Pretext facts for kids

A pretext is like a fake reason or an excuse someone gives to hide what they're really trying to do or why they're doing it. It's often based on something that's only partly true, or sometimes it's completely made up. People use pretexts to keep their true plans or feelings a secret.

For example, imagine someone says they need to borrow your phone to check the time, but they actually want to look at your messages. Checking the time would be their pretext.

In some legal situations, a pretext means giving false reasons to hide the real intentions behind a legal action. For instance, a "pretextual arrest" happens when police officers use a minor reason to arrest someone, but their real goal is something else, like searching them without a good reason.

The Marble Boat on Kunming Lake near Beijing

One famous example of a pretext comes from China in the 1880s. The Chinese government said they were raising money to make their navy more modern and powerful. But instead of using the money for ships, they secretly spent it on repairing a beautiful, ship-shaped building called the Marble Boat. This building was originally made for the mother of an emperor. This trick, or pretext, is often linked to Empress Dowager Cixi. The Marble Boat is a unique building that looks like a ship "parked" on Lake Kunming in a place the empress renamed the "Garden for Cultivating Harmony."

Another interesting example involves a Roman politician named Cato the Elder, who lived a very long time ago (234–149 BC). Cato believed that the city of Carthage, a rival of Rome, was becoming too strong and would eventually be a danger to Rome. So, no matter what he was talking about in his speeches, he would always find a way to end by saying that Carthage had to be destroyed. This famous phrase was Carthago delenda est. He used every speech as a pretext to remind everyone about the dangers of Carthage, right up until he died in 149 BC, the same year a big war with Carthage began.

Pretexting in Social Engineering

Sometimes, people use a type of trick called pretexting as part of something called social engineering. This is when someone uses a made-up story or identity to try and get information from you.

How Pretexting Works

In pretexting, the person trying to trick you will often pretend to be someone they're not, like a bank employee, a tech support person, or even a friend of a friend. They might do some research to make their story sound very believable. Their goal is to make you trust them enough to give them private information, like your password or personal details. They use their fake story as a pretext to get you to do what they want.