ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the activities of foreign players as well as domestic organizations and individuals’ using social engineering to influence election outcomes. A considerable amount of the discussion about outside interference in elections has focused on the activities of Russia. The Russians, the Republicans, and Donald Trump have been following similar patterns in their social engineering efforts and started blatantly doing so during the 2016 election in the United States. In the realm of politics, social engineers want to influence the outcome of elections and thus their primary goal is to convince people to vote in a particular manner. The Russians also recruited and paid real Americans to engage in political activities, promote political campaigns, and stage political rallies. The criminal complaint does not include any allegation that Khusyaynova or the broader conspiracy had any effect on the outcome of an election.
