Detecting Deception

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Detecting Deception
The Art of Behavioural Intelligence Gathering
Kieran Milne Managing Director, MJM Investigations
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Detecting Deceit the hidden facts
The ability to detect deception and fraud is
vital to understanding and preparing for risk
management Some facts

• There has been an increased incidence and
  variety of employee fraud and corruption In
  business this
• As a result, risk control has become an
  important element of the management and
  governance in any business
• Identifying a deceptive employee could prove
  vital as a grass roots procedure in managing
  risks of all kinds to business.
• Today we will examine some of the ways to detect
  deception generally.
• There is still much debate!!!! Detecting
  deception remains a difficult task and sometimes
  it is more about information gathering.

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Detecting Deceit the hidden facts
Areas to discuss - Behavioural Intelligence
Gathering

• Deceptive v unreceptive person
• Gaining information from an unreceptive and / or
  deceptive person
• Communicating to and gaining loyalty from
  employees
• Questioning techniques used for screening
  employees

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Detecting Deceit
The Human Lie Detector

• The ability to detect/identify deception is
  essential not only in the criminal context, but
  in business.
• Throughout history, people have sought ways to
  test the truthfulness of others
• Lying requires the deceiver to keep the facts
  straight and make the story believeable
• We should note that when individuals tell the
  truth, they often make every effort to ensure
  other people understand
• Consequently, people unwittingly signal
  deception with both nonverbal and verbal cues
• You, as individuals are capable of detecting
  deceipt, though
• Identifying behavioural inconsistencies
• Behavioural evaluation training and techniques

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Detecting Deceit
Assessing deception What to look for ???

• Checking their Facial expressions
• Identifying Body language
• Listening to Speech rate, volume or pitch
  changes
• Listening to how something is said
• Inconsistent Emotional states
• Talking off-the-topic
• Lets take a closer look.

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Detecting Deceit Facial Expressions
Facial expressions are non-verbal signals
exhibited by a person that can be equivalent to a
common word or phrase e.g. a nod can be yes or
no. Liars try to hide their facial expressions
or mislead the interviewer by showing false
expressions yet involuntary emotions may
leak. Two areas in which are regularly
examined for such leaks, include

• The Eyes
• Mouth and Breathing

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Detecting Deceit Facial Expressions
The Eyes

• Eye contact yes or no??
• When people hear or see something they disagree
  with or do not fully support, their eyelids
  tend to close longer than a normal blink.
• Rapid blinking can signal a sensitive topic

Mouth and Breathing

• People who attempt to conceal information often
  breathe faster taking a series of short
  breaths followed by one long deep breath,
  suggesting increased anxiety levels.
• Higher stress levels often cause a dry mouth,
  resulting in repeated clearing of the
  throat, cracking of the voice, or jumping of the
  Adams Apple.
• A tense mouth with pursed lips may represent
  extreme distress and signify that speakers
  literally restrain themsleves emotionally and
  verbally.

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Detecting Deceit Body Language
Observing a Liar through their actions

• Physical expression will often be limited, with
  few arm and hand movements.
• Hands, arms and legs pull in toward body
• The person is reluctant to face their opposite
  and may turn head/body away.
• The persons hand might go up to his face or
  throat, especially to the mouth.
• If the person is trying to appear casual and
  relaxed about their answer, they may shrug a
  little.
• The person may point their finger at the person
  they are trying to convince.

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Detecting Deceit Emotional States
A lying persons emotions may be limited to the
mouth area when the person is feigning certain
emotions, rather than the whole face.

• The timing is off between gestures and words
• The head moves in a mechanical way, without
  regard to emphasis, indicating a conscious
  movement.
• Gestures dont match the verbal message
• The timing and duration of emotional gestures
  will seem off.

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Detecting Deceit Verbal Cues
Verbal content and listening to how something is
said

• Deceitful responses to questions regarding
  beliefs and attitudes take longer to create
  and move to words.
• Reactions are out of proportion to the questions
  or the person may repeat points already made.
• Statements sound like questions, indicating the
  person is seeking reassurance.
• Voice, head and eyes lift at the end of their
  statement.

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Detecting Deceit
You cannot prevent someone from lying, but you
can at least, observe and catalog behaviours that
indicate deception. Some common tactics applied
in the workplace

• Scenario 1 The objective here is to introduce a
  scenario similar to what you suspect is going on,
  using specificsSuspicion You suspect one of
  your salespeople has lied to a customer in order
  to make the sale.Question Jim, Im wondering if
  you could help me with something. Its come to my
  attention that someone in the sales department
  has been misrepresenting our products to
  customers. How do you think we can clear this
  up?? If the person is innocent of the charges,
  hes likely to offer his advice and be pleased
  that you sought their opinion. If the person is
  guilty, they will see, uncomfortable and will
  assure you that they never do anything like that.
  Either way, it opens the door to probe further.

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Detecting Deceit the hidden facts

• Scenario 2 The objective here is to introduce a
  scenario similar to what you suspect is going on,
  but using general terms.Suspicion You suspect
  a co worker of bad-mouthing you to your
  boss.Question Its amazing all the backstabbing
  that goes on around here, isnt it? And these
  people doing it think that it wont get back to
  the person involved.? A change in subject is
  highly indicative of guilt. However if the person
  you ask finds your question interesting and they
  are innnocent, they might begin a conversation
  about it since they are unafraid to discuss the
  subject.

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Unreceptive People gaining access
If you pay attention to body language, you can
spot signals of how receptive (how ready to
listen and how open to your ideas) your
counterpart is.
Facial expressions and eyesReceptive smiles,
much eye contact, more interest in the person
than what is being saidUnreceptive no eye
contact or squinted eyes, jaw muscles clenched,
cheeks twitching with tension, head turned
slightly away from the speaker so the eye contact
is a sidelong glance Arms and handsReceptive
arms spread, hand open on table, relaxed in the
lap or on the arms of a chair, hands touching the
faceUnreceptive hands clenched, arms crossed
in front of the chest, hand over the mouth or
rubbing the back of the neck
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Unreceptive People gaining access
Legs and FeetReceptive Sitting - legs together,
or one in front of the other slightly (as if at
the starting line of a race). Standing weight
evenly distributed, body tilted toward the
speakerUnreceptive Standing - crossed legs,
pointing away from the speaker. Standing or
Sitting legs and feet pointing toward the
exit. TorsoReceptive Sitting on the edge of
the chair, unbuttoning suit coat, body tilted
toward the speakerUnreceptive Leaning back in
the chair, suit coat remains buttoned Q You
need to conduct an interview with a staff member.
You know they are not going to be happy about
it. What physical environment are you looking
for at interview?
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Protecting your Company gaining loyalty
Organisational loyalty is more important than
ever. The lifetime contract expired long ago, and
more people especially your best people are
more likely to pay attention to their careers
than to you, their employer.

• A loyal workforce saves money right? How?
• When firms help workers acquire new skills that
  support their professional advancement, they
  often win those workers committment and
  attract loyal new employees. Employers can
  promote company loyalty by helping people grow
  out of their jobs and ideally into new ones
  within the company.
• You need to know what they want though right?
• Gain their trust and you will find out what they
  want !

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Screening discover the truth
If you are experiencing disloyalty or suspect
someone is being deceiving, several techniques
can be used to discover the truth. These
investigative techniques can be used for
screening current employees, new employees or in
a variety of situations.

• Discussion of three common techniques
• Behavioural Assessment Model
• Scientific Content Analysis
• The Cognitive Interview
• We will focus on the Cognitive Interview Technique

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Screening BAI
The Behavioural Assessment Interview (BAI) is a
30-45 minute long structured interview designed
to elicit verbal and non-verbal behaviours and
attitudinal characteristics of the individual in
a non-accusatory manner.

• Initially, questions concern only the subjects
  background. This is done to establish a
  relationship with the subject and to determine a
  baseline for behavioural cues of interest
  e.g. When they show sadness, anger, happiness etc
• The second phase involves investigative
  questions used to assess the individuals
  opportunity, motivation, and involvement with the
  issue at hand.
• Finally, the investigator or interviewer uses
  behaviour-provoking questions to elicit
  differential verbal and non-verbal behaviours.

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Screening SCAN
The Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN) probes the
notion that people dont like telling direct
lies, usually from fear of being caught
out.Therefore, their responses can be phrased
in such a way that disassociates themselves from
the issue, rather than directly denying it.

• SCAN will show you whether the subject is
  truthful or deceptive what information the
  subject in concealing and whether or not the
  subject was involved in the subject matter.
• It does not involve reading body langauge, but
  rather reading the subjects own writing
• SCAN involves looking at every word in the
  subjects statement the pronouns and
  connections, the subjective time, and the changes
  in language.

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Screening The Cognitive Interview
The cognitive interview involves the skill of
helping someone to remember the details of an
event.

• The traditional interview tries to elicit
  information by asking many good questions
  they target a question for each content area that
  the interviewer wants to address.
• The cognitive interview the questionless
  interview?
• The goal is to ask as few questions as possible
  so that the interview subject can give you
  long, narrative responses that contains more
  information.
• Elicit v Extract.
• A good interviewer tries to create a social
  environment so the subject generates
  information without having to wait for answers to
  be asked.
• More open ended questions should be asked, but
  not interruped with a follow-up question.

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Detecting Deception

• Key Take aways
• There is no sure fire 100 indicators
• Evidence is always the key
• Take your time in any investigative process
• Keep check on your own behaviours
• QUESTIONS ??