Social Engineering Task # 8

1.         My task was to “Get an employee in a store to give you something for free”.

2.         Once I chose my task, I did my mental appreciation about the task, and planned a way that I could succeed. I chose a family owned store which requires to purchase at least $10 worth item(s) to use customer’s credit card. As per plan, I put on my running gear started jogging towards the store in a nearby city around noon time. A lady was working as cashier, not many shoppers were around. That day was comparatively hot for spring season and I pretended to be thirsty after a long run. I grabbed a bottle of water (priced 99 Cents) from the store cooler and headed towards cashier. I handed my credit card to pay but she politely said store has a policy of card minimum $10 and asked for cash. I apologized and said “I am very thirsty, I am not carrying any cash now”. She looked at my sweaty face for a second, returned my credit card and said, “You are all set”. I asked her “are you sure?” She said yes. My task was completed, I thanked her and exited from that store with an accomplished feeling.

3.         Strategy was to find a small convenience store where owner him/herself works so that he/she won’t have to worry about giving away something for free. My strategy was effective because if you don’t own a store just work, there will be few things you need to think before giving away any freebies. When you own the store, you don’t have to worry about those stuff. Part of plan was to choose less costly Item so that will be far less than card minimum to charge in credit card and he/she won’t feel stress to give away that item for free.

4.         In simple term, there wasn’t a very big deal about moral stakes. She gave me something (not very costly) for free and I accepted that. That’s not going to make her poorer or make me richer. Somehow I felt like I exploited her kindness for my own benefit.

5.         For this task, I investigated lot more than what I needed to. Now I know who owns that store and cultural background of that family. I know what time they open, what time they close and who normally works during day time. I should be able to exploit much more after knowing their family background and daily routine, which I don’t intent to.

6.         Even though I didn’t harm anybody but felt like I was a cheater. I knew in their culture they offer water for their guest and they believe offering water to thirsty will get you a place in heaven. I knew her cultural background and that prompted me to setup this whole thing, I wasn’t feeling very right. I exploited her feeling to accomplish my task even though that’s not going to hurt her. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, it will be hard for me to face that cashier lady again in that store.