Editorial note: We decided to remove any and all last names from the examples section as to not be drawn into any potential legal disputes. In the place of any last names, you will find “*****”
Throughout this process, it is important to exercise restraint; failure may result in a backfire of your own method. The method aims to anger or cause great sadness in the target and extract information. Remember, it's not illegal to gaslight or purposefully annoy the threat actor. It is crucial to approach this technique responsibly, ensuring that the methods are employed with good OPSEC and skill.
By employing these aggressive social engineering tactics, you can potentially gather key details about the target's operations, infrastructure, and, potentially, even their associates. However, it is essential to emphasize that this approach should only be utilized within a safe working environment and with thorough understanding of the potential consequences if you fail.
In conclusion, aggressive social engineering through gaslighting and argumentation can be a powerful method for gathering information from individuals engaged in criminal activities. However, it should be noted that your targets most likely are going to use every threat but most fall through. Show no weakness and continue on strong.
Real World Examples (A Treat for you readers)
Sheriff the Colonial Pipeline hacker AKA Alexander: this fool came out of hiding post-lockbit ban (see sickkids(.)ca hack) only to admit to open air with a hired person in breach forums shoutbox he came out of the hiding because of me... this wasn't the worst part, He also went on to admit he was in AVOS, not even a month later? AVOS hits a hospital... what a surprise? He comes out, exposes his currant affiliation and hacks a hospital (This dude is extensively doxed btw) I planned to mention "Springwood Hospital" but this is a rather harsh topic and I'm not trying to traumatize you if you wanna google it, Happened in 2019.
Arion ***** Lapsus$ Ah yes where to begin, in the early days after he was doxed post dumping of doxbin's bin.sql he forgot to sanitize the database of key information. What's better than: Arion20051212? But wait there's more... He actively denies this in my twitter comments (Now Deleted, Screenshots exist) with the infamous: C:\Users\Arion\Downloads\bin.sql\ in notepad++ with ofc his password, to make matters worse this password was used to expose him via constantly pushing the news about his RWI he commented calling it fake news and trying to disprove the password but this password wasn't random, 35 months prior DemonForums was breached and Arion ***** gaming at hotmail dot com was ofc the email attached to this. See? Emotions and Gas lighting do make people self-expose themselves on twitter and you can tell because doxbin hates me yet can't live without me...
DrDeplorable: Ah yes what isn't a story with my favorite idiot of all time, one of my longest runs clocking in at: 29 Months, 3 days, 17hrs and 28 minutes this is a Texas Native, Now what's so special here? How did I manage to go 2+ Years putting up with a single dude? Simple we argued, did some work together (I lied to him every time so no crimes committed) and of course he opens cash app account in my CFO's name, Ate his own confessions 19+ times and I legit fed him his own words by forwarding his telegram messages to him (He denied everything despite being explicit and had context), Slapping him across the face with his own chat logs with another "friend" of his and more. This simply amounted to nearly every type of Fraud defined in 18 USC being done, Nearly all laws violating CSE/CSA codes, Firearm trafficking, drug trafficking and more by my count he racked up at least 60 different charges of fraud, crimes against kids, selling guns, drugs and etc., and the list goes on.
These are just my top three favorite examples, I'd have more - none were intrusive, they all self-exposed themselves through various arguments I hope you enjoyed. Also, since Travis & Arion were mentioned, here’s lessons for everyone:
DON'T USE YOUR NAME IN YOUR PASSWORD OR USE YOUR RWI IN YOUR USERNAME ON VARIOUS SITES AND INCLUDE YOUR FACE, EDUCATION LEVEL, LOCATION AND MORE...
END OF STORY
I figured adding some RWEs would really showcase just how powerful gaslighting and arguing work wonders in social engineering, meanwhile discussing very common flaws like weak passwords and username reuse to really get the point across. It's been an entire decade since Ross ***** got busted and people never learn to not be dumb.