Social Engineering - Christopher Hadnagy [73]
To answer this question you must take into account more than just microexpressions because, as identified throughout this section, microexpressions are based on emotions and reactions to emotions. Keep this in mind while reading this section, which analyzes some causes and effects.
Four things can help you detect deceit in a target:
Contradictions
Hesitation
Changes in behavior
Hand gestures
The following sections discuss these items in more detail.
Contradictions
Contradictions are particularly tricky because they often can and do occur in factual accounts. I know in my case I often forget details, and my wife will fill them in quickly. After I get a little hint here or there I often can remember the full story. This doesn’t mean that I am always lying at the beginning of a story or conversation, but I don’t always remember all the details clearly enough to comment on them at first, or I think I do remember the details but I really don’t. Even after I “remember” the details, the details may be my version of reality and not the way the story actually happened.
This inadvertent dishonesty is important to consider when evaluating contradictions as a clue to lying. What a contradiction should do is prompt you to dig more. Watching the person’s microexpressions while you question him about a contradiction is also helpful.
For example, suppose you have developed a pretext as a visiting salesperson. You are going to try to gain physical access to the CEO to deliver a CD with a special offer. You know the CEO is very partial to a certain charity so you developed the pretext around that. As you walk into the lobby the front desk person says, “Sorry, he is not in, you can just leave it with me.”
You know that if you leave the CD a greater chance exists that your “malicious” CD will never be used. You also feel he is in because you see his car in the parking lot and you know today was a normal work day for him. With those facts in mind and without wanting to embarrass the front desk person you say, “Oh, he’s really not? I called the other day and asked when I could visit and was told today was a good day. Did I mix up my days?”
If you’ve played your cards right and your expressions are genuine, this can turn out two ways:
She may hold steady and again say, “Sorry, he’s not in.”
She may contradict herself (which can be a clue that she is not being truthful): “Let me check whether he is in or not.”
What? She went from a stern “He is not in” to “Let me check.” That contradiction is enough to signal that you should dig more. What was her ME when she did that? Did she show shame or maybe some sadness at lying? Was she angry at being caught in a lie? Was she embarrassed that she was wrong and maybe confused? You cannot automatically assume she is lying, because maybe she really didn’t know, and when you rebutted she decided to really find out.
After she confirms whether he is in you can choose to dig a little deeper and probe more to determine truthfulness if needed. Again, playing your card of “Maybe I mixed up my days” and watching her facial expressions can be a good indicator of her truthfulness or not.
If in your first go-round you saw any hints of anger, continuing to enquire can cause her to be more angry and embarrassed and end your interaction. At this point, you may want to ask something like, “If Mr. Smith isn’t in right now and I really mixed up my days or times, when can I stop in to see him? What time is the best?”
This type of question allows her to save face, as well as gives you another opportunity to read some facial expressions. If you didn’t notice anger but maybe saw she looked a little sad or embarrassed then you might want to respond with empathy and understanding to open her up. “I could have sworn that he said today was a good time to drop it off, but you know, my memory is so bad, my wife tells me I am getting Alzheimer’s. I bought one of these smart phones, but I’ll be darned if I can figure