Lured and Compromised: Unmasking the Digital Danger of Honey Traps

This report explains digital honey-trap social engineering targeting officials and employees, detailing the lifecycle (profiling, initiation, trust-building, exploitation, and coercion), the psychological levers used (love bombing, fear, guilt, urgency, isolation), and the resulting insider, espionage, and reputational risks. It provides detection cues (behavioral shifts, refusal of real-time video, financial requests) and prevention guidance (verification, limiting personal info, avoiding explicit content and unknown links, zero-trust access, and awareness training), and cites recent India-based cases involving the Army, DRDO, and Navy to illustrate the threat and legal implications.