CFE Exam Quiz 43

Extrinsic rewards are rewards the interviewee receives that are not directly related to the interview experience, and they cause the respondent to see the interview as a means to an end. A sensitive interviewer will be able to recognize what extrinsic rewards the respondent receives, if any, from being interviewed.

The kinesic interview technique is an interview technique used for gaining information from an individual who is not willingly or intentionally disclosing it. In a kinesic interview, the interviewer is not necessarily looking for a confession from the subject. Instead, the interviewer is attempting to assess whether the subject is telling the truth by reading his body language and other physical manifestations of deception.

The actions or signs that an interviewer is looking for in a kinesic interview are called meaningful behavior. The distinct categories into which meaningful behavior can be divided are:

– Self-initiated verbal statements that the interviewee initiates without prompting.
– Prompted verbal responses or statements made by the interviewee in response to structured questions asked by the interviewer.
– Nonverbal behavior or body language, which includes body positioning movements, lack of movement, and observable physiological changes.

Police and fraud investigators often rely on the testimony of witnesses to bring the facts of a case together. The testimony of an important witness can determine the entire outcome of a fraud case, therefore, it is essential that witnesses’ words be as reliable and detailed as possible. The cognitive interview technique places emphasis on the witness’s recollection of details to give investigators a more complete picture of what actually happened during a specific event.

A forgery can be defined as any writing prepared with the intent to deceive or defraud. Most forgeries are signatures.

A forgery can be done in a number of ways and they include simulation, tracing, or by freehand preparation.

A fraud examiner should always remember that no one writes their signature exactly the same way twice. If two signatures look exactly alike, he should try superimposing the signature areas of the two documents by holding them in front of a bright light. If they match, then it is likely that one or both are traced forgeries.

A simulated or traced forgery is writing, usually a signature, prepared by carefully copying or tracing a model example of another person’s writings.

An autoforgery is a true-name signature by an individual who intends to deny that signature at a later time. Generally, autoforgeries are prepared in a distorted or disguised fashion.

A freehand forgery occurs when a writer signs the name of another person without knowing what the real person’s signature looks like.

Positive results from forensic handwriting examinations and comparisons often depend on how well the fraud examiner has assembled adequate handwriting and signature samples of the suspects that are comparable to the writings on the evidence documents. For the purpose of forensic handwriting comparison, experts use two classes of writing standards, which are non-dictated writing and dictated writing.

Non-dictated writing tends to reveal an individual’s normal writing habits. A non-dictated writing sample includes materials that are written by the individual during the everyday course of business.

Non-dictated writing tends to reveal the individual’s normal writing habits. Non-dictated writing samples are characterized by the following:

– They should be as contemporaneous as possible to the date of the evidence documents.
– They should consist of the same signature or words containing many of the same letters and combinations of letters as the questioned writings on the evidence documents.
– They should consist of the same type of writings as on the evidence documents, such as hand-printed or handwritten capital letters or lowercase, or a combination of both.
– They should consist, if possible, of the same kinds of writings as a person’s informal writings might be very different from more formal writings.

Dictated writing samples are writing samples written at the request, and usually in the presence, of the fraud examiner. Fraud examiners would try to obtain dictated samples either voluntarily or by obtaining a legal order.

Adequate pre-interview preparation by the fraud examiner before holding an interview with a suspect and taking dictated handwritten samples is essential. The following are a few tips for conducting this type of interview:

– Do not rush through the interview.
– Take as much time as necessary.
– Take short comfort breaks if the suspect tires.
– Do not allow the suspect to see the evidence documents before or during the process of taking the samples.

Professionals responsible should interview key individuals such as those with personal knowledge for information about suspicious conduct and the subject. Witnesses should be interviewed as early as possible because it limits the harm arising from loss of memory, witnesses becoming unavailable, and inadvertent loss or destruction of key evidence.

The typical steps involved in the process of planning and conducting a formal fraud investigation include:

– Completing engagement letters or contracts.
– Issuing advisory letters.
– Assembling the fraud team.
– Learning about the organization at issue.
– Developing an investigation plan.

Fraud examinations usually require a cooperative effort among different areas of expertise. Typically, fraud investigations require skills across different areas of expertise and industry sectors and they include auditors, fraud examiners, managers, attorneys, and security personnel.

A CFE is a certified fraud examiner. CFEs are trained to conduct complex fraud cases from beginning to end. A CFE has training in all aspects of a fraud examination and can, therefore, be valuable in bringing together the financial examination and the more traditional investigative techniques.

A legal counsel is crucial to a fraud examination process because a fraud examination can generate many legal questions, and the fraud examination team must have legal counsel available to assist in answering these questions. Otherwise, the investigating organization risks exposing itself to greater danger than the threat it is investigating.

Security department investigators are often assigned the investigation’s fieldwork responsibilities, including interviewing outside witnesses and obtaining public records and other documents from third parties.

The cognitive interview is split into two distinct phases which are the narrative phase and the specific-detail phase. The narrative phase is the first portion of the cognitive interview.

The narrative phase is the portion of the cognitive interview in which the witness tells the whole story. In this phase, the investigator allows the witness to recount the situation explaining what happened during the event.

The specific-detail phase is the portion of the cognitive interview in which the investigator seeks to track down who was involved and obtain specific details about the suspect. In this phase, the investigator seeks to get additional information about the event by asking the witness to describe the suspect with specific details.

The first portion of the cognitive interview is the narrative phase, in which the witness tells the “whole story.” The investigator would first allow the witness to recount the situation, using several steps to guide the narrative portion. There are four primary steps in the narrative phase:

– Reconstruct the circumstances of the event.
– Instruct the witness to report everything and be complete.
– Recall the events in different orders.
– Change perspectives.

In this first step of reconstructing the circumstances of the event, the interviewer would ask the witness to describe the context in which the incident occurred. The objective of this step is to mentally return the witness to the scene so that he will vividly recall the unfolding events. Asking the witness to describe the emotional state he was in at the time of the occurrence often helps accomplish this first step.

When recounting the event in sequential order, the witness might forget minute details in an effort to describe what happened next. Constructing the event in a different order such as starting from the single moment or thing that left the greatest impression on him, the witness will have the freedom to recreate the event completely and help the interviewer gain a foothold on the witness’s perspective.

Once the narrative portion of the interview is completed, it is likely that the investigator will have questions about specific details. There are five
techniques used to cultivate specific details and items of information from the witness. The five techniques are:

– Physical appearance
– Names
– Numbers
– Speech characteristics
– Conversation

The PEACE framework was developed by law enforcement in England who were seeking to reduce the number of false confessions thought to be the result of more coercive techniques. The PEACE method is an effective means of conducting interviews with witnesses, victims, and suspects.

When evaluating the subject’s normal body language there are some general tendencies that suggest that a subject is being less than truthful. For most people, the head is the most expressive portion of the body. The interviewer can read several facial traits or expressions from it. A person who is blushing (whose face or cheeks become red) is generally experiencing increased blood pressure, indicating pressure or stress.