into my bags I could find and then kept a business card in my pocket. Each time my bag was examined and I was asked about the contents, I flipped out the card. Each time I was apologized to, had my items packed in neatly, and let go. Imagine my experience was a pretext. Little details can add so much weight to what I am saying that I can appear valid, trustworthy, and solid with nothing more than a card that tells people that everything I say is true. Don’t underestimate the power of a business card. One word of caution: getting a weak and pathetic-looking business card can actually cause the opposite effect. A business card that was “free” with an advertisement on the back will not add weight to a professional pretext. Yet there is no reason to spend $300 on a business card to use once. Many online business card printers can print a small amount of very nice cards for less than $100.