Scammers Use Fear to Control Victims in Arkhangelsk
Clinical psychologist Konstantin Nebytov explains how scammers use fear to suppress victims' will, making them dangerously suggestible. Video.
Jul 24, 2026 0
Clinical psychologist Konstantin Nebytov explained how criminal psychological manipulation works — a set of actions used by scammers to subdue the will of their victims. It is based primarily on the feeling of fear, which literally “switches off” common sense and makes a person dangerously suggestible.
Psychologist Konstantin Nebytov analyzes the fear-based manipulation tactics employed by telephone scammers.
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Telephone fraud did not appear yesterday or even a couple of years ago. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the United States was hit by a series of incidents when someone posing as “Officer Scott” called small cafés and diners and told managers about a certain operational event in which employees should help law enforcement. However, the “officer’s” methods were strange: he asked food service workers to undress and commit indecent acts with each other and in front of visitors. And they believed him.
“Victims (let’s call them that) of ‘Officer Scott’ are people of completely different backgrounds,” says Konstantin Nebytov. “They differ in gender, age, personal life, marital status, social history. Except for Walter Nix, they are all connected by place of work, but this factor is questionable. If we rely on it, it turns out that all food service workers are susceptible to such influence. The category of victims is too diverse, and it would be incorrect to lump them into a certain group.”
The incidents in the United States are merely an illustration of how much scammers can subdue the will of their victims. Not every person who receives a call from a fraudster becomes a victim, but there are certain patterns that scammers rely on.
Four main scenarios in which a person can become a victim of scammers:
External anonymous permission that allows one to release their criminal and cruel inclinations.
The prospect of receiving a reward, often a large one.
Helping law enforcement agencies, participating in catching a criminal — in short, a noble goal.
An imaginary threat that seems real in the moment.
Several recent cases
A pensioner from Arkhangelsk lost 350,000 rubles ($3,900 at current rates). The scammers were assisted by a 21-year-old resident of Samara Region.
Scammers use pensioners to deceive their peers. Police reported how an 84-year-old resident of Severodvinsk involuntarily became a “courier” and took money from a sick old woman.
Earlier, telephone scammers deceived a 78-year-old pensioner from Arkhangelsk and used her as a courier to collect large sums of money from other victims.
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