The concept, content, and main forms of using special psychological knowledge at various stages of fraud investigation

Abstract

The article examines the role of special psychological knowledge as a key resource in fraud investigation, which is primarily characterized by influence on the victim's consciousness and high latency that disguises the criminal event as civil-law relations. The psychological toolkit is considered not only as a procedurally formalized involvement of a specialist and expertise but also as a through component of investigative tactics: from the primary assessment of the applicant's condition, who is under stress or retains suggested perceptions, to the reconstruction of the manipulation mechanism and the retrospective establishment of the moment of intent formation. The importance of the timely detection of signs of persuasion and suggestion, the construction of the defendant's psychological profile taking into account protective strategies and psychotypological characteristics, as well as the expert assessment of increased suggestibility, cognitive decline, and other factors affecting the criticality of perception in socially vulnerable victims is demonstrated. The possibilities of psycholinguistic studies of correspondence and recordings in digital schemes of social engineering, the limits of using the polygraph as orienting information, the psychological risks of confrontations, and methods of preventing secondary victimization are analyzed separately. The need for interdisciplinary integration of psychology, linguistics, and IT while maintaining procedural safeguards and enhancing the investigator's psychological competence is substantiated.