One of the most significant negative socio-significant phenomena of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is the activation of a special kind of crime-fraud based on the conceptual position of social engineering – psychological manipulation of people in order to perform certain actions necessary for the manipulator. Statistical indicators of the spread of social fraud are presented, illustrating its sharply increasing trend. The relevance of the problem is justified by statistical data on the sharply increased number of cases of COVID-fraud, numerous data on individual losses of citizens, as well as the relentless information activity of the problem. The object of the study is social fraud during the pandemic, the pre-meth-manipulation of human behaviour by social engineering methods as a tool for achieving the goal of fraudsters. The goal is to substantiate the idea that social fraud is based on social engineering technologies aimed at manipulating human behavior. The methodology is based on two main principles of modern psychology: the principle of personal approach and the genetic (development principle), when all mental phenomena are considered as constantly developing and changing. Fraud is considered a type of crime against property. It is shown that the main qualifying feature of social fraud is the use of deception or abuse of a person’s trust. The psychology of fraud is considered it’s both participants: the potential victim and the criminal. Traditional types of social fraud that exist in Russia are given. It is shown that fraudsters quickly adapted to the situation of massive spread of the coronavirus epidemic: they repurposed and updated methods of action on a potential victim. The main technologies and types of COVID fraud are considered. Recommendations of experts on countering fraud that is parasitic on the COVID-19 pandemic are given
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