A trust channel is a communication path that people are inclined to believe, such as SMS, email, or chat. Familiarity, apparent urgency, and messages that seem to come from a known person or organization can make these channels feel reliable, even when the sender is an attacker.
Cybercriminals exploit that trust through social engineering, using messages to prompt victims to reveal credentials, send money, or open unsafe links. Defenses can include sender verification, spam filtering, clear warnings, and prompts that slow down risky actions. Treat unexpected requests for sensitive information or urgent payments cautiously, and verify them through a separate, trusted channel.