Unpacking Internet-Based Social Engineering Victimisation on Social Networking Sites: An Interdisciplinary Qualitative Framework of Individual, Social, and Platform Factors

Despite extensive research on social engineering victimisation on social networking sites (SNSs) across the Internet, user susceptibility continues to increase, indicating that existing explanatory models remain incomplete. Previous studies have predominantly examined susceptibility through isolated factors, including individual traits, message characteristics, or source attributes, while often overlooking how evolving Internet-based SNS environments interact with human and social factors. To address this gap, this study presents an interdisciplinary qualitative investigation into emerging determinants of user susceptibility to social engineering cyberattacks (SECAs) on Internet-enabled SNS platforms. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 18 experts from cybersecurity, psychology, sociology, criminology, and linguistics, the study captures perspectives that are rarely integrated within a single analytical framework. Using NVivo 14 and inductive thematic analysis, six core themes and seven sub-themes were identified, revealing previously underexplored cognitive-emotional, social-relational, and platform-mediated mechanisms of victimisation. The key contribution of this research is not the identification of entirely new susceptibility factors, but the development of an interdisciplinary framework that integrates these previously disconnected dimensions. By foregrounding the role of SNS design affordances within the broader Internet ecosystem and their interaction with human cognition and social dynamics, this study advances current understanding beyond fragmented models of user vulnerability. The findings provide a novel conceptual foundation for future empirical research and inform the design of more effective, context-aware mitigation and awareness strategies for SECAs on Internet-based SNSs.