Pretexting has long been a tactic used by private investigators and others to obtain personal information and records about people. Also known as "social engineering" in the hacker realm, it involves using ploys to obtain data and documents.

The ploys range from the creative to the straightforward. In the Hewlett-Packard case, outside investigators hired by the company simply posed as the victims -- HP board members and journalists -- to obtain their phone records from phone companies.

At Wired.

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