Social engineering as an object of forensic study

Introduction: the article is devoted to the consideration of the concept of social engineering used by fraudsters for their own ends. Materials and Methods: the resource base of the article was made up of the norms of the current Russian legislation, scientific works of authors considered the issues of social engineering, and statistical data on the state of crime in Russia, in particular, the growth trend in the number of crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies. In the course of the study, the following general scientific methods were used: analysis, synthesis, deduction and special scientific methods: formal legal, statistical. Results: the goals, essence, and also the reasons for which the attacker uses psychological techniques of social engineering in criminal activity are examined in detail, various points of view of the concept of the phenomenon under consideration are analyzed. Discussion and Conclusions: the author's definition of fraud using social engineering methods is proposed, as well as a forensic understanding of forward and reverse social engineering. The work also draws attention to the importance of studying the characteristics of the designated type of crime to increase the efficiency of disclosing and investigating crimes by law enforcement agencies.