Fraud Investigations in a Remote World: How to Pick up on Social Cues From Behind a Computer Screen

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Aspects of our lives that we probably never thought would need to go remote or virtual have gone that way due to the pandemic. That includes fraud investigations, which commonly include the observance of behaviors of people suspected of fraud.

So, does this mean you can’t get the whole picture of telling body language during a fraud investigation done remotely? According to Rupert Evill, CFE, there are still mannerisms you can pick up behind a computer screen. He outlined them during his session, “Behavioral Analysis and Truth Detection in the Remote Era” at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

Firstly, Evill says you need to consider and understand the personal context of someone you’re interviewing. Things like:

  • Appearance

  • Workplace culture

  • Home situation

  • Working hours

  • Physical and technical set-ups

  • Are they an introvert or an extrovert?

Connection

After personal context, think about ways to make a connection with the interviewee. Evill recommends exercising PEACE investigation rules, but at a distance. His “PEACE at distance” includes five parts:

  • Plan and prepare: Think about what the objective of the interview is and who you’re interviewing. Consider background, preference and testing.

  • Engage and explain purpose, structure and rules.

  • Account: Consider technical issues, potential interruptions and if screen sharing will be used. He says much more planning needs to go into this stage.

  • Clarify: Think about possible evasion and then the gathering of statements.

  • Evaluate tech and talk, the sharing and the feedback.

Evill says investigators need to keep in mind that conducting these interviews remotely will likely take more time than if they are done in person.

Evill also recommends establishing rapport with the HEAR technique, which includes:

  • Honesty: Explain to the person why they’re there and don’t make false promises about the possible outcome.

  • Empathy: Don’t think of it as sympathizing, exonerating someone or excusing them. Do show sympathy for the pressures they may be under or their rationalization.

  • Autonomy: Agree on breaks from the interviews.

  • Reflection: Mirroring language when trying to get people to tell you what’s going on instead of using judgmental words.

Evill then says you should be strategic about the questions you will use. Will your questions be open or closed? Also:

  • Presumptive (“How many times have…”) or bait (“So, there’s no reason…”)

  • Opinion (“What should happen to…”) or catch-all (“What haven’t we talked about?”)

Truth

To unravel the truth in an interview, Evill recommends thinking about six different channels:

  • Face and microexpressions (facial expressions that occur very quickly)

  • Voice

  • Verbal content

  • Interaction style

  • Psychophysiology

  • Body language

Changes in body language can include:

  • Gestures instead of speech. Do keep in mind that these may be culture-specific.

  • Manipulators, which are when part of the body touches objects or the body.

  • Eyes’ behavior, including gazes (fixed or averted), blink rate and if the eyes are closed.

  • Illustrators, which accompany speech.

  • Tensions: controlling, anchoring or leaning

With voice, you’re looking for changes in pitch, volume and tone. Also, consider interaction style. Is someone who is usually very fluent sounding more evasive or unclear? What about their content? Is their tense changing? Are they distancing, having verbal slips or analyzing statements (rationalization)?

Evill provided three examples of people you can look up to see what he calls “leaking across every channel.” They include Jeffrey Epstein, Elizabeth Holmes and Prince Andrew.