12 Ways to Tell if Someone is Lying Over The Phone or Text

If you have always wondered about what does it take to be able to recognize a lie when you hear it, then read our list of 12 ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text.

How many times have you received a flattering text and after being happy for a moment, you became really suspicious about the verity of the content? You aren’t the only one who feels that way. On the contrary, the sad and ugly truth is that we have all been victims of phone or text lies, and we have believed many things we probably shouldn’t. Sounds devastating, right? We know. That’s why it is important to learn the basics about the art of deception and to be able to recognize a gruesome lie when you hear it. In person, we rely on body language to give us clues about whether the person is lying or not. Electronic communication, however, is a challenge.

No matter if you are talking to your boyfriend or girlfriend or a potential business partner, it is useful to have some guidelines for recognizing untruthful statements. If you are eager to know more about how to catch your partner in a lie, then read our list of 10 Ways to Tell if Someone is Lying About Cheating. When we are on the phone, though we cannot see the other person’s face, we can hear their voice and notice when they are thinking hard in the middle of a question. They will hesitate before, then answer our question. When our partners are surprised, they will probably take a little pause and it is hard not to notice when awkward silence happens on the other side of the line.  So, we have plenty of tools at our disposal when it comes to phone conversations. And with a few skills, we can become able to spot any type of a lie once it is spoken.

When texting, it is slightly more difficult to spot a lie because typing is not the same as talking, of course. If the person is surprised by the question, we cannot hear it in their voices, there is no pause that can announce a suspicious answer or a word filler that suggests fashioning a lie. Although, there are many hints which can suggest that a person is trying to change the topic or even avoid answering a question. Sometimes, a pause in texting back to us can indicate that a person is reluctant to reply to what we have said or asked. Anyway, all these techniques for discovering a lie can be perfected, all that is necessary is to pay attention to certain details that we might miss otherwise.

There are some universal rules when it comes to lying which can help us detect a lie and we have taken them into consideration when making our list, though unfortunately, they cannot always be applied as people are different and behave differently when lying. A great part of knowing whether something is a lie or not belongs to intuition really. The feeling when you simply know everything is right. And there is the other feeling when you know there is something terribly wrong but you cannot grasp the meaning of it. We relied on Psychology Today for some guidelines when it comes to detecting a lie over the phone and we made a list of 12 ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text.

12. Trying to Convince You

When a liar wishes to cover his or her lie, they often use the art of persuasion to achieve that. If you ask them a direct question, they might try to convince you that it is all in your head and that you have trust issues that you need to work on, so be careful about this one.

11. Using “Well” in Sentences

If you ask a direct “yes” or “no” question, but the speaker on the other side of the line starts their sentence with “well,” then you have a reason for doubt. They may be preparing you for an answer different from what you expected.

10. Changing The Subject Quickly

If a person you are texting to suddenly tries to change the subject very quickly because you asked a question that was rather simple, then you should be concerned about the verity of their words. Obviously, the person is not comfortable talking about it so he or she will try to give a very brief reply and move on to a next topic as fast as they can. And now, let’s see the next one on our list of ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text.

9. Using Word Fillers

When talking over the phone, people need to react faster so designing a lie might be difficult. That’s why liar will use word fillers when they are not certain about what they should say. When thinking about an answer, they will often use fillers such as “umm” or something similar to create some extra time for coming up with an acceptable answer. Wondering what else is on our list of ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text? Click next and discover!

8. Takes Longer to Respond

Liars usually need more time to respond. When we are exchanging text messages with someone rapidly, we are often surprised when suddenly our text buddy needs a little time to text back. Usually, this happens when we ask a question which they might find unpleasant or they need some time to construct a perfect lie. People who have nothing to hide will not take much longer to answer a simple question, so this is suspicious. Of course, we cannot claim that this is always an indicator of a lie coming your way, but if you have been texting each other fast previously, it is a little unusual to take a long pause in the middle of a casual conversation. We may apply the same technique when it comes to talking over the phone, too.

7. Complicated Answers

This technique that liars use definitely deserves to be on our list of 12 ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text. When a liar is avoiding to say the simple truth, he will start texting about random things or details which are in no direct way related to the matter in question and therefore not important at all. They might give a bunch of information, but none of it will be what you asked for. They do this to make the answer more believable and convincing. A liar thinks that a long answer is not suspicious.

6. Repeating The Question

We are continuig with number 6 in our list f ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text – a liar will try anything just to get away with a lie. In order to win a little time, a liar will often try to create confusion by repeating the question you asked when you talk over the phone. They might also attempt to rephrase what they have already said before so as to avoid giving out any new or relevant information. So the important thing is to continue with direct questions if you notice a person is using this technique. You make them realize that you are not going to be confused or tricked into forgetting about your question and that they have no other way out but to reply with sincerity.

5. Establish a Baseline

According to Psychology Today, when attempting to detect a lie over the phone, we must establish a baseline that we will use as a guide for further conversation when it comes to sudden changes in the tone and mood of the speaker on the other side. A baseline is established by chatting casually with the person in the beginning of the conversation. During this time, you will pay attention to their tone, pronunciation, and flow of speech. This will help you create an image of the speaker that you will use for comparison later. At this point, you speak about casual things, and when you have heard enough you shift to the important matter. Now, you can observe to hear how long does a person take to answer a question, compared to answering questions in the first part of your dialogue. If you notice the speaker takes a long pause before answering, then this is your alarm. And now, let’s see the top four in our list of ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text.

4. They Suddenly Need to Leave

When texting, if you ask a question that the liar doesn’t want to talk about, they might give you a very brief answer and quickly say that they suddenly have to go somewhere. Leaving so abruptly after giving an answer is very suspicious and probably not something an experienced liar would do.

3. Compliments

We are continuing with number 3 in our list of ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text – some liars, as opposed to those who like to escape when asked an unpleasant question, like to use flattery to get away with the lie. This is more usual with texting. This can be a good clue if the person is usually not so flattering and you are not used to this kind of behavior. If they suddenly start talking sweetly and give you lots of compliments after you have asked a simple question such as the one involving the person’s whereabout the previous night, this will seem odd. You might be dealing with a liar.

2. Hostile Behavior

A liar needs a strategy to confuse you or change the subject or do whatever it takes to take your mind off the question. During phone conversations, a liar might become hostile when asked a direct question and might even try to accuse you or someone else to cover the lie. Do not be deceived and remain persistent.

1. Trust Your Intuition

There are plenty of rational ways to detect a lie, but we must not forget the one that often is the most important. Our intuition. Sometimes, you can just feel something is wrong and you can sense that what you hear is a lie. This is definitely not always accurate, but 12 ways to tell if someone is lying over the phone or text combined will prepare you for dealing with liars.