How Cybercriminals Use OSINT Against You

Cybercriminals increasingly rely on OSINT to plan attacks, manipulate victims and find weak spots long before they launch anything technical. Because open-source intelligence uses only publicly available information, criminals never need to hack a system to begin gathering details about their targets. Instead, they use what people willingly publish online — photos, profiles, old accounts, comments, leaks, forgotten websites and social interactions. As a result, OSINT has become one of the most dangerous stages of modern cybercrime, precisely because many individuals never realise they are exposing anything valuable at all.

In this guide, we will explore how attackers collect information, how they analyse it and how they turn it into targeted phishing, identity theft, fraud or social engineering. Although the examples may sound dramatic, every technique described here is based on real-world behaviour that criminals exploit daily.

Why Criminals Love OSINT

Criminals prefer OSINT because it is silent, safe and extremely cost-effective. They avoid hacking attempts until the last possible moment, since public data already tells them most of what they need to know. Moreover, victims rarely detect these activities, making them ideal for preparing precise attacks.

There are several reasons why OSINT is such an attractive tool for attackers:

It requires no technical skills.
It leaves no digital trace of intrusion.
It builds accurate psychological and behavioural profiles.
It exposes routines, habits, relationships and locations.
It prepares the foundation for highly convincing scams.

Additionally, criminals benefit from the fact that people underestimate the value of small details. One harmless post rarely reveals much, yet a collection of dozens across several years creates a complete picture.

The Attacker’s Workflow: How OSINT Becomes a Weapon

To understand how criminals operate, let’s walk through a typical OSINT-based attack. Although every attacker has their own approach, the overall pattern remains similar.

1. Identifying the Target

Attackers begin by choosing a target category:

an individual person,
an employee inside a company,
a specific department,
or anyone with access to high-value systems.

Sometimes criminals target people randomly; other times they identify someone based on leaked data, job roles, or visible signs of wealth.

2. Searching for All Public Profiles

Once a name or username is known, attackers collect every public account they can find. They examine Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, GitHub and any old blogs or abandoned websites. Furthermore, they look for email addresses, usernames, phone numbers and patterns that allow them to connect multiple accounts to the same person.

3. Extracting Personal Information

After collecting the basic profiles, attackers begin extracting details such as:

birthday
family members
recent holidays
daily routines
favourite restaurants
sports activities
workplaces
conferences
devices used
financial hints
interests and habits

Although some of these details seem harmless, they become extremely valuable when used in combination.

4. Examining Past Content

Next, criminals look deeper. They scroll to years-old posts to find older photos, outdated CV entries or forgotten comments. Old content often reveals more than new posts, because people were less cautious in the past.

Additionally, attackers search archived versions on the Web Archive, cached search results and screenshots from other platforms. As a result, deleting a post today rarely helps if someone has already stored the older version elsewhere.

5. Mapping Relationships and Social Graphs

Once enough information is gathered, attackers create a relationship map. This includes:

relatives
colleagues
partners
ex-partners
roommates
old classmates
business connections

Mapping these people helps criminals identify who might trust the victim and who the victim might trust. It also reveals potential “entry points” for impersonation scams.

6. Analysing Behaviour

Cybercriminals look not only at what people post, but also when they post. Posting times reveal sleep cycles, travel routines and working hours. For example, if someone uploads gym selfies every morning at 07:30, attackers know that the person is likely outside their home at that time.

Behaviour also appears in comment patterns. For instance, someone who frequently complains about work stress may be more vulnerable to HR-related phishing.

7. Using Photos for Deeper OSINT

Images offer more information than any text post. Attackers zoom into reflections, shadows, monitors, ID badges, screens, patterns in architecture and even belongings in the background.

They identify:

home interior layout,
workplace environment,
visible documents,
car models,
Wi-Fi routers,
children’s schools,
gym memberships,
common routes.

Attackers use this to plan highly targeted scams, which we explore further in Image OSINT: What Photos Reveal.

8. Checking for Leaked Passwords and Data Breaches

Once the visible OSINT is complete, attackers switch to leaked data sources. They search for:

old password leaks,
compromised email addresses,
breached phone numbers,
historic credential dumps.

Even outdated passwords still provide clues to someone’s password style — pets, dates, patterns or reused elements.

9. Building the Attack Scenario

After collecting all the data, criminals have enough information to plan an attack tailored to the victim. This includes:

phishing that references real events,
impersonation of colleagues or family,
fake delivery notifications based on recent purchases,
targeted loan scams,
identity fraud,
extortion attempts,
romance scams,
business email compromise.

What makes these attacks successful is not technical skill but psychological precision. When a message includes real details, victims feel safe — and that is exactly what criminals exploit.

The Most Common Attacks Powered by OSINT

Now let’s examine the specific types of attacks that rely heavily on open-source intelligence.

1. Highly Targeted Phishing (“Spear Phishing”)

Using OSINT, attackers craft emails that appear shockingly credible. They may mention:

your boss’s name,
a real project you posted about,
a trip you shared last week,
or an invoice from a vendor you actually use.

Because every detail is real, the email feels legitimate, making people far more likely to click.

2. Impersonation of Friends or Colleagues

When attackers map someone’s social circle, they choose a person to impersonate. Then, they contact the victim pretending to be that person. The more OSINT they have, the harder it becomes to detect the fake.

3. Identity Theft

Criminals often combine OSINT with leaked data to apply for credit, create fake accounts or manipulate digital identities. Photos reveal face structure; posts reveal birth month; comments reveal hometown; LinkedIn reveals career path. All of this helps build a fraudulent identity.

4. Extortion Scams

Attackers do not need real kompromitējošu materiālu — they only need enough OSINT to make threats sound believable. When they mention people you know or locations you visit, victims panic.

5. Physical Safety Risks

Because location trails appear in photos and stories, attackers sometimes use OSINT to determine when someone is away from home. Holiday posts with real-time tagging create opportunities for burglary or stalking.

6. Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Corporate attackers love OSINT. They track executive schedules, analyse public presentations and examine employee posts. When attackers know the internal structure of a company, they can craft extremely convincing emails that redirect payments or steal invoices.

Why OSINT-Based Attacks Work So Well

OSINT-based attacks are effective because they bypass technical defences entirely. Firewalls, antivirus software and MFA cannot protect someone from a message that exploits trust, familiarity and real-world facts.

Additionally, people rarely consider themselves targets. Because many underestimate their online footprint, attackers gain an advantage. The victims assume they have nothing worth stealing, while criminals see a detailed map of exploitable information.

Moreover, OSINT gathers insights silently. Victims never get warnings or alerts; they simply receive a message that feels “real enough”.

How to Protect Yourself From OSINT Abuse

Fortunately, reducing your exposure does not require drastic lifestyle changes. Instead, focus on practical steps:

Remove precise location from posts.
Reduce old public photos.
Avoid showing documents, screens or ID badges.
Separate personal and professional identities.
Limit posting routines or predictable schedules.
Review old accounts you no longer use.
Avoid revealing details that can shape password guesses.

A full breakdown appears in:
👉 [How to Reduce Your OSINT Exposure]

Conclusion

Cybercriminals rely heavily on OSINT because it gives them a complete picture without touching any protected systems. They use your posts, photos, comments, likes and routines to understand who you are and how to reach you. Although these techniques sound complex, they mainly exploit human nature — the habit of sharing more than we realise.

By understanding how attackers operate, you can easily reduce the information they can weaponise. Awareness is your strongest defence: once you recognise what you reveal, you gain the power to control your digital identity before others try to use it against you.