The Art of Persuasion: Mastering the Investigation Interviewing Process

AUTHOR’S POST

Mandy Moody, CFE
ACFE Social Media Specialist

Aesop, the great storyteller, said, “Persuasion is often more effectual than force.” I have a feeling Don Rabon would agree. Don is one of the ACFE’s most highly-rated faculty members, a past winner of the ACFE's Baker Award for speaking, a CFE and president of Successful Interviewing Techniques. He will lead a Pre-Conference session, “Persuasive Interviewing Techniques” at this year’s 24^th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Las Vegas this June.

In the clip below, Don gives a sneak peek into what he will discuss in his session and why persuasion remains one of the most challenging parts in the interviewing process.

Don’t forget about these other Pre- and Post-Conference sessions:

• Intellectual Property and Personal Information: Investigating Loss, Leaks and Theft
• Taking Data Analytics to the Next Level
• Persuasive Interviewing Techniques
• Auditing/Investigating Fraud Seminar
• Tracing and Recovering Fraud Losses
• Uncovering Fraud with Financial and Ratio Analysis

Find more details and the full Conference Agenda at FraudConference.com.

A Quick Read on Staying Focused

LIVE FROM THE ACFE ANNUAL FRAUD CONFERENCE

Mandy Moody

ACFE Social Media Specialist

According to Don Rabon, CFE, presenter of today's session, "Staying Focused During the Interview" most adults can't sustain attention for more than 12 minutes. If that's true, then I promise this will be a quick read.

Rabon, president of Successful Interview Techniques and one of the ACFE's most popular speakers, gave attendees practical advice on how to stay attentive during an interview. He warned fraud fighters that a lack of attentiveness could have a direct impact on gathering valuable information to uncover fraud. Rabon emphasized that attentiveness is just like any other skill of an investigator: it can be learned, practiced and improved.

"We are losing the ability to stay focused for a good length of time," Rabon said. "We only have so much attention currency to distribute; that's why they call it 'paying' attention.' "

Some ways we can be more attentive is to "go to a happy place" when interviewing and, above all, stop and think. For many of us, taking the time to stop during an interview or investigation seems counterintuitive, but, as Rabon pointed out, there is a lot we can miss when we aren't or have stopped paying attention. Things we tend to miss are subtle or overt changes in behavior, critical changes that may lead to a discovery. They don't necessarily mean the interviewee is being deceptive, but it does allow us to direct follow up questions and observe whether the interviewee continues to be forthcoming, or if resistance increases.

Through two attention-building exercises, Rabon showed attendees ways to flex their attentiveness muscles. One involved establishing normal eye contact, providing auditory confirmations like slow, rhythmic "mmm-hmms," visual confirmation like head nodding and the repetition of a communication marker. Communication markers are the signals we give that indicate we are going to stop talking and turn the conversation over to the other person.

Read the full article and find more Conference coverage.

Live From Toronto: The Future of Fraud

GUEST BLOGGER

Allan Bachman, CFE
ACFE Education Manager

A couple of years ago at the ACFE Canadian Fraud Conference in Toronto my friend from Vancouver jokingly taunted me by saying, “You just think of Canada as America’s hat.” Not rising to the bait, I simply replied that it was not so, but I did think of it as very North America. Well I’m back in very North America, Toronto, Ontario at our 17^thAnnual ACFE Canadian Fraud Conference.

This year’s conference got off to a great start Sunday afternoon with Don Rabon, CFE and 2011 Baker Award winner, presenting an advanced interviewing session on detecting deception. Don’s self-deprecating humor, native intelligence on interviewing and his instructional style easily crosses borders. Attendees raved about the session for the next two days.

ACFE President and CEO James D. Ratley, CFE, opened the Conference by speaking on the future of fraud. His presentation included enlightening video clips on risk and how to avoid the coming threats from hidden uses of technology.

The luncheons session featured Carmen Lapointe, CFE, Under-Secretary-General for the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Her five-year appointment is a challenge worth noting including audit, investigation, inspection and evaluation of UN functions. Her staff vacancy rate upon taking the post a year and a half ago was a daunting 25 percent. Today it is about half that. Her goals and objectives for the OIOS are realistic and obtainable. Her comments about her role and the role of her office were eye-opening for our audience.

Tuesday featured Richard Hernden from CIBC and former HealthSouth co-founder and CFO Aaron Beam. Beam spoke about his role in the HealthSouth financial statement fraud, making this the second year for us to feature a fraudster as a keynote speaker at our Canadian Conference.

Though it took place in Canada, this was truly an international conference. With 13 nations represented, including Canada and the United States, this was the more diverse representation of attendees since the Annual and European Conferences earlier in the year.

Wednesday a panel on bribery and corruption will kick off the day and the closer will be noted author Jeffrey Robinson, whose latest book The Takedown was popular at the ACFE Bookstore in anticipation of his talk. Robinson spoke at the European Conference in April and made such a great impression he was asked back for this Conference as well.

17th Annual Canadian Fraud Conference Heads Back to Toronto

GUEST BLOGGER

Allan Bachman, CFE
ACFE Education Manager

In an article published Wednesday in Canadian Business, it was reported that fraud costs Canadians almost $10 billion annually, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Hopefully Canadians can sleep a little easier this holiday season, and add save a little more money, when the Canadian Fraud Conference heads back to Toronto in November. The ACFE is known for holding a number of international events and conferences. Brussels hosted our European Conference for the first time this past April. Singapore is on the schedule for our Asia-Pacific Conference, Oct. 23-25, and we will head back to Toronto this year to host the 17^th Annual Canadian Fraud Conference, Nov. 27-30. I have attended every conference in Toronto since becoming education manager and I always have a good time. Over the years I have met and become friends with many members, volunteers, attendees and speakers who make this conference the unique and valuable event that it is.

This year’s conference will be a special event. ACFE President and CEO James D. Ratley, CFE, will return to Canada after a several year absence and will speak on “The Future of Fraud: Canada, the USA and the World.” Jim gave a variation of this keynote in Brussels and was very well received there with his view of what is on the horizon for anti-fraud professionals.

Closing the conference will be the noted, prolific and very entertaining Jeffrey Robinson, author of the best-selling book, The Laundrymen - Inside Money Laundering, The World's Third Largest Business and the upcoming, The Takedown: A Suburban Mom, A Coal Miner's Son, and The Unlikely Demise of Colombia's Brutal Norte Valle Cartel. Jeffrey is a lively speaker and knowledgeable on all aspects of fraud. His address, “The New Fraud,” will certainly have everyone talking.

We will also host four additional keynote speakers and 12 breakout sessions featuring popular speakers from previous conferences with new topics, as well as many new speakers. Included among the breakout session topics scheduled are, “Taking Electronic Evidence to the Next Level” and “Understanding Generation Y: Their Behaviour, Their Attitude, Their Fraud.”

As we have every year, we will host a Pre-Conference session on Sunday, Nov. 27. This year’s Baker Award winner Don Rabon, CFE, will teach his highly-acclaimed interviewing course which is always popular, informative and entertaining.

What makes each international conference so interesting to me is the idea that while we have much in common as fraud fighters, we are all each facing fraud issues particular to our country and region. I look forward to seeing many friends and colleagues again this November. Stay tuned for more announcements.