A Fool’s Guide to Uncovering the Truth

Forrest Gump famously said, “Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get.” Each chocolate represents a moment in our lives. There are ups and downs, and sometimes there are unexpected twists and turns.

The ups in my life are the chocolates filled with caramel, and the downs are the chocolates filled with raspberry or nuts. However, I am not a fan of surprises when I bite into a piece. If I buy a box of chocolates, I buy the ones with diagrams that show what is in each piece, which mitigates surprises.

Eliminating surprises is the ideal way to find the truth in fraud fighting interviews. In my last blog post, I covered ten tips to help you detect a lie, a crucial component to uncovering the truth. You need to have a pretty good idea of the fraud scheme(s), potential time frame, possible fraud losses, and other potential areas that may have been impacted before you start asking the questions.

When I teach others about the strategy for interviewing potential fraudsters, I say, “Know more than they think you know.” Additionally, you should always try to maintain the upper hand. But, if for some reason, you feel like you are losing the upper hand, don’t reveal it. Maintain your confidence. There will be time after the interview to regroup and reassess.

The following are a few tips to help you uncover the truth, while maintaining the upper hand:

• Preparation is a key component to performing almost every interview. It starts with gathering evidence from various sources, including physical documents and interviews.
• Strategy is crucial to discovering the truth. It involves making decisions such as whom to interview, when to interview, where to interview, what questions to ask, and in what order. Your strategy must also allow for flexibility based on the responses you receive.
• Ask more and better questions based on listening carefully to an individual’s responses and use the tips to detecting lies in my earlier blog post. This is a two-pronged approach—more and better. More questions are follow-up questions to the interviewee’s responses, and better questions are focused on obtaining the details associated with their responses. If this frustrates the individual, it could be a sign that they are not telling the truth. Be sure to keep pushing on this point.
• Increasing the stress level of the individual being interviewed will lead them to tell the truth. You can do this by pushing them to answer the question asked, pointing out inconsistencies in their story, and showing them documents that contradict their answers. Once they appear mentally exhausted, you should switch to being compassionate and encourage them to tell the truth.
• Silence is also a powerful ally. First, don’t try to answer the question for the individual being interviewed or to explain the answer to lead them in a certain direction. If you ask a tough question or the stress level is high, it is important to allow time for silence because this will give an individual time to speak freely. Silence is awkward but a very effective tool when you are trying to uncover the truth.

You should practice these tips to enhance your fraud fighting skills. The truth can be elusive, and often it takes a skilled interviewer to discover it. Do you have any other tips that help you uncover the truth?

If you ever have an idea for a future blog or a question about a published blog, please contact me with your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.

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