Criminal Manipulation of Consumer Behavior by the Example of Fraud

The article presents the results of a study on criminal manipulation of consumer behavior in an example of fraud. The aim of the research was to study the dynamics of the mental state in the victims of fraud. The psychological state was studied in people affected by the actions of the financial pyramid of a nonprofit partnership N. It was hypothesized that people who suffered from the actions of the financial pyramid of a private business club type had a certain emotional state that considerably limited their ability of conscious-volitional regulation of activity, in this case - the ability to make conscious decision. The study included 24 people - 15 women and 9 men aged 21 to 29 years (mean age 24.6 ± 2.48 years). The present study examined the levels of subjective control and factors of the mental health of the participants in their normal state, as well as the state, which they experienced while in a criminal situation. The analysis of significant differences of the studied parameters between the factors of usual mental state and that of in a criminal situation was carried out. The significant correlations between the stages of the criminal situation and the parameters of the mental state of participants were identified and interpreted.

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