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Topic two this week covers interview techniques. The particular scenario is interviewing a suspect that has been skimming money from a cash register. An interview should be viewed as a session where questions and responses to the questions are at the forefront. For fraud, it is a little bit different because it is designed to gain insight into specifics whereas an interview for a job can be more generalized and not designed to elicit information. Just like any interview, the interviewer must prepare for the sessions. When investing in a fraud case interviews are crucial because it helps define a case, and sometimes it is the only way to get extra concrete information (Associates of Certified Fraud Examiners., 2022).

As the interviewer, you must walk into the interview with a purpose. You must distinguish innocence from the guilty, obtain a confession, and convince the individual to sign a statement acknowledging the facts stated (Associates of Certified Fraud Examiners., 2022). Confessions are golden evidence in a fraud case. Fraud examiners must ensure they understand interviewing a suspect versus the actual fraudster. With the fraudster, if the person is guilty of the crime and is willing to confess as we spoke about in topic one the questions will be more straightforward, but if it’s a suspect the questions would need to be tailored in a way that is smart enough to gain useful information. One key piece of advice to take away when interviewing suspects is to ensure you do not come across in an accusatory tone because some individuals can get very offensive, and others may freeze up and refuse to answer any questions leaving them uncomfortable. This is why it does not matter whom you are interviewing building the first stage is important. Basic questions break the ice and open the floor for better communication (Associates of Certified Fraud Examiners., 2022).

Skimming fraud is the type of fraud where the fraudster takes physical cash prior to recording it which is harder to detect since there the funds have not yet hit the books and do not leave an audit trail. However, for a smaller business that may be using a cash register because all they operate is a small shop, fraud can be easier to detect if revenue seems lower than expected. If the fraudster steals from the register this is considered more of a direct skimming theft where the fraudster hides cash from the employer. Since this individual is the only person operating the register, it is fair to suspect this person of the crime since revenue has been coming in pretty low for the past few months (Corporate Finance Institute., 2022). In some cases when there is a reasonable probability that the respondent has committed the act the interviewer can ask accusatory and admission-seeking questions. If evidence presents itself then a transitional theme would deem necessary. The theme is designed to make the subject believe that they have been caught (Associates of Certified Fraud Examiners., 2022). 

When it comes to techniques used to interview someone who is skimming the cash is simple. First, do the due diligence prior to the interview. Get information about the suspect, get the details of the fraud that occurred, and know the laws. I cannot stress this enough, knowing the laws shouldn’t be a technique but should be something you keep in mind at all times. Another thing that should be done is to interview others before interviewing the actual suspect. One technique that everyone walks around with not only as a fraud examiner is the good ole gut feeling. The gut feeling sometimes does guide you with your assessment of the individual. An effective technique that can help bring out a confession is holding empathy, empathizing with the suspect can be effective in some cases. Understanding why the employee was skimming the cash can help them open up. If possible interview them in a room by themselves where no one can listen in so they feel like they are in a confidential space (Lyad Mourtada., 2020, July 7th).

There are so many things to take into consideration and techniques that can be used, but when it comes to interviewing the suspect of skimming cash I think the key item to keep in mind is knowing it is not an interrogation, show empathy to help bring out a confession, listen to your gut, begin the interview with ice breaking questions, and bring to the interview a piece of the evidence such as a video clip to the interview. A video camera in most businesses is placed in the area close to the cash register, so if the camera picks up a video of the individual putting cash into their pocket after receiving it from a customer can be enough evidence to bring out a confession (Lyad Mourtada., 2020, July 7th).