ACFE CFE-Investigation - Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) - Investigation

The manual emphasizes that interviews—especially with subjects in other jurisdictions—poselegal and cultural considerations. Fraud examiners must considercultural norms (such as personal space, body language, and eye contact) and jurisdiction-specific lawsgoverning the use of information from interviews. In particular, some jurisdictions limit how interview information can later be used. Therefore, the most accurate statement is that the examiner should verify such limitations before proceeding.

TheFraud Examiners Manualdefines:

“Testimonial evidence is that evidence which is presented in the form of witness statements, whether oral or written, offered in response to questions” (Fraud Examiners Manual – Evidence section).The colleague’s statement overhearing a conversation istestimonial evidence.

TheFraud Examiners Manualnotes:

“Companies are formed by submitting some type of organisational filing… these company records are generally public records and will include: corporate name, ownership information, location of the principal office, date of incorporation”.

The Prep guide also confirms: “A company’s organisational filing with the government generally includes information about the company’s ownership, initial shareholders, and the location of its principal office”.

“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”.

ï‚·It is not good practice to notify the entire workforce or inform the suspect.

“Alibis generally can be diffused by displaying physical evidence… evidence should be displayed one piece at a time, in reverse order of importance”【16:2014 International Fraud Examiners Manual.pdf†L11-L14】.

The Prep Guide warns: “The proper technique is not to lay it all out at once” .

Thus, showing everything at once is theleast effective.

The calibration (or norming) process in interviews is meant to establish a baseline of the subject’s normal verbal and nonverbal behavior. This is done by askingnoncritical background questionsso that later deviations can be more reliably identified.

From the CFE Prep guide:

“The proper way an interviewer should start the calibration (norming) of a witness is through the use of:Noncritical questions on background information.… Examples of noncritical questions include ‘When did you start with the company?’ and ‘How long is your commute?’”.

Thus, the correct answer isD. “How many jobs have you had before this one?”since it is a nonthreatening background question.

TheCFE Prep – Investigationsexplains:

“Metadata is a type of computer-generated data that can be helpful in a fraud investigation. Metadata information can help determine who wrote a document; who received, opened, copied, edited, moved, or printed the document; and when these events occurred” .

Thus, metadata is the most useful for identifying who created a document.

Thecorrect answeris:Whether recording is legal depends onconsent laws— so the most helpful question is effectively:“Is consent required from one or all parties to record this conversation?”

Among the provided choices, theclosest matchisNOT listed explicitly. But based on the ACFE manuals, the correct interpretation is that none of the technical details (audio/video, file format, time, duration) matter —only the legal consent requirement matters.

Complete Detailed Explanation with Exact Extracts from Fraud Examiner (CFE) - Investigation Documents: =

The2014 International Fraud Examiners Manualstates:

“In some circumstances, recording an interview might be illegal. Some jurisdictions limit an employer’s right to record employee interviews during an investigation. In fact, in some jurisdictions, audio recording an interview is permitted only with the consent of all parties to the communication. Thus, fraud examiners should always consult with an attorney when deciding whether to record an interview.”

It further emphasizes:

“A telephone recording consent form stipulates where, when, and with whom telephone conversations can be recorded… Be cautioned that the form alone does not make the conduct of recording a telephone conversation illegal or legal.”

📌Interpretation:

The legality of recording has nothing to do with:

Audio vs video(A)

Digital file format(B)

Work hours(C)

Duration(D)

Instead, it dependsentirely on jurisdictional consent laws(one-party vs all-party consent).

TheFraud Examiners Manualstates:

“The expenditures method works best when the subject spends illicit income on consumables (e.g., travel and entertainment), because when the subject spends the illicit income, it will not cause an increase in net worth.”

CFE Prepconfirms:

“The expenditures method … is best used when the subject spends illicit income on consumables (such as travel and entertainment) that would not cause an increase in net worth.”

Thus, the correct answer isA.

The2014 International Fraud Examiners ManualandCFE Prep - Investigationsexplicitly state:

“Like some printers, copiers and other multifunction machines might have internal storage devices that store relevant data. In fact, almost every copier built since 2002 has a hard drive that stores images of documents the machines have copied, scanned, or emailed. Some copiers store user access records and a history of copies made. … when seizing a computer for forensic analysis, it is generally necessary to seize any copiers and scanners connected to it.”

Thus, the correct answer isC.