"You are going to change their perception of reality of what they believe is true" A narrative study of fraud investigators interpretation of Romance and Investment fraud.

Sammanfattning

Romance and investment fraud are complex crimes to investigate. Previous research centers around these fraud’s offenders and victims. However, much less attention has been given to the perspectives of the fraud investigators, even though their central role in the investigation and prevention process. The investigators often encounter resistance from victims, due to them being exposed to social manipulation by a fraudster that the investigators understands includes meaning-making. The aim of this thesis is to highlight how investigators within banks strategically work to handle these frauds, where attention is on how their interpretations of romance and investment fraud influence their investigative and preventative strategies. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with fraud investigators, and the findings have been analyzed through a thematic analysis with an abductive approach. Theoretical connections have been drawn upon narrative theory, focusing on meaning-making and narrative stories that guide one's action. The essay is structured as follows: an introduction and background, followed by a literature review and theoretical framework. The methodological approach is then presented through which the results and analysis comes next. Lastly, the study concludes with a discussion. This thesis shows how the participants' investigative practices consist of narrative intervention, management of resistance and introducing alternative narratives. The preventative measures are understood as a way of influencing the customers interpretation of fraud. This study thus contributes to the current research field, as the investigators' perspectives become highlighted that in turn can benefit the fraud preventative work within other social actors.