But Margaret Singer, she estimated about 5,000 in the United States alone.

[How easy is it to fall prey to a cult?]

A big misconception is that you'll be able to spot a cult and you'll be like, "I'm not going to fall for that."

But what's surprising about cults is that they can actually come in many forms.

It could be a religion.

It could be a business, a motivational seminar.

No one's going to walk up to you and be like, "Hey, you want to join my cult?"

It's something I think we're still figuring out as a society.

"Far Cry 5" takes place in the fictional town of Hope County, Montana.

It's about a cult leader, Joseph Seed, who calls himself The Father.

He starts a doomsday cult.

They're basically taking over the town and forcing people to convert.

While this seems like an extreme scenario, this kind of thing has happened before.

Dave Koresh convinced his members to form an army of god at the Mt. Carmel compound.

He gained a huge arsenal.

The ATF was just supposed to go in and put them all under arrest, but Koresh was tipped off.

So, it turned into a 51-day standoff.

A fire started and then that just burned down the whole compound.

It resulted in the deaths of 76 people.

People think that only dumb or gullible people fall for a cult, but if it's the right time and place, a charismatic figure can walk into anyone's life.

[3 reasons people fall prey to cults]

[1. Instability in the world] If the world is in a state of instability, people are looking for assurance.

Like, in the '60s, it was a time of new age movements, deconstructing of the nuclear family.

And that was just fertile ground for someone to rise up, a charismatic leader, Charles Manson.

The type of people he looked for were hitchhikers and people who were part of the "free love" movement.

He was definitely not a hippie.

He just found what was working at the time and used it to his advantage.

Him giving his followers LSD was just a way to perpetuate that otherworldliness.

As he built this delusional world, he interpreted The Beatles as singing songs about a certain race war that was about to happen.

In order to ignite that race war, he murdered Sharon Tate and her friends in her home.

There's also the case of Jim Jones.

[2. Financial instability] Someone's financially unstable and let's say a wealthy cult leader comes around.

He actually attracted a lot of working class people.

He was very much about socialism.

He gave everyone that chance to feel equal.

He moved his group to Jonestown in South America and he told everyone to give up all their assets to the group.

Being poor and being isolated in Jonestown, it made the members vulnerable because, really, they didn't have any other option.

If they had their doubts about their beliefs, he would publicly humiliate, sometimes physically beat them, hold a gun to someone's head.

It brought about criticism and then, eventually, it turned into tragedy.

When he told everyone to kill themselves by drinking a mix of cyanide with Kool-Aid, really they didn't have any other option.

So, that's where we get the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid."

[Charisma] Cult leaders definitely twist religious beliefs to make it about them.

A lot of them claim to be the second coming of Christ.

It's harder to disobey the leader because their sense of identity comes directly from the leader.

"I'll tell you who I am."

"As to whether or not you believe who I am or not is up to you."

Marshall Applewhite, he was actually a very charismatic figure.

He just seems like a very warm and knowledgeable person.

He started Heaven's Gate.

He believes that their destiny was to transcend into space.

So, they all took this poisonous cocktail in bunk beds and killed themselves.

One of the saddest things about cults is that I don't think people fall prey to a cult because they're suckers, as much as they're human.

People want to trust people.

We're social beings and in a social climate of confusion and divisiveness, people are looking for assurance.

When someone comes and pitches this better life, who's going to say no to that unless you already have it pretty well.

I think it's important to take a hard look at yourself.

Am I easily trusting of new friends?

Am I in a financially unstable or vulnerable position?

Could you fall prey to a cult?

♪Well, give me that old time religion.♪

♪Give me that old time religion.♪

♪It's good enough for me.♪