How to tell if someone is lying: Scientists reveal body language used by deceitful people

Scientists have devised a super accurate method of spotting when someone is telling the truth, based on in-depth analysis of people who lied in court.

An American team uncovered the secrets of deception by using a powerful computer program to study footage from 130 different trials where the final verdict made it clear whether people were being honest - or lying through their teeth.

Whereas humans' chances of exposing a fibber are "just better than a coin-flip", the academics claim their next generation lie detector has a 75% success rate.

It has also identified the most common facial expressions used by those who are telling the truth, as well as the "scowls and grimaces" which expose a liar.

"People are poor lie detectors," said Rada Mihalcea, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan.

"This isn't the kind of task we're naturally good at. There are clues that humans give naturally when they are being deceptive, but we're not paying close enough attention to pick them up.

"We're not counting how many times a person says 'I' or looks up.

"We're focusing on a higher level of communication."

The incredible lie detector is more than accurate traditional polygraph machines and could one day be used by "security agents, juries and even mental health professionals", the team claimed.

It uses "non-invasive" thermal cameras to read subjects' heartrate, breathing patterns and body temperature, as well as analysing words and gestures.

Here are the scientific clues which may help you spot a liar:

They may be scowling and grimacing

Just 10% of honest people pulled these ugly expressions, compared to 30% of liars.

Bare-faced liars often look the questioner in the eye

Although a massive 70% of courtroom fibbers gazed into someone's eyes,this is not a truly accurate way of spotting a liar because 60% of people who told the truth did it as well.

Deceitful people may trip over their words

Liars pepper their sentences with filler like "um, ah, and uh" as they struggle to concoct a believable story, or try to recall a prefabricated prevarication.

They may try to remove themselves from the action

People who tell whoppers used phrases which remove their responsibility, This means they may describe events by using the words "I" or "we".