The expert named the main risk factors when dealing with scammers

Increased suggestibility, which makes a person vulnerable to fraudsters, is often an innate trait, but prolonged stress and depressive states contribute to its activation. This was reported to Izvestia on July 9 by psychiatrist Alexei Vilkov. He also added that attackers can check a potential victim using preliminary psychological manipulations.

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The expert called chronic stress a key factor reducing the criticality of the assessment of what is happening.

"A person becomes more suggestible and less susceptible to an objective assessment of the situation if they are under prolonged chronic stress, that is, they experience increased anxiety and constantly deal with a large number of problems," the source explained.

According to the psychiatrist, an additional risk group consists of people with a prolonged decrease in mood caused by external circumstances. In a state of depression and anxiety, a person often reduces contact with loved ones, which can play into the hands of intruders.

"Considering that there are quite a lot of people under stress, anxiety and depression, this is exactly what intruders can use. It is much easier to influence such people, because they, as a rule, are not inclined to seek help from their loved ones... and they are looking for support from scammers who are ready to offer this "help"," Vilkov warned.

Read more in the Izvestia article:

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