PROJECT: PARANOIA IN THE WORLD OF AN SSS CLIENT
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For an SSS client, paranoia can develop when the person has experienced circumstances
that have genuinely damaged their sense of safety.
A victim of kidnapping, extortion, stalking, domestic abuse, fraud, cybercrime or prolonged intimidation may begin constantly asking:
Who can I trust?
Is somebody watching me?
Is my phone compromised?
Is this person following me?
Is my family in danger?
Can I trust the police, my employees, neighbours or even friends?
Is there something happening that I cannot see?
Some of these concerns may be entirely justified.
That is why an investigator should never dismiss a victim simply because their fears appear excessive.
The difficulty arises when a legitimate security concern develops into a persistent state of suspicion
in which ordinary events are interpreted as evidence of a threat.
A vehicle parked outside the house may be surveillance — or it may simply belong to a neighbour.
An unknown telephone call may be connected to a criminal investigation — or it may be a wrong number.
A social-media interaction may be deliberate monitoring — or an unrelated algorithmic recommendation.
The investigator's task is therefore not to decide immediately that the client is either "right" or "paranoid".
The task is to test the information objectively.
WHY ARE SSS INVESTIGATORS ENCOUNTERING MORE CLIENTS WITH SEVERE PARANOIA?
There are several possible contributing factors, and they should not automatically be treated as a single phenomenon.
1. PEOPLE ARE EXPOSED TO FAR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CRIME:
Social media delivers crime stories, CCTV footage, missing-person posts, kidnapping reports, scams and violent incidents continuously.
A person can now encounter hundreds of disturbing incidents without actively searching for them.
This can alter a person's perception of the likelihood of danger.
The brain does not necessarily distinguish between something that happened somewhere and something likely to happen to me.
2. VICTIMS CAN BECOME HYPERVIGILANT AFTER TRAUMA:
Following a serious or prolonged traumatic experience, a person may remain in a heightened state of alertness.
They may constantly scan their environment for danger.
This can be protective immediately after an incident, but if it persists, harmless events can increasingly be interpreted through a threat-based lens.
3. CRIMINALS DELIBERATELY CREATE UNCERTAINTY:
This is particularly relevant to SSS investigations.
A sophisticated criminal does not always make a direct threat. They may use:
anonymous calls;
spoofed numbers;
fake profiles;
repeated silent calls;
threatening messages;
impersonation;
GPS or location-related deception;
misinformation;
third parties;
fake investigators or lawyers;
manipulated photographs;
fabricated documents; and
contradictory information.
This creates an environment in which the victim genuinely cannot determine what is real.
That uncertainty can itself become psychologically damaging.
4. ONLINE INFORMATION MAKES CONFIRMATION BIAS EASIER:
A frightened person can search the internet for an explanation and find material that appears to confirm their fears.
If someone believes they are being monitored, for example, they may search for surveillance-related information and encounter thousands of examples of surveillance technology, hacking, tracking and criminal activity.
The information may be factually correct but completely unrelated to their particular circumstances.
5. ISOLATION MAKES THE PROBLEM WORSE:
Victims who have lost confidence in family members, colleagues, police, lawyers or friends may increasingly rely on their own interpretation of events.
Without an independent person testing the evidence, a theory can become self-reinforcing: "I believe this is happening, therefore everything I see confirms that it is happening."
That is particularly dangerous during an investigation.
6. FINANCIAL SCAMS INCREASINGLY EXPLOIT FEAR:
Modern fraud frequently depends on creating urgency and uncertainty.
Victims may be told that their bank account is compromised, that criminals are following them, that a case is being opened against them, that their identity has been stolen or that somebody close to them is involved.
After repeated exposure to this type of manipulation, some victims become suspicious of almost everyone.
THE CRITICAL SSS DISTINCTION:
There is an important difference between investigative suspicion and clinical paranoia.
An investigator can legitimately say: "There are circumstances that require investigation."
An investigator should be very cautious about saying: "You are paranoid."
The first is an evidence-based investigative position.
The second can become a psychological judgment that an investigator is not necessarily qualified to make.
A thorough investigation should therefore separate facts, assumptions, perceptions and conclusions.
FOR EXAMPLE:
CLIENT STATEMENT: | INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH: |
"Someone is following me." | Establish dates, locations, vehicles, witnesses and CCTV. |
"My phone is being monitored." | Examine technical evidence rather than assuming compromise. |
"Everyone around me is involved." | Identify each person's connection and test it independently. |
"They are sending me hidden messages." | Preserve the material and establish whether there is objective evidence of communication. |
"I know who is responsible." | Investigate the person's actual connection to the incident. |
WHEN PARANOIA BECOMES PARTICULARLY CONCERNING:
An SSS investigator takes additional care when a client:
develops increasingly elaborate theories without corroborating evidence;
interprets unrelated events as connected;
repeatedly changes the suspected perpetrators;
becomes convinced that almost everyone is participating;
cannot accept evidence that contradicts the theory;
spends large amounts of money pursuing increasingly improbable threats;
confronts people based on suspicion;
installs excessive surveillance systems;
repeatedly reports the same unsubstantiated threat; or
becomes increasingly isolated because they believe nobody can be trusted.
These signs do not prove a psychiatric disorder.
They indicate that the investigator should proceed carefully and consider whether the client also needs appropriate psychological or medical support.
THE DANGER FOR AN INVESTIGATION:
Severe paranoia can unintentionally compromise an investigation.
A victim may:
accuse innocent people;
confront a person who should instead be investigated discreetly;
destroy or alter evidence;
contaminate witness accounts;
repeatedly contact suspects;
publish accusations online;
become vulnerable to a second scammer who claims to "know the truth";
reject genuine evidence because it contradicts their belief; or
provide investigators with large quantities of information in which critical evidence is buried beneath assumptions.
This is why evidence-based management is essential.
The investigator must be able to say: What do we know? What can we prove? What has been reported to us? What remains unverified? What is the client's interpretation? What requires further investigation?
That distinction protects both the victim and the investigation.
AN IMPORTANT SSS PERSPECTIVE:
There is another side to this issue that is often overlooked.
A victim can be frightened without being paranoid, and a person can be paranoid without the threat being entirely imaginary.
There can also be a genuine criminal threat accompanied by trauma-related hypervigilance.
The two conditions can exist simultaneously.
That makes these cases particularly difficult.
For SSS, the appropriate response is therefore neither to automatically believe every suspicion nor to automatically dismiss it. The correct approach is structured verification.
The investigator becomes, in effect, the stabilising point between the client's perception and the available evidence.
Where a client's psychological state appears to be significantly affecting their functioning or their ability to participate
in an investigation, referral to an appropriately qualified mental-health professional can be considered
alongside the criminal investigation.
In SSS terms: investigate the threat, preserve the evidence, protect the victim, and separate fact from interpretation.
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Regards,
Mike Bolhuis
Specialist Investigators into
Serious Violent, Serious Economic Crimes & Serious Cybercrimes
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