Social Engineering - Christopher Hadnagy [74]
Be very observant of minor contradictions as they can be key indicators in deceit and help you get your foot in the door.
Hesitation
Similarly to contradiction, you can use someone’s hesitation to detect a potential untruth. If you ask a question and the answer should have come quickly from the person, but he hesitates beforehand, it can be an indication that he was using the time to fabricate an answer.
For example, when my wife asks me how much my new electronic gadget costs, she knows I know the answer. A hesitation can mean either I am evaluating whether I want to answer truthfully or I might just be remembering the price.
When I get a progress report from my son’s school that says he missed X number of days at school and I only know about two or three valid absences, I ask him where the rest of these missed days are from. If his answer was, “Dad, don’t you remember I had that doctor appointment and then you kept me home that day to help you with that project?” Most likely that is full-on truth because it was quick and has facts in the response. However, if he hesitates and comes back with, “Wow, I don’t know—maybe the report is wrong,” then noting his microexpression during his response is a good idea. Does it indicate anger, maybe at being caught, or sadness at the imagined punishment? Either way, it is time for me to investigate more and find out where he was those days.
Another thing to look out for is a well-known hesitation tactic of repeating the question back to you as if asking for verification that the question is correct. Doing so allows for time to fabricate a response. The use of hesitation to detect deception is not an exact science, but it can be a good indicator. Some people just think before they speak. I am from New York, so I speak fast. If someone speaks slower than me it is not an indication of deceit. You must be able to use the ME to determine if someone is just slow at speaking or trying to fabricate a response.
If the emotion does not match the question asked then it might be worth looking into.
Changes in Behavior
During a discussion the target may change his behavior every time a certain topic is brought up. Maybe you notice an expression change or a shift in the way he sits, or a marked hesitation. All of these actions can indicate deceit. Whether these actions amount to deceit is not certain, but they should cause you to probe more on the topics being discussed in a way that does not alert suspicion. These behaviors can be signs that the person is using the time delays to generate a story, recall facts, or decide whether he wants to reveal those facts.
Hand Gestures
People often paint pictures with their hands using gestures. For example, someone may use his hands to show how big something is, how fast something was going, or to show how many times something was said. Many professionals feel that when someone is being untruthful he will touch or rub his face often. Some psychological connection exists between rubbing the face and generating a fabrication. Some of the cues used by psychologists and body language experts to detect deceit are discussed here: www.examiner.com/mental-health-in-new-orleans/detecting-deception-using-body-language-and-verbal-cues-to-detect-lies.
Taking note of a change in the size, frequency, or duration of hand gestures during a conversation is important. In addition, you should watch facial expressions during gestures that can raise a flag in your mind.
When you detect deceit, having a plan for how to respond is important and a good idea. In the earlier scenario with the front desk person and her “out-of-the-office” boss, calling her out on her lie would most likely have raised all sorts of red flags, embarrassing her, and ruining any chances of success. If your pretext is someone with authority, like a manager or department supervisor, and you catch someone in a lie you can then use that to your advantage. By “forgiving