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How the Internet Has Changed the Private Investigation Industry

July 11, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

Private investigators gather and analyze information about personal, financial and legal matters. Their objective is generally to either confirm or disprove a particular suspicion. They offer many services, including verifying people’s backgrounds for potential employers, looking for missing persons or assets, investigating suspicion of infidelity, and validating or disproving insurance claims. Investigators may be employed by law firms, public defenders, individuals or other entities. Those who work for individuals or corporations are generally referred to as “private” investigators, while those who are employed by law firms or public defenders are called “legal” investigators.

How the Internet Helps

In the pre-digital age, investigation required a lot of what is commonly called “legwork,” due to the amount of walking and driving around that was necessary. Today it is still called “legwork” but often legs are not actually required. Much of the investigative work can now be done without leaving the comfort of the office, thanks to the invention and growth of the internet.

Not to Say that it’s Easy

Just because the information may be available on the internet, though, does not necessarily mean that the investigative job is “easy”. The internet has made information available, yes, but there are trillions of pieces of data available, and you can waste hours sifting through search-engine results pages without finding the information you seek, if you do not know what you are doing.

Ways to Use the Internet

Via the computer, investigators can now search for phone numbers, public records, and newspaper stories, without the need to drive to the courthouse or the library and pore over paper files or microfilms. Clients and witnesses can be contacted via email for routine matters, although face-to-face meetings are still recommended for sensitive situations, or when the investigator needs to use intuition and body language to determine fact from fiction. The internet can also be useful in Surveillance situations. A webcam in an inconspicuous (but of course legal!) position can be a terrific substitute for hours spent in the old-fashioned “stakeout”.

More Information Is Available

Several factors combine to increase the availability of information available on the internet. Many public records have been transferred to digital media and uploaded. People’s lives are moving online, where they pay bills and conduct much of their personal and professional lives. Huge databases of information are being assembled by all sorts of companies, and many companies are earning big money by data-mining and selling that information for a small fee. Social media sites encourage the sharing of personal information. Many people never hesitate to publish information about their friends and families, upload photos, and share activities, even in real-time.

But Data Is Becoming More Difficult to Obtain

At the same time, some data are becoming less obtainable. Privacy laws are permitting people to opt out of sharing certain information, such as their driver’s license and vehicle registration information. Because of these laws, social security numbers and birth dates can also be difficult to locate. People also are granted more control over their own data, and sometimes have the ability to change or eliminate information. And some data are becoming an income source for the entities that gather and refine it. For example, the Florida Vital Records department now charges up to $90,000 for a one-year subscription. Because of privacy laws, investigators must be careful in how they gather information, and must be sure to use methods that are legal at both the local and the federal level.

Essential But Not The Only Necessary Skill

Searching for information using the internet or gathering surveillance via webcam can make a private investigator’s job easier, but is certainly not the only skill required for a successful investigation. Good old fashioned techniques are still required, like making observations, asking questions, listening carefully to answers, and deductive reasoning, are still essential to the job. However, keeping up with the current trends and technology are mandatory in order to stay competitive in this industry. Combining the use of both new technological methods with tried-and-true “legwork” is the best way to succeed as a private investigator.

This is a guest post from contributing author Charlie Oszvald. Charlie is writing for Beacon Investigative Solutions, a private investigation agency present in 45 states in the US, with multiple offices in Ohio (Cincinnati private investigator office), Alabama, Kentucky and more.

Filed Under: Private Investigation Tagged With: private investigator infor, private investigator information, what a private investigator does, what do private detectives do

How Identity Thieves Justify Their Pursuits

February 17, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Note: This is a summary of research done by Heith Copes and Lynne Vieraitis. I highly recommend reading the full paper at: Identity Theft: Assessing Offenders’ Strategies and Perceptions of Risk

When you hear about crimes, you might think, “How can the criminal do that?” But did you know? Criminals justify their crimes. When a criminal decides to commit crime, he goes through a psychological process of sanitizing the conscience so that the crime can be accomplished. Offenders mentally rationalize their actions and neutralize the guilt associated with them before deciding to commit crime. And identity thieves are no exception to the rule.

Using linguistic devices to blunt the moral force of the law and to neutralize the guilt of criminal participation, the offenders make themselves believe that their actions are ‘acceptable’ if not ‘right’, thus protecting their self-image from serious damage. You tell us, what can social controls do to check or inhibit deviant motivational patterns in situations like these?

Of the offenders interviewed, nearly sixty-percent (n = 35) articulated at least one technique of neutralization and several (n=14) used multiple techniques. However, all the techniques were not mentioned and some techniques were used more frequently than others. The neutralization techniques used by offenders emerged naturally during conversations with no deliberate attempt made to elicit these responses.

It was found that there are many ways in which offenders justify or excuse their crime. Identity thieves, however, tend to rely on a few. In order of frequency, denial of injury, appeal to higher loyalties, denial of victim, and denial of responsibility are the most common excuses used by identity thieves.

Many identity thieves believe that stealing identities causes no real harm to victims because they think the credit damage can be repaired by the victim with a few calls and there is no direct financial loss in it for them.

Other identity thieves, however, do acknowledge the victims only to label them as large, face-less organizations like banks and corporations that deserve victimization (i.e., denial of the victim).

Likewise, individuals who work within an organization to carry out their crimes sometimes rely on the diffusion of responsibility to excuse themselves. Claiming that they only played a minimal role in the crime, they believe they should not be judged like the others. The evidence these individuals point to to prove that they “didn’t really do anything”? The small amount of money they made.

Noble intents, mostly helping people, is another excuse identity thieves use to make sense of and justify their crimes. Some said they did it for their children while others pointed to the fact they had done it just to help that random stranger they had met at a bus station.

Thus, it appears that neutralization is a technique that does not just initiate people into identity theft; it is also a technique identity thieves use to continue their current line of behavior.

Filed Under: Identity Theft Tagged With: consequences, ID Theft, identity theft, Justification, Rationalization, research

FTC Halts Timeshare Property Resale Scam; Telemarketers Falsely Claimed They Had Buyers Lined Up, Agency Alleges

July 19, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

7/19/2011 FTC News Release:

At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted a telemarketing operation that targeted consumers trying to sell their timeshare properties. The defendants allegedly charged consumers thousands of dollars, falsely claiming they had buyers lined up for sales that supposedly would be reviewed and approved by the FTC. As part of its continuing crackdown on con artists who prey upon financially distressed consumers, the FTC seeks to permanently end the defendants’ deceptive practices and make them refund consumers’ money.

According to court papers filed by the FTC, the Orlando, Florida-based defendants, who operated out of mail drop addresses in places such as Las Vegas, Boston, and Orlando, contacted consumers trying to sell their timeshare properties and told them they had buyers for their properties. In order for the sale to proceed, the defendants charged consumers up to $3,150 – either as an “earnest money deposit” to commit them to the sale, or for sale-related expenses – which, consumers were told, would be refunded when the sale closed. The defendants instructed consumers to pay by cashier’s check or money order sent by overnight delivery, and to immediately sign and return a “sales agreement” or “seller’s document” that would be mailed to them. Telemarketers who spoke with consumers often represented that the property sale would be reviewed and approved by the FTC.

The FTC’s complaint alleged that the “sales agreement” was merely a marketing contract for advertising the property, not a sales contract. Consumers who signed the contract and sent their payment to the defendants often were not contacted again, and consumers’ properties were never sold. Consumers who called the defendants were given the run-around, and refund demands were routinely ignored or denied. Contrary to the defendants’ alleged assertions, the FTC does not review or approve timeshare sales.

The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule by misrepresenting that they had buyers willing to pay a specific price for consumers’ timeshare properties, that they would refund their fee when the property was sold, and that the FTC would review and approve proposed sales.

The court froze the defendants’ assets and appointed a receiver to take control of the businesses. The defendants are National Solutions LLC, also doing business as Blue Scape Timeshares International, Country Wide Timeshares, Countrywide Timesharesales MA, Landmark Timeshares, Propertys Direct, Quicksale Propertys, Sun Property Networks, Sun Property’s, Universal Propertys, and VIM Timeshares; Landmark Marketing LLC, also doing business as Blue Scape Timeshares, Country Wide Timeshares International, Propertys DRK, Quick Sale Advisers, Quick Sale International, and Universal Propertys International; Red Solutions LLC, also doing business as City Resorts and Resort Advisors; Enterprise America, LLC, also doing business as American Timeshares, Exit Week, and Resort Advisors International; Investments Group of Florida, LLC, also doing business as Resort Advisors AM; Multiglobe LLC, also doing business as Universal Propertys; Leandro Velazquez; Samuel Velazquez; Joel Velazquez; Kiomary Cruz; Edgar Gonzalez; Vicente Virgilio; and Aaron Weiss.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 5-0. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.

To learn how to avoid pitfalls when selling a timeshare unit, read the FTC’s Selling a Timeshare Through a Reseller: Contract Caveats.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.

Click here for the original news release and additional information.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: Federal Trade Commission, fraud, FTC, sales, scam, selling, telemarketing, TimeShare