Private Investigators Help Businesses in a Big Way

As the world quickly becomes a more technological place, private investigators across the country have kept pace.  Private investigators still use the tried and true methods of surveillance, background checks, and hands on investigation, but today, private investigators are coming to rely on another source-the Internet.  Using social media and social networking sites, people are putting enormous amounts of personal information online for the entire world to see, often even confessing to or bragging about crimes committed.  This may seem like a foolish thing to do, but businesses and corporations are using this fact to their advantage, by hiring private investigators to sift through the digital data to find confessions or evidence of espionage, corporate leaks, employee misconduct, and slander or libel.
Find this information is easier than you might think, and a seasoned private investigator can get to the bottom of the problem quickly, helping businesses eliminate problem employees in a timely manner.  It does not matter if the company has a specific suspect in mind for a specific crime, or if they just want to know if anyone is publicly cursing the company in general.  A qualified private investigator can find out, using a combination of traditional investigative methods, newer high tech tools, and the Internet.
The benefits of this type of investigation can be enormous for any business, no matter how many employees they have.  This type of investigation can catch employees that are stealing, which can add up to thousands of dollars in shrink in the blink of an eye.  Businesses can be ruined by corporate espionage or leaks of sensitive information, but a swift and ongoing investigation can find the guilty party, and may even be able to completely remove any traces of the information from the Internet.  To businesses, the benefits seem obvious.
Some employees feel this investigative technique is a violation of their privacy, but in reality, they had all agreed to those exact terms when they initially created their social networking account.  The Internet is a public place, and people who post private information publicly should expect to get caught.  The Internet is unregulated, but that doesn't mean it has to be unjust.



For more information about this type of private investigation, or private investigation in general, please visit www.icsworld.com

Private Investigators Find Financial Infidelity in Relationships

Financial Infidelity isn’t a term very many people are familiar with, though many people have experienced the repercussions of financial cheating.  Normally when people think of cheating or infidelity, they only think about having an emotional or sexual affair, but cheating and lying about money can be just as big of a problem.  Today it is becoming more and more common for private investigators to be called in to investigate this type of affair, especially as younger generations become more independent and less likely to have only one person handling the finances.

So what exactly is financial infidelity, and what do private investigators do when they investigate it?  Financial infidelity can take several forms, including hiding money, lying about monthly or yearly earnings, hiding bonuses, spending excessively, or secretly using money to fund an affair or gambling addiction.  Many people will go to elaborate lengths to hide their income and spending from their spouse or partner.  People who are being financial cheaters often hide bank accounts, have secret credit cards, or demand to take care of all financial matters by themselves, without letting their spouse see paystubs, bank statements, or credit card balances.

Experienced private detectives can use a variety of methods to get to the bottom of your financial infidelity fears.  To name only a few, private investigators can conduct surveillance, background checks, and credit card tracing techniques during the course of an infidelity investigation.  Financial infidelity is only one form of the broader category of cheating.  You don’t have to be married to be the victim of financial cheating; anyone who shares accounts, income, or expenses with their partner can be taken advantage of financially. 

Reliable, licensed, and professional private investigators can be found nationwide at www.icsworld.com. 

How to Pick a Great and Legal Private Investigator

Every year droves of people turn to private investigators to help solve the problems they can’t get to the bottom of on their own.  Private detectives provide an invaluable service to people in their greatest times of need-when they are being cheated on, harassed, stalked, bribed, spied on, and sabotaged, amongst dozens of other things.  But not all people claiming to be private investigators are actually legally allowed to carry out investigations, so it is extremely important to verify the credentials of any private investigator before you hire them or share the details of your case.

In most states, private investigators must be licensed by the appropriate government agency within their state.  It is illegal to practice investigations or claim to be a private investigator without holding a license.  The licensing process ensures that PIs are qualified, experienced, free of legal issues or felonies, and generally are of sound moral character.  There are a few states that don’t require licensure, but most states do.

One particular example of someone unknowingly hiring an unlicensed private investigator involves a family in Bloomington, Indiana who turned to a “private investigator” to help find their missing Indiana University student.  According to Fox news, the family became displeased with the progress of the investigation, and police soon found out that the investigator the family had hired was not licensed, and was therefore practicing private investigations legally.  Worse, the detective was not only unlicensed, his previously held license had been suspended by a judge for 10 years, though the reason for the suspension was undisclosed.

Unfortunately, this is not an entirely unique scenario.  Anyone seeking a private investigator should ask to see credentials and verify that the investigator they are considering is legally allowed to practice in their state.  Although there are a few bad apples in the private investigative world, don’t be deterred; the number of legitimate and certified private investigators far outnumbers the few illegal ones.

Again, not every state requires licensure, but even those that do not still generally have basic legal requirements that their business must adhere to.  Look into the requirements in your state so that you can make an informed decision when searching for the right private investigator.

For more information on private investigator requirements by state, an excellent resource can be found at www.icsworld.com.

Fox News source: http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-attorney-general-new-york-private-investigators-are-operating-illegally-20110926,0,7686155.column

Defense Lawyer Hires Private Detective to Help Solve Robbery Case

Last April in York, Nebraska, two masked men wielding guns robbed a local Pizza Hut.  Witnesses say that two men wearing masks over their faces entered the Pizza Hut at closing time, demanded that the employees leave their cell phones on the counter and remain in the bathroom while the thieves stole an undisclosed amount of money.

Local police have made an arrest in the case, but they only have one of the two men in custody.  The accused, Jostine Hoit, a 23-year-old York resident, is about to go to trial based on the testimony of several peers, though no one has yet named the second gunman.  There are problems with the case though, as pointed out by Hoit’s defense attorney; namely the five witnesses who are willing to testify that Hoit was elsewhere the night of the robbery, and too intoxicated to have committed the crime.

Hoit’s defense attorney, public defender Nancy Waldron, has requested permission from the presiding judge to hire a private investigator to find out what really happened during the robbery.  The judge approved this motion, and a private investigator is set to begin investigations immediately.

This motion is not an entirely unique one, as private investigators are often major players in trials.  Lawyers frequently employ private detectives to hunt down witnesses, find evidence, obtain statements, vet expert witnesses, and serve papers.  And lawyers aren’t the only professionals who depend on the services of PIs, insurance companies also rely on private investigators to validate claims, investigate beneficiaries, and conduct subrosa surveillance for a variety of reasons.

Currently, Hoit is facing a 100-year sentence if he is found guilty, but the use of a private investigator may change the outcome of his trial. 

Looking for a private investigator?  Visit www.icsworld.com

Are you a private investigator looking for a job?  Visit https://www.icsworld.com/Private_Investigator_Jobs.aspx

Private Investigators Used to Cut Costs in School Districts

The school districts have been taking the budget cuts and financial hardships harder than almost any other industry.  In an attempt to cut costs, some school districts have opted to hire private investigators to find students that are attending school in one district while living in another.  By locating and un-enrolling students living in other districts, the investigating district should be able to cut at least one teacher, a move that seems heartless, but is necessary in order to provide students and staff with the required supplies and facilities during these economically difficult times.

The attempt to find out of district students involves a three part plan.  All incoming kindergarteners are investigated to verify that they actually live in that school district with the hopes of stopping future outsiders from enrolling.  Next, all older students already attending school within the district are investigated to determine which district they reside in.  Phase three is to notify parents that their child is no longer enrolled in that district, and advising them as to which district they should actually be attending school in.

The logic behind the decision to hire private investigators is sound: school districts can’t afford to educate more students than they are receiving taxes from.  It isn’t fair to the students and families paying taxes in their proper district if other districts are receiving funds but don’t have to educate their full load of students.

There is no reason to believe that parents are purposely sending their students to the wrong schools.  It is likely that they simply thought that the closest school was the correct school, though unfortunately this isn’t always the case.  It isn’t uncommon for staff to also be mistaken about which school a child should be attending because district boundaries can be confusing.

Private investigators use a variety of methods to find out which district students are actually living in, including residency checks through various databases, knocking on doors, and conducting surveillance when necessary.  Some parents were confused about why a private investigator showed up on their doorsteps, but all were accepting of the district’s effort to enforce boundary rules to more accurately spend tax dollars.

Private Investigators Being Used to Rat Out Illegal Tenants

 According to the New York Times, Private Investigators are being put to use in a unique and inventive way: helping landlords save thousands of dollars by identifying and locating illegal tenants.

In major cities like New York, tenants can get locked in to rent controlled apartments.  Once they move out, the landlord has the legal right to raise the rent by 20% to compete with the city’s rising costs, but the problem is that tenants grow out of their rent-controlled apartment but don’t want to let go of the lease.  Often, renters sublet the apartment to family or friends illegally in order to keep their current rate.  Renters may even try to earn additional money by renting out their unit for a higher price, making a profit that they will never claim on their taxes, and that rightfully should belong to the landlord.

Landlords in situations like these have very few options if they try to deal with the situation themselves, which is where private investigators come in.  By conducting a surveillance investigation, private detectives can determine who is living in which apartment.  Surveillance investigations consist of photographing residents and determining the commuter patterns of residents suspected to not be on a lease.  A “suspicious” resident would be a young couple living in an apartment held by a single elderly woman.

With the information gained by the private investigators, landlords can begin to take action against illegal tenants, and reclaim their property and income.  It takes a skilled investigator to obtain the information in a timely and legal fashion to ensure that all data collected is viable in court.

For more information on private investigations in your area, please visit www.icsworld.com.  For more information on this story, visit the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/nyregion/31appraisal.html?ref=detectivesprivate.  

State Senator uses Tax Money to Spy on Strippers

State Senator Fumo from Pennsylvannia is now on trial for his less than ethical practices as a public official. Among his wrong-doings was to hire a private investigator to keep tabs on his ex-wife, ex-girlfriends, and some strippers. He even went so far as to attempt to persuade the investigator, Frank Wallace, to facilitate his ex-wife being stopped by cops and arrested for drunk driving. The investigator did not follow thru with the request, of course.

Source: Phiadelphia Daily News