Can Criminals Hypnotize You to Hand Over Cash?

Each month I receive interesting Emails about hypnosis.  It is typically students gathering research for a paper or class assignment.  Or people who want to learn about the practice of self-hypnosis for health, wellness or confidence.

Yet, ever once in awhile a rather off beat query arrives in my Inbox.  The most recent being a note from someone who wanted to learn about the use of hypnosis by con artists and criminals.  They included a link to this article published in 2012 in the Boston Globe:

Woman Says Hypnotizing Scam Artists Took $160,000

I elected not to reply to that inquiry, yet it got me thinking this is a topic worth addressing on the Hypnotic Experience blog.  Is it possible?  Can a hypnotist compel a person to hand over money and valuables?

The answer is absolutely not!

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness in which a person chooses to become open to positive suggestions.  The key word here is “choice.”  All of hypnosis is self-hypnosis.  It is based on consent.  Plus, a person would never do anything under hypnosis they normally would not do.

What about the charlatans in Boston who made away with $160,000?  I don’t know the specifics of the case, yet I suspect it was some sort of scam or con that influenced the victim.

You can read more about the legitimacy of hypnosis in crime in this interesting article published by Vice in 2017:

We Got to the Bottom of Indonesia’s Mind Control Robberies

Hypnotic Practices of the Movie and Gaming Industries

Sights, sounds, colors and motion help slots "hypnotize" players.

Certain industries thrive because of the adoption of hypnotic techniques.

Think for a moment about the movie theatre experience.  You sit in a comfortable chair, in a dark room with your attention fixated on the screen.  It’s a situation conducive for becoming lost in the story. 

 

Hollywood refers to this as the suspension of disbelief.  Yet, it is merely a form of hypnosis.

This past Sunday, the Washington Post published an article entitled Slot Machine Sounds Can Manipulate Players, Researchers Say that overviewed recent research about how our minds process the sounds and sights of slot machines

Behavioral neuroscientist Michael J. Dixon of the University of Waterloo in Ontario explained that slot machine noises can easily trick a person into believing they have won, even when the outcome is lost money.  As a result, a player is more inclined to continue to thrust coins into the slot.

The gaming industry has perfected the practice of hypnosis to stimulate risk taking.  Bright rooms, energetic sounds, no windows or clocks, and oxygen pumped in through the vents.

When introducing hypnosis as a tool for stress management, confidence, health and well being, I’m often greeted with a bit of skepticism.  “I can’t be hypnotized,” some will say.  “That will never work on me,” others will argue.

It’s true -- all of hypnosis is self-hypnosis.  For it to be effective, a person has to be open and desire to achieve a deep level of focus, concentration, creativity and relaxation.

We’re all hypnotizable though.  It happens to each of us several times every day when the conditions are right.  Movie studios and casinos understand that.