What is a targeted individual?

‘Gang Stalking’ and ‘Targeted Individual’ are psychological phenomena that may affect your company. These two obsessive psychological delusions can cause reputational damage and potentially physical threat. Although, both are similar and are often interchangeable, their definition varies.

Often, the individuals believe the organisation targeting them is either a government organisation, a high-power company or some other conspiratorial cabal of individuals. Research has also shown that it is marginally more likely to occur in adult women (0.66%) as opposed to men (0.17%) (Sheridan et al., 2020).

Gang Stalking: 

Individuals believe that there are multiple people from an organisation out to ‘get them’. They believe that the people in their lives such as friends, neighbours and even places of employment are hired by that organisation to watch over them (Or in some cases plan on killing them).

Targeted individuals: 

Individuals believe that they are a target of a government operation or company. They feel as though they are under attack everyday by this one ‘threat’. This can be either a short-term delusion or last a lifetime.

Why is this important for you to know?

We have detected numerous cases of such ‘targeted individuals’ fixating on a broad variety of companies across an array of sectors. This fixation can lead to both digital and physical actions threatening the organization’s reputation, facilities, and personal such as:

• Harassing the CEOs, Executives and members of the staff 
• Loitering or stalking branches or head offices (This can lead to physical attacks) 
• Videoing and photographing staff and branches 
• Posting directly to the company or its staff (This isn’t a one-time thing, often its many times a day and can last years or even a lifetime 
• Creating blogs, websites, social media accounts or forums dedicated to a company

The internet has enabled these targeted individuals to form communities on social media and forums, allowing them band together and share their experiences enhancing and solidifying their delusions. 

We have identified numerous cases of individuals exhibiting this pattern who have become fixated on specific companies. For this reason, it is critical you establish robust monitoring systems that support early detection of warning signs and provide alerts on any escalation in behaviour.

If this is a challenge your company is facing, please Contact Us or one of our analysts directly.