Rationalization and the Fraud-Related Interview (ITRP-eligible)
September 1
- Instructor: Don Rabon
- Date: September 1-30, 2026
- Total Hours: 24
- ONLINE
- Course ID: 139388
- Fill out the registration form here
- Required Text: “Fraud Related Interviewing” 2nd edition, Rabon/Chapman, available from Carolina Academic Press, (CAP-Press.Com)
Fraudsters rarely see themselves as villains. Instead, they create stories that justify their actions—stories investigators must surface and challenge to win admissions and build prosecutable cases. This session explores the Rationalization element of Cressey’s Fraud Triangle and shows practitioners how to translate that knowledge into sharper, more productive fraud‑related interviews. Through text, short lectures, annotated video demonstrations, participants will address rationalization language, the breakdown of cognitive defenses, and pivoting conversationally to gather corroboration.
Objectives:
- Explore how cognitive dissonance, moral licensing, and social comparison fuel fraud rationalizations.
- Spot common linguistic cues (e.g., minimizing language, moral reframing) and body‑language patterns associated with self‑justification.
- Link typical rationalization narratives to asset‑misappropriation, corruption and financial‑statement fraud scenarios.
- Craft question series and sequencing that move a subject from denial to acknowledgment while preserving rapport.
- Apply appropriate Interview techniques
