“Signs of stress do not always mean that a subject is lying… While lying and deception do cause stress, it is not necessarily true that all stress exhibited during an interview is caused by lying”.

The Prep guide confirms: “While lying and deception do indeed cause stress, it is not necessarily true that all stress exhibited during an interview is caused by lying”.

Therefore, Carlos should not automatically conclude deception from stress behaviors.

Within CFE investigation guidance on data analysis, predictive approaches are framed as using analytical techniques (including statistical processes and machine learning) to identify patterns and outliers that can indicate fraud risk and, importantly, help detect a fraudulent situation earlier than traditional methods. Predictive analytics is not limited to one specific technology such as layered neural networks (A); neural networks can be one possible technique, but predictive analytics is broader than that. Option B describes robotic process automation (RPA)—software that imitates human actions to automate routine tasks—rather than predictive analytics. Option D describes artificial intelligence in a general sense (systems performing “human tasks” like perception and decision-making), which is also broader and not specific to predictive modeling. The most accurate description is therefore C: predictive analytics uses historical data along with statistical analysis and machine learning methods to build models that reflect patterns/trends and generate projections about likely future outcomes (e.g., predicting which transactions, vendors, employees, or accounts are higher-risk).

Explanation with Extracts: In interviews, deceptive subjects often stall to gain time to construct plausible responses. The CFE Prep - Investigations notes that deceptive interviewees may ask for questions to be repeated or otherwise delay in order to think of what to say.

Explanation with Extracts = Pretexting is:

“The act of impersonating someone else or making false or misleading statements to obtain information from financial institutions. Several jurisdictions have prohibited pretexting against financial institutions”.Thus, falsely claiming to be the spouse constitutes illegal pretexting.

“Distractions should be kept to a minimum. Ideally, there should be no photographs, windows, or other objects in the room. Chairs should be placed about four to six feet apart, and the accused should not be permitted to sit behind any physical barriers, such as chairs, tables, or desks” .

The door should be closed (but not locked), not open .

Tables or desks should not be between interviewer and suspect .

Thus, the correct adjustment is removing distractions (pictures/posters).

In admission-seeking interviews, one rationalization technique is to depersonalize the victim (e.g., shifting the perception so the harm was against a company, not individuals). The example in the question—“It isn’t like you took something from a friend or neighbor”—is exactly this technique.

For publicly traded companies, the best source for information on officers and directors is regulatory securities records. These records typically include “identification of officers and directors, financial statements, significant owners, and accountants and attorneys”.

“The interviewer must not express disgust, outrage, or moral condemnation… the basic logic of obtaining confessions can be summed up as maximize sympathy and minimize the perception of moral wrongdoing”.

Sympathy creates an environment conducive to confession, while other options (third-party presence, emphasizing immorality, or pressuring with time) are explicitly discouraged.

Best practice is to conduct interviews individually. The Manual states:

“When conducting interviews, witnesses should be interviewed separately. Interviewing multiple witnesses together risks contamination of testimony and reduced reliability of responses”.

 “Before commencing a formal investigation (and especially before starting the evidence collection process), it might be necessary to prepare the subject organisation… such as preparing the managers of the employees who will be involved in the investigation, notifying key decision makers, and notifying the organisation’s legal counsel”.

 It is not good practice to notify the entire workforce or inform the suspect.