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Digital Cupid Unveiled: Navigating the Dating App Evolution

In an era dominated by technology, the landscape of romance has had a profound transformation, with virtual dating apps and hookup sites emerging as the new frontier for modern connections. The rise of dating applications and websites has revolutionized the way individuals meet and form relationships, transcending geographical boundaries and traditional social norms. While these apps offer a new and convenient way to find love and companionship, they have also become an interesting new terrain for private investigators, particularly in the context of cheating partners and divorces. The simple accessibility and lack of in-person convictions offered by these dating/hookup applications make it a breeding ground of infidelity, often leading to the discovery of unfaithful partners and contentious divorces. As the world of romance worms it’s way into the digital realm, the skills and tools used by private investigators grows substantially. Not only is there a need to follow and track in real life, but digitally as well. This shift prompts a closer examination of the intersection between virtual dating and the evolving role of private investigators in navigating the complexities of the modern dating landscape.

History of Dating Apps

Reflecting on the 90s, the proliferation of internet access and computers marked the beginning of a transformative era. Increasingly, individuals embraced this novel way of life, culminating in the launch of the first dating app in 1995. Match.com emerged, heralding a significant shift in the realm of romantic connections. The traditional requirement of an in-person “meet-cute” was no longer obligatory, opening the doors to an entirely new dating landscape. Fast forward to the early 2000s, the advent of social media took center stage. Facebook, MySpace, and soon after, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn all became integral parts of the digital lexicon. It becomes evident that as more people flocked to the online sphere, a proportionate surge in the number of single individuals navigating the digital dating realm occurred. In 2012, Tinder emerged, introducing a fresh perspective on online dating.

Tinder

Tinder, originally conceived by its founders, Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, emerged as a significant player in the dating app scene. In a 2014 Time magazine interview, the duo humorously shared that the app’s inception stemmed from Justin Mateen’s agoraphobia, jokingly attributing the need for virtual connections due to a fear of leaving the house. Whether this origin story holds true or not, the app rapidly gained immense popularity, functioning as a technologically advanced rendition of the classic “hot or not” concept. Users are presented with photos of potential matches nearby, with the option to swipe left for a “nope” or right for a “like.” For a match to occur, both parties must swipe right. In 2014, the staggering statistics reflected 500 million daily swipes and 5 million matches. Tinder’s creation marked a cornerstone in the whirlwind evolution of mobile dating apps.

Bumble

Another notable player in the dating app arena is Bumble, crafted by Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014. Distinguished by its woman-centric approach, this app empowers women by placing control firmly in their hands. Similar to Tinder, users engage in the left or right swipe dynamic, but the key difference lies in the post-match interaction. Once a match is made, it’s the woman who must initiate the first move, setting a 24-hour window for communication. Should the male party not respond within this timeframe, the match dissipates. Bumble has cultivated a global community surpassing 100 million users across six continents, celebrating over 1.5 billion “first moves.” Beyond dating, Bumble expands its offerings to include options for making friends and professional connections, signaling a multifaceted approach to modern connections.

Demographics of Online Dating

The roster of dating apps in the present day continues to expand, featuring top contenders such as Tinder, Match, and Bumble, alongside others like OkCupid, Hinge, E-Harmony, Grindr, HER, and more. According to Pew Research, almost half of online dating users, with approximately eight in ten users under 30, report using Tinder, solidifying its status as the most widely used dating platform in the U.S. The study also reveals that 79% of Tinder users fall within the 18-29 age bracket, in contrast to apps like Match, which only has 9% of users aged 18-29 but peaks at 54% for users between 50-64. The expansive realm of online dating prompts an exploration into how these platforms can be leveraged in online investigations.

In addition to those earnestly seeking love through dating apps, there exists a cohort pursuing different objectives. According to Pew Research, a remarkable 31% of men on dating apps are in search of casual hook-ups or sexual encounters, while women account for 13%.

Are You For Real?

This prompts a contemplation on the authenticity of profiles—how many individuals are genuinely who they claim to be? Does the person boasting a six-figure job truly hold such a position? Is the individual claiming to be 35 truly reflective of their appearance in the posted picture? Moreover, does the seemingly amazing person discovered on a dating app truly lead a single life, or could they be engaging in infidelity within an existing relationship? Investigations often revolve around suspicions of infidelity, as exemplified by Stephanie, a 27-year-old whose story was featured in an article for Bustle. Initially in love with her boyfriend, Stephanie’s world crumbled when a friend sent her a screenshot of her boyfriend’s dating profile. Conducting her own inquiry, Stephanie logged into her friend’s profile, messaged him, and asked for his phone number to verify his identity. The phone number matched, unveiling the truth and catapulting Stephanie into the midst of a breakup.

For the Private Investigator

As investigators delve into divorce or custody cases, particularly those involving infidelity, the complexities of utilizing dating apps as evidence come to the forefront. Distinguishing dating apps from social media, despite their similarities, is crucial. Unlike social media platforms, dating apps lack a searchable database by name, often featuring profiles with only first names, introducing additional possibilities and anomalies.The situation becomes more intricate due to the widespread existence of fraudulent profiles, especially on platforms that do not mandate identity verification. While some apps like Hinge or Bumble recommend features like real-time selfie verification for profiles, they are not obligatory, introducing an additional layer of complexity. A recent search for an individual accused of cheating during a divorce revealed the challenges inherent in scrutinizing dating apps. For platforms like Bumble, where a profile is mandatory for searching, investigators employ alias profiles. Premium features, allowing refined searches based on location, age, height, religious and political views, parental status and more enhance the investigative process. Despite comprehensive efforts, our search did not yield a profile. This experience highlighted the significant gaps in understanding the intricacies of navigating dating apps, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach in such investigations.

Are Dating Apps Searchable?

This brings us to the forefront of a pivotal question: Can dating apps be searched? The answer is yes, but not in the manner one might initially envision. When exploring the prospect of searching through dating apps, numerous considerations come into play. Many of these platforms implement privacy settings that impede effortless user discovery. Some dating apps establish connections through Facebook or other social media platforms, often requesting your phone number. Through algorithms and the covert mechanisms of these applications, the potential exists for discovering mutual connections. Stories often circulate about individuals encountering friends of friends through dating apps, making the world feel strangely small. As previously highlighted, the search functionality plays a crucial role in such investigations. Typically, this feature involves selecting filters based on criteria such as height, age, location, or interests when seeking a specific individual.
Adding to the complexity, the process of searching through dating apps may, at times, feel similarly to a game of chance. However, with the right parameters in place, the possibility of encountering your intended profile increases. We conducted our own thorough test to scrutinize the effectiveness of popular software, specifically assessing its capability to detect instances where an individual maintains multiple dating profiles. We subjected our subject to scrutiny using four of the most prominent software platforms, yet none of them successfully retrieved any data from dating apps. Despite yielding accurate information such as multiple social media profiles, correct addresses, and phone numbers, the absence of dating-related data reinforces our assertion. This underscores the notion that for effective searching through dating apps, a manual human touch remains indispensable.

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern romance, dating apps have emerged as a transformative force, reshaping the way individuals connect and form relationships. The journey from the internet’s early days to the present day mirrors the digital age’s progression, marking the birth of dating apps like Match.com and the subsequent rise of social media platforms. As we navigate this digital realm, private investigators find themselves at the intersection of virtual dating and real-life investigations, addressing the complexities introduced by infidelity and divorce cases. The expanding list of dating apps, from Tinder to Bumble and beyond, reflects the diversity of user objectives, leading us to question the authenticity of profiles and the challenges investigators face in uncovering the truth. The prevalence of casual encounters and the blurred lines between reality and online personas further complicate the investigative process. As investigators grapple with these challenges, the need for a nuanced and human-centric approach becomes evident, emphasizing the indispensable role of skilled professionals in untangling the intricate web of digital romance.

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From Posts to Paychecks: The Influence of Social Media in the Workplace

In today’s hyperconnected world, social media applications have become the go-to space for people to share their thoughts, feelings, opinions and experiences. While social media has endless benefits, such as staying connected with friends, family and the world at large, the boundaries between personal and professional life have never been blurrier. It is well known to some, but sadly not all, that what you share on social media can have a profound impact on your career and personal reputation. It’s a double-edged sword, a powerful tool for self-expression and networking, but one that can also be a slippery slope, potentially costing you your job and damaging your reputation in the blink of an eye. There are many ways, within the intricate web of social media, you can experience real-world consequences of the content you choose to share. 

Current Events

First of all it has to be taken into account that the world is currently under a considerable amount of stress. Natural disasters have resulted in loss of lives, widespread destruction, and escalated tensions among nations and individuals. At this very moment, we are watching an unfolding conflict between Israel and Hamas, prompting people from all around the globe to express their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and political stances on social media regarding this complex issue. This war has ignited powerful sentiments worldwide, with many taking sides in this particular conflict. 

The Associated Press (AP) recently found themselves in a predicament when one of their reporters, stationed in Gaza, was discovered to have a long history of publicly condemning Israel as an oppressive, apartheid regime. This raised concerns about the reporter’s ability to provide objective coverage of this conflict. A deep examination of the reporter’s X profile (Twitter) uncovered multiple tweets dating back to 2019, reinforcing the perceptions that his views on Israel were deeply rooted. 

As a result, AP has taken the steps of relieving the reporter from his duties and is actively investigating his social media history. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred at AP. In 2021, the organization hired and subsequently fired a Stanford graduate who had previously posted anti-Israel content on social media. The question is, did either of these employees ever wonder if what they shared on their social media would be reviewed by their employer? 

Social Media and the Hiring Process

Recent data from The Harris Poll revealed that a significant 71% of hiring decision makers concur on the effectiveness of scrutinizing candidates’ social media profiles as a screening tool. This statistic underscores a proud shift in the way our society approaches hiring practices. Social media’s influence has grown to such an extent that your resume is no longer the sole focus during the application process. 

DeeAnn Sims-Knight, the visionary founder of Dark Horse PR, aptly captures this evolving landscape: “Because we tend to view our personal social media accounts as being “personal”,  there’s a good chance that by viewing someone’s profile, you’ll get a glimpse into their personality beyond their resume.”

In this digital age, where our online presence can be as impactful as our real-world identity, it has become increasingly vital for job seekers and professionals alike to carefully curate their digital footprint. Your online presence isn’t just an extension of your resume; it’s an essential part of your professional identity. 

Social Media and the Workplace

Over the course of our seven years in business at E-CHATTER, we have seen first hand human behavior through social media and the role it plays in the workplace. According to Zippia, 98% of workers have social media for their own personal use. Alongside that statistic, 77% of workers report using and engaging with social media at work. It is not uncommon for employees to exhibit patterns and tendencies when sharing content online throughout their day. Many individuals are drawn to sharing an abundance of personal information. According to Harry Denley, a hacker and Security and Anti-Phishing at MyCrypo, said: “Most people are very verbose about what they share online. You can find virtually anything…” 

People Magazine shared some truly astonishing testimonies of individuals who either experienced firsthand or witnessed the repercussions of their online activities. One particularly shocking case involved a nurse who shared posts to her Facebook such as, “Soooooo sleepy here in the ICU. Will someone please code and give me something exciting to do? #isthatbad?” alongside racist comments. What made this even more astonishing was that the nurse had tagged her posts with the location of the hospital where she worked. 

Another example within the article showcased a co-worker who was dismissed from their job for indulging in marijuana and alcohol during work hours and proudly shared photos of these activities to social media. Unsurprisingly, their boss discovered the incriminating posts and promptly terminated the employee. 

One of the most ironic stories shared of them all was the tale of a firefighter who was let go from his position after leaving work multiple times for an “emergency”. He was later caught sharing images to social media of him swimming in a pool and riding quads posting, “sometimes you just need to F-off from work”. 

Social Media Oversharing

To comprehend this tendency, we must consider the unique dynamics of social media. Many perceive it as an outlet where they can shout into the void, assuming their posts will go unnoticed or that their identity will remain concealed. Sharing on social media offers a buffer period between the confession and the consequences, completely removing the power of face-to-face interactions. More than anything, most underlying reasons for oversharing on social media have to do with chasing clout or those “15 minutes of fame”. It can alleviate feelings of isolation, connecting individuals with like-minded people who empathize with their experiences. 

With these insights in mind, E-CHATTER approaches online investigations with the understanding that there is a high likelihood that someone, at some point, may have inadvertently shared crucial information. Let’s consider a few real-life stories that vividly illustrate the unforeseen consequences of thoughtless digital actions. 

Social Media History

While some individuals face termination in the workplace due to their current posts or comments, others may be terminated based on their social media history. Depending on the company’s policies, your social media past can hold as much significance as the posts made during your tenure. E-CHATTER has taken on cases that involved scrutinizing individuals due to discrepancies in their work history as listed on their resume. In one notable instance, an individual asserted that they had long-term employment with some of the most prestigious companies and organizations in their industry, a claim that didn’t stand up to analysis.

As our investigation unfolded it became evident that this individual was operating online under a different name. They were actively hosting a podcast that delved into their life, exposing a trail of admissions related to drug use and inappropriate content. This revelation proved to be a potential catastrophe averted for the employer, underscoring the importance of thorough background checks and the observance of a potential hire’s digital footprint.

In conclusion, the ever-expanding digital landscape has significantly altered the way we perceive and interact with the professional world. Employers must recognize the importance of closely monitoring their employees’ and potential hires’ online presence, especially in relation to sensitive topics such as race, sex, and discrimination. By proactively addressing and mitigating any harmful or inappropriate online content, businesses can not only safeguard their own reputation but also foster a more inclusive and respectful work environment. In today’s interconnected society, the boundary between one’s personal and professional life has become increasingly blurred, making it imperative for employers to adapt to these new realities and take a proactive stance in promoting a workplace culture that upholds respect, diversity, and equality for all.

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Communicating Nonverbal Clues Through Digital Media

Body language can play an important role in investigations, as it can provide valuable clues and insights into a person’s thoughts, emotions, and intentions. Private investigators can use body language in several ways to gather information and conduct investigations.

Body Language Examples

  1. Detecting deception: Private investigators may use body language to detect signs of deception or dishonesty. For example, avoiding eye contact, fidgeting, or nervousness may indicate that a person is lying or withholding information.
  2. Assessing emotions: Private investigators may use body language to assess a person’s emotional state. For example, facial expressions, tone of voice, and posture can provide clues about a person’s mood and level of comfort in a particular situation.
  3. Observing behavior: Private investigators may use body language to observe a person’s behavior and activities. For example, observing a person’s movements and gestures can provide insights into their routines, habits, and activities.
  4. Building rapport: Private investigators may use body language to build rapport and establish trust with a person. For example, using appropriate eye contact, posture, and gestures can help a private investigator establish a connection and create a comfortable environment for an interview.
  5. Gathering evidence: Private investigators may use body language to gather evidence for a case. For example, observing a person’s behavior and movements in public places can provide evidence of infidelity, fraud, or other illegal activities.

So we wondered. Can the same rules be applied when reviewing a subject’s Digital Media? Can a Facebook or Instagram video be enough to use some of the same techniques as in person examples to provide clues into behavior?

The Trump Deposition

Have you heard of The Behavior Panel? Scott Rouse, Mark Bowden, Chase Hughes, and Greg Hartley are the world’s top body language and behavior experts. Together as The Behavior Panel they analyze body language and human behavior in videos of public interest. They are a non-partisan team, looking to educate and entertain you with their interest and expertise in communication, body language, deception detection, interrogation, and resistance to interrogation. You can find them on YouTube.

They recently analyzed the online video of Donald Trump’s recorded Deposition. This is a great example just how much can be taken from an online video of a person answering questions. If you get a chance, take a look at the video on the Behavior Panels’ podcast. They point out several items of interest. The shrugging of shoulders that Trump does from time to time may convey a sense of being sorry for something is just one example they explore.

Not only can some of these techniques be used in digital media, it can be used in Social Media as well.

Social Media Body Language

Technically, body language refers to the nonverbal signals that we convey through our physical movements and gestures, which are typically seen in person. However, in social media videos, you can still convey nonverbal cues through your facial expressions, tone of voice, and posture.

For example, facial expressions can show enthusiasm or sadness, change the tone of your voice will convey different emotions, and gestures may be used to emphasize certain points. Voice inflections can be a sign of stress or anxiety.

Studying a social media post’s background can be very telling as well. For example, a cluttered or messy background may communicate disorganization or lack of attention to detail, while a professional or clean background may communicate professionalism and attention to detail.

Social media posts can provide valuable clues in an investigation, as they can reveal a person’s thoughts, emotions, activities, and connections with others.

Clues in a Social Media Post

  1. Location: Social media posts may contain information about a person’s location, such as check-ins or geotags, which can be used to verify alibis or track movements.
  2. Relationships: Social media posts may reveal a person’s relationships with others, such as friends, family, or acquaintances, which can be used to identify potential suspects or witnesses.
  3. Activities: Social media posts may provide information about a person’s activities, such as hobbies, interests, or daily routines, which can be used to establish patterns of behavior or gather evidence of illegal activities.
  4. Emotions: Social media posts may reveal a person’s emotions, such as anger, sadness, or happiness, which can be used to assess their mental state and motivations.
  5. Communications: Social media posts may contain messages, comments, or other communications with others, which can be used to identify potential witnesses or suspects, and to gather evidence of criminal activities.

Overall, social media posts can provide valuable clues and insights into a person’s thoughts, emotions, activities, and connections with others, which can be used to support an investigation. However, it’s important to note that social media posts should be used in conjunction with other investigative techniques and evidence-gathering methods, and that proper legal and ethical guidelines should be followed when accessing and using social media data.

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Facebook’s Dating App

Dating apps have been around for over 10 years. They are extremely popular and it is no surprise that Facebook decided to get in on the action in 2018. It was first launched for Columbian users and by the end of the year it grew to 14 other countries. Right around 2019 it hit the US market. In late 2020 it launched in Europe.

So how is it the same as other apps and what are the differences? We decided to do some research into this app to see if it is worthwhile to use in your investigations. Here are some facts we learned.

Facts about Facebook Dating

  • Facebook Dating is free to use
  • In 2021 The Verge revealed that not many people were using the app
  • Over 57% of Facebook users have never heard of Facebook Dating
  • Facebook Dating is a feature of the standard Facebook app, not a stand alone product
  • Facebook has a 2.7 star rating on Apple’s app store
  • Facebook has a 4.1 star rating on Google’s app store
  • Facebook Dating is not desktop compatible

Facebook Dating’s Unique Features

One of the most interesting features of Facebook Dating is that you can not take screenshots. In an effort to gain confidence among their users, they created a security feature that restricts users from taking screenshots.

You need a Facebook profile to create a profile on the dating app. However, they work independently from one another. Nothing is ever shared to your news feed from the Facebook dating app. Your friends will never be notified that you have a dating profile on Facebook Dating.

The app has a good amount of settings that may be used. For example, you can create a list of users you want to avoid. You can also block users who are friends of your friends.

Like other dating apps, Facebook Dating is location based. You are encouraged to turn on your location so that you can be matched with singles in your area. They do have a “Match Anywhere” however, it is not available to all users currently.

Recently, Facebook Dating implemented age verification tools to its platform. They are working with the age verification company, Yoti, according to their website.

https://about.fb.com/news/2022/12/facebook-dating-age-verification/

Facebook Groups

Fast Company published an article back in October, on how users are using Facebook Groups as a matchmaking service. “Depending on the group, users will share pictures of themselves or of a friend who is looking for a relationship, and then will field the responses.”

Privacy and Searching for a Cheating Partner

Privacy is a major concern for Mark Zuckerberg these days so it is no surprise that Facebook is being very cautious when it comes to managing the dating app. Other dating apps are feeling the pressure as well to create a safe environment for their users.

This makes it much more challenging to search dating apps for a partner who may be cheating. YouGov found that 17% of people who are currently date-cruising on apps or websites are there partly to cheat on their significant others. That’s more than one in six. Statistically, if you swipe six times, one of those potential matches is going to be a cheater.

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Finding People on OnlyFans

OnlyFans has exploded in popularity during the Covid pandemic. It has been an outlet for people to kill a little boredom, the same way many social platforms have done. This gives all of us a plethora of additional information to find on a POI (person of interest). Finding people on OnlyFans can be tricky. We will share some tips that we have found help during our searches.

Key OnlyFans Statistics for 2022

  • OnlyFans has 170 million users
  • Every day 500,000 people join OnlyFans
  • OnlyFans has 1.5 million content creators
  • The top OnlyFans creators make $100,000 a month
  • The average OnlyFans creator makes $151 per month
  • The average creator on OnlyFans has 21 subscribers
  • OnlyFans has paid more than $2 billion to its creators so far

What is it all about?

According to their website, “OnlyFans is the social platform revolutionizing creator and fan connections. The site is inclusive of artists and content creators from all genres and allows them to monetize their content while developing authentic relationships with their fanbase.” They pride themselves on being welcoming of all creative genres and content. ( hint…hint…. lines are blurred between Influencers, pornography, and sex workers). Like any site like this, it has the potential of a huge amount of earnings. OnlyFans reports over 50 million monthly users and 1 million content creators on the platform. 

Searching on the Site:

Finding people on OnlyFans can be challenging if they don’t cross reference their profile on other social sites or websites. One of my very favorite ways to search in social media is to use Google and searching Only Fans is no different. Here is a quick cheat sheet to use:

  1. Open your browser and go to the search bar
  2. Type in “onlyfans.com/insert username here”
  3. Continue to use various usernames you know belong to your subject

If this doesn’t work, try another way:

  1. Open your browser and go to the search bar
  2. Type in “search:onlyfans.com *insert username or name here*”
  3. Continue to use various usernames you know belong to your subject

Many times people who have profiles on Only Fans, cross reference on their other social media platforms ( especially Instagram ). Be sure to comb through sites to see if you can find anything there as well.

I would try the above methods using all search engines, not just Google. You never know what another search engine might pick up. It is worth the extra time it takes.

Can You Screenshot in Only Fans?

You can take a screenshot in Only Fans without the creator knowing about it. Since it is a web-based service, it has no means of identifying whether a screenshot has been taken.

Search Engine Tool

There is a tool for searching OnlyFans, but like anything else, it can be hit or miss. It is worth it to try however. It is called, “https://onlysearch.co/”

The site was designed to help OnlyFans influencers connect with their fans. So it does index publicly available information, display picture, display name, bio, price, and location — and display this information on OnlySearch, when key search terms appear in bios. 

As of this writing, the above methods are the quickest ways to conduct a search on this site.

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Adults Contacting Minors Online

Adults contacting minors online for the purpose of sextortion or meeting up for sex continues to be a big problem. Federal investigators believe there are more than 500,000 online predators active each day and they all have multiple online profiles. The ACM’s (Adults Contacting Minors) attempt to groom their minor victims, one step at a time.  They start by making a connection. Next, they spark conversation, and then try to lure them in by sending a provocative photo of themselves. For most, the end goal is to meet for sex. In some cases, they are satisfied by either video chats or even exchanging of photos. More than 50% of victims are ages 12 to 15 and 89% of victims are contacted by a predator through a chatroom and instant messaging.

Most ACM’s have a level of confidence in this because currently it Is underreported. There is a sense that the ACM is “anonymous” online with no way to find out who he really is. This makes it almost impossible to catch them. With the help of great organizations like SOSA (Safe From Online Sex Abuse), whose goal it is to raise awareness and combat abuse, they are making some headway.

Recently the organization created a documentary on this subject that every parent should watch. It is called Undercover/Underage.  Roo Powell is on a mission to expose the dangers of and prevent online child sex abuse. She works together with her nonprofit group, SOSA to set up aliases to engage with child predators.  She works with law enforcement and professionals in the field. Over the course of the documentary, Roo transforms herself into several 15–16-year-old personas. It is no easy undertaking to make 30-year old’s look (Roo) and act like a 15-year-old minor. However, she pulls it off. She has done her research and understands the behavior, likes/dislikes of an average teen.

Alias Creation (aka Sock Puppets)

  1. Setting up and creating a fake profile requires a lot of upfront work. Because this may lead to a video meeting or even an in-person meeting, everything must jive. Using the same username is critical across all platforms.
  2. Creating a community of “friends” to make the profile look believable.
  3. Photos – hiring a professional photographer who specializes in photo editing. The photographer in the documentary works in the fashion industry and is great at identifying and removing any age regressing features. The goal is to make her look like a teenager.
  4. The use of hashtags is very important. Teens will use hashtags – #freshman, #15yearsold, #mixedgirl, #daddyissue, etc. The more the better to get the right kind of attention online.

OSINT Work

One thing that I found to be interesting as I watched the documentary, is how the team used OSINT techniques every step of the way. They used the “Leave no stone unturned” strategy to try to ID the guy. In one episode, the ACM loved to talk about himself. He talked about his work history, his hobbies, the fact that he has 4 kids, etc. The team is shown searching all of it to connect the dots and find out information about this guy online. He’s a pro however- he knows what he is doing and is careful. Just one small little crumb could be enough to point them in the right direction. The average person has no idea how much information is housed on the web. It could be an old press release that has been forgotten about that names him. Or it could be an obituary of a deceased relative that includes the name of the ACM. Anything is possible and that is why it is important to take the time needed to search.

The group also uses Honey Pot computing to lure in the ACM. A honeypot is a decoy computer system for trapping hackers or tracking unconventional or new hacking methods. In this case it is being use as a lure to try to identify the ACM’s IP address. For this case, it is being populated with the teen girl persona’s photos, poetry, etc. On the backend of the site there is an activity log. This lists out the visitors of the site. From that IP address, one may be able to identify the location of the ACM, if they do not use a VPN of course.

Keeping Up With the Apps

It makes sense that teens are more inclined to use apps. Apps allow users to share photos and videos with their friends through their mobile device. The documentary mentions a few sites/apps you may not have heard of before.

  • boardgamegeek.com :This site’s database has more than fifty thousand board games along with their developers and players. The games themselves are linked to users through lists called GeekLists, along with owned/played/wanted etc. connections, ratings, reviews, session reports, and so on. It has a forum which has some search capabilities. Good to keep in mind if your subject is a gamer. Search by location and then by name.
  • Online chat groups, Message apps, Gaming apps, make it easy for a predator to make a connection with a minor online. Interactions can easily escalate to “sextortion”, in which minors are coerced into sending explicit imagery of themselves. According to a New York Times recent article titled, “How to Protect Your Children From Online Predators”, the following are the ones to watch closely

In summary, the team uses outstanding critical thinking skills along with online research to try to identify the ACM’s. Some fall through the cracks, but in some cases, she does provide enough evidence to law enforcement to “take it from there”. It is not an easy task, and it really takes a thick skin and a strong stomach. Some scenes show Roo emotionally drained from the experience of playing out conversations with child predators. But in the end, it is her deep desire to help the kids. If she can get one or two arrested, she has done what she set out to do.

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Competitive Intelligence Investigations

In the business world, one could say with confidence that everyone is spying on everyone else. It’s a given and possibly more popular within certain industries. Competitive Intelligence initiatives in business is almost critical for the business owner. Whether the company is small, medium, or large, this type of intelligence gathering is important. Now with open source research options, it is so much more detailed than ever before. Let’s start with the basics.

What Is Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive intelligence, sometimes referred to as corporate intelligence, refers to the ability to gather, analyze, and use information collected on competitors, customers, and other market factors that contribute to a business’s competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence is important because it helps businesses understand their competitive environment and the opportunities and challenges it presents. Businesses analyze the information to create effective and efficient business practices. (Investopedia.com)

Social Media Listening
This is an example of coffee brands across three social media platforms. The example if provided by the software company Sprout Social as an example of what this type of research uncovers

Types of Investigations

  1. Marketing : One of the key reasons to conduct competitive intelligence is to gain a marketing advantage. One of the best ways is to use social media listening, which identifies the company’s online reputation. What do employees say about the company? What about customers? There are multiple software platforms out there that do exactly this as an ongoing part of their marketing plan. They can identify the effectiveness of the company’s digital and social media marketing, as you can see in the image above from Sprout Social. Sprinklr is another good example of this type of software. Another excellent option is to use mystery shopping. Our parent company, Ann Michaels & Associates, has conducted this type of research many times over the years. With a data base of over 300,000 evaluators we are able to find just the right person to perform the research. The shopper poses as a business looking for pricing on a service or product from the company’s competitor. This allows for a very up close and personal look at the competition’s sales techniques, customer service levels and pricing.
  2. Mergers and Acquisitions: Research is key when looking at a company to purchase or merge with. Investigating their reputation, online and off is important. We have conducted open source research on not only the company, but also on individual stakeholders. This allows for a good overall impression.

This can be a good source of income for the Private Investigator. Be sure to list it on your website and talk to clients about it.

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Illegal Drug Sales & Social Media

Social Media companies are still being challenged for not doing enough when it comes to selling drugs on their platforms. Snap Chat, Instagram, Tik Tok and others have been sited for not doing enough to curb illegal drug sales on their sites. Parents, in particular, are passionate about this issue. With the rise of Fentanyl, the online sales of fake pills that include the synthetic opioid is staggering. The dealers use social media to advertise to young people. So even if a young person isn’t interested in mining social media for a drug of choice, the dealers come to them.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning back in September 2021, warning about the increase. Anne Milgram, the DEA Administrator, called out two apps that were very popular with teens and young adults: Snapchat and TikTok. She was quoted in the Washington Post that they were not doing enough to combat sales. But will the request go unnoticed?

This has been occurring for years on several social platforms. Many of the platform executives have said they are doing all they can on their end. Companies have hired extra moderators, using artificial – intelligence algorithms to flag unwanted posts. To date it continues to be an issue as many young people are dying from this type of drug.

To date, more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2020. This is an increase of 30% from 2019.

CDC

The Advertising of Illegal Drugs to teens and young adults. 

Illegal Drug Word Cloud

The Organization for Social Media Safety, ran an informal test and found they were able to connect with drug dealers on multiple social media sites in under three minutes.

Volteface commissioned Survation in January 2019 to conduct a nationally representative poll of 2,006, 16 to 24 year olds.  The research was conducted on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Fake profiles were set up and researchers did not communicate with any social media users.  Key findings were as followed:

  • One in four young people (24%) reported they see illicit drugs advertised for sale on social media.
  • Of those who reported seeing illicit drugs for sale on social media:

56% saw drugs being advertised on Snapchat, 55% on Instagram and 47% on Facebook.

63% saw Cannabis being advertised – making it the most seen drug advertised for sale. Cocaine was the second drug most seen advertised (26%), followed by MDMA/Ecstasy (24%), Xanax (20%), Nitrous Oxide (17%) and Codeine/Lean (16%).

Encryption and VPN technology makes it difficult to trace dealers. There is also a lack of information sharing between police and social media platforms. All of this makes it very hard to get this off social media.

Searching for Drugs Online: (American Addiction Centers: Drug Abuse.com )

Think it is hard to find illegal drugs in social media? You might be very surprised to discover that people are selling drugs in the most blatant fashion. In fact, even their user names make it obvious! With user names like “ihavedrugs4sale”, and drug-riddled posts/pictures, the dealers make it quite obvious. The study revealed that the most popular items included marijuana, prescription drugs, painkillers, xanax, molly (mdma) and lean (codeine syrup mixture). Example below of items found in social media:

Illegal Drugs Online

This year a Santa Monica teen, named Sammy Berman Chapman asked his dad for a cheeseburger and went to his bedroom. An hour later his mother found him dead on the floor.

Sammy was killed by a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid 50 times as powerful as heroin. The culprit: a drug dealer on Snapchat and, from the parents’ perspective, the company Snap itself, which they said was not doing enough to protect young users like Sammy. They went to the company for answers on how this could happen. Snapchat’s rep stated:

“Continuing to significantly improve our operational work to eradicate drug dealers from Snapchat, along with raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, will be a long term effort for us — we will keep working to do better and help keep our community safe,” said a Snapchat spokesperson.

It is an uphill battle, but one that is worth fighting for.

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Facial Recognition – Online Research

Facial recognition is something that you may want to zero in on before you begin any type of reverse image searching. If you just want to see if the photo itself is being used anywhere else online, then leaving the photo as is works well. However, what if you have a photo of a person but can’t identify the person? In that case, you may want to search a bit differently.

Google Reverse Image Search

Google doesn’t really focus all that much on the facial recognition aspect of a photo. Instead, it is geared more to searching content. That means it takes into consideration what the photo is about. Is it a photo of a person eating at a restaurant? You may get a large number of results showing you a photo of a person who looks similar, eating at a restaurant.

It doesn’t focus as much on the facial recognition aspect.

One work around to this is to crop your photo before searching through Google Image. Take out all the background and just focus on the face of the person if possible.

Yandex

Yandex’s image search is far superior for facial recognition. I highly recommend using it. Take a look at the difference between searches. I use a standard head shot in all my marketing online. It should come up in a Google reverse image search without any problem. However, it doesn’t.

Look at how much more you information you get from Yandex than from a basic Google Image Search. While there are photo selections offered to the right, Yandex allows you to further crop an area of the photo. This allows you to try the search in more than one way.

Notice also how it offers you sites containing information about where the image is online. It highlights several sites where this exact photo is being used.

Tin Eye

Tin Eye is used all the time in investigations. For this particular exercise, it did not fair as well as the others, however. The result I received from a basic search was a website that is not even up and running anymore.

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You Shouldn’t Post That Here

By now we have all been schooled on what we shouldn’t post publicly in social media and why. In fact, you can read all over the internet why it is not a good idea to post your COVID vaccination card. It is also not a good idea to post about vacation plans.

When it comes to insurance fraud, a claimant’s social media posts plays an important role in any investigation. When someone is trying to claim an injury when there isn’t one, they need to lock down. You would think that the fraudster would be careful when they post publicly in social media. This is not always the case. In fact, recently we performed a deep web scan on a person suspected of insurance fraud. This was a workman’s comp case. A friend of the person actually cautioned him about a post he had recently added. She came right out and told him to be careful what he was posting. He answered her post by saying, “I not. I know how this works.” The original post was deleted, so we never knew what he posted to make her say that. It was suspicious however, that he left this exchange up on his profile page. In other words, he knew he might be watched in social media.

“Checking social media accounts has become one of the first things an insurance company or adjuster will do when you file a claim,” says Frank Darras an attorney from California who specializes in law suits against insurance companies.

Source:Auto Insurance Quote

What to Look For in Social Media

When we conduct a deep web scan, we start with the data points that we know to be true on an individual. Name, address, date of birth, employer, address and email addresses. They are all critical pieces of information because each one may hold an attachment to something online about our person of interest. It is also important in authentication. We need to be certain we have the right person.

Some tips we have learned along the way that may be of help to you include the following:

  • Check for multiple profiles. You just found your person of interest’s Facebook profile and you think you are done there. Not always so. Many people have secondary profiles. They may have set them up, forgot about them or they use each one for different things. Believe it or not, you may discover them by looking through their friends list. This is especially true in Facebook.
  • Tell a Story: Across all social media platforms, it is important to check the dates of posts. When you put them altogether, they can tell a story of a person’s activity. Just by combing through this information, you may find an inconsistency in their story or claim. Perhaps they are claiming to have taken a fall at work. Yet, a social media post may show them complaining about back pain days prior. Connecting the dots doesn’t mean they are automatically guilty, but can mean that a deeper investigation is needed, just to be sure.
  • Proof of legally attained social media posts: That is where meta data comes into play. If you find something in a person’s social media profile, you are going to want to extract that post and gather the intelligence behind it. Remember, screenshots can easily be altered.

Video is the Golden Child

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube are all examples of social media known for their videos. People post videos of all kinds of things there. Searching these platforms can be very lucrative because of it. Just remember, if you do find something important there, you will want to not only obtain the meta data, but extract the actual video to keep as evidence that is admissible in court.

Keep in mind that we can extract videos and photos as well as capture the meta data from the post. Timing is everything however, and what is here today can be gone tomorrow.

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The Online Personality of Your Subject

Is the online personality of a person different from their in person personality? I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called, “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.” The docuseries is about a Canadian college student, Elisa Lam, who was a guest of the hotel in 2013. She disappeared and was missing for a period of time around some very unusual circumstances. I won’t tell you anymore, in case you want to watch it.

Her Tumblr account was an open book. Tumblr is a social media platform that was very popular during this time frame. Elisa Lam used it like a diary and in the documentary it is explained in detail what was obtained from the scrubbing of that open source information (OSINT). Her personality came through loud and clear through analyzing her social media posts.

Online Personality

When it comes to pulling online activity from social media, blogs, forums, etc. on your person of interest, personality plays an important role. Everyone in the investigation’s field knows that a person who is narcissistic for example, will provide you with a treasure of information online. In some cases, perhaps even more than you might need.

But what about all those people in between? People approach social media differently and there are many factors to be considered.

Two Major Personality Differences

One would think that an introvert would be non-social but that is not necessarily true. Consider some actors or comedians. Most seem like extraverts by the way they conduct themselves publicly. However, when interviewed, many of them say they are more introverted.

What are some common traits of Introverts?

  • Introverts in social media care about their privacy.
  • They tend to only accept friend requests from people they know.
  • They really don’t care about the number of “likes”.
  • Most likely unaware of friend requests.
  • Will unfollow or delete you.

What are some common traits of extraverts?

  • Extraverts don’t worry about their privacy.
  • They are more inclined to accept invitations from people they don’t know.
  • Extraverts care very much about the “likes” & shares.
  • They do pay attention to friend requests.
  • Most will keep all of their connections close.

 From a psychology point of view we can take a look at “Introvert vs. Extrovert: A Look at the Spectrum and Psychology.  The article points out the following. “How extroverted we are can have a huge bearing on our day-to-day life across a multitude of contexts and it’s important to note that there’s no ‘better’ level of extroversion/introversion – both ends of the spectrum have their advantages and disadvantages but by understanding where we fall on the scale we can address areas in which we’re perhaps lacking.”

Personality predicts what people do on social media.

A large body of research on social media use and personality has focused on the Big 5 personality traits, the most widely accepted trait theory. When people are asked to rate how much different traits characterize them, those traits cluster into five groups:

Knowing and understanding some of this may be of help in your next investigation. It is well worth it to take a look at your subject’s online activity to reveal glimpses into their personality.

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Employee Fraud in the Digital Age

In today’s digital world, employee fraud and theft is up and can cost a company a lot of lost revenue. This is an area in which a Private Investigator can be be very valuable to a loss prevention department.

A recent article in the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported two employee fraud investigations.

“Home Depot just caught an employee who stole over 100K in electronic gift cards. “Said accused did, between January and November 2018, use his position as a Home Depot employee to send E-Gift cards to email accounts that he set up himself, or were provided to him from a third party, in the amount of $156,330 U.S. dollars,” the arrest warrant states.”

“A teenager was arrested after he was accused of stealing nearly $1 million from the Kroger store where he worked. According to police, 19-year-old Tre Brown created more than 40 returns for non-existent items in December and January, including lottery tickets that were never sold, spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said. Those returns, which ranged in price from $75 to more than $87,000, were then placed on several credit cards, investigators said.”

Benefits Pro, an employee benefit firm, recently published an article on the warning signs.

Employee Fraud Red Flags:

• An employee living beyond their means
• An unwillingness to share duties
• Being under pressure on the job
• Family problems or divorce
• Defensiveness
• Past legal problems
• Refusal to take vacations

According to Certified Fraud Examiners, a typical company can lose up to 5% annually to employee fraud. In fact, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners conducted a study in 2018 titled, “Report to the Nations: 2018 Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse.” The study included 2,690 known cases. Many do not get reported due to the stigma and bad public relations to the company itself.

The study goes on to reveal some other commonalities.

  1. The overall amount of loss by men is 75 percent larger than those caused by women.
  2. The most common way employee frauds are discovered is via tips.
  3. Internal control weakness is responsible for nearly half of frauds.
  4. Employees committing fraud who have been with their companies longer stole twice as much.
  5. Small businesses lost almost twice as much to fraud per scheme as larger ones.

Deep Web Research

If the investigator is looking for stolen merchandise, then the web is one of the best places to begin. Conducting a deep web search on a person of interest can provide a starting point. Details may emerge that will provide various emails, phone numbers and user names. Connecting the person with online social media groups, market places, Craigs List, and more may provide you an exact place where the stolen merchandise is being sold.

Auto Parts for Sale

We once worked on a scan for an Investigator whose subject was suspected of selling a very unique set of stolen auto parts. The employee had created an eBay account and made the mistake of using a familiar user name. After the user name was revealed in our Deep Web Scan, we turned our attention to the online websites that sell goods to consumers. We were able to piece this information to that of our client’s subject. A huge catalog of stolen auto parts were on display!

The internet has certainly helped employee fraud. With more avenues to sell stolen merchandise, it can be just the right kind of lure an employee needs to do the unthinkable.

Outdated POS systems, computer programs and data storage entry gaps can be additional areas of concern for many retailers. Being proactive is always your best approach to take away the temptation. Smaller businesses may not have the money for a loss prevention department. That is where a Private Investigator can be a valuable asset to your business, specifically one who deals in computer forensics.

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Analyzing Social Media Posts

Analyzing social media posts is most likely something you don’t really do on a regular basis. Unless the case calls for it, there is not always a need for it. However, when there is, so much can be uncovered!

Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

If you are a Netflix subscriber you may have seen this documentary. It is one of the best OSINT films out there. The documentary uncovers the months it took a group of online sleuths to reveal a real life killer. During the documentary it is revealed how helpful social media posts were in finding clues to the whereabouts of this criminal. It is graphic, so be forewarned. However, the diligence of these average people is noteworthy. It takes time to really dig and even when your subject leaves clues, it can be difficlut.

One scene in particular focuses on the street lights in a city. The subject posted a photo of himself in social media on a city street. One person recognized the style of the street lights and pinpointed them correctly as being in Ontario, Canada. She was correct, however it took so long to persuade the local police to believe her story, the suspect was already on to a new location.

It is also a great example of how important it is to really look at social media posts.

Social Media Post Threats

When scrutinizing social media posts, carefully look beyond the person in the post. Is there a computer screen or tablet that you can zero in on? What about a clock in the background? Cross reference this with the date and time of the post.

Photos of a person’s home can be important as well. Recently, we conducted a deep web scan on a person who was suspected of selling drugs from her home. We searched for a post that she may have forgotten about online that showed her with the drugs. While we did not uncover anything like that, because she had deleted it all, we did uncover something else.

She was showcasing herself in a very specific Reddit group that served as a an advertisement of sorts linking to an online porn site. In this case, she did not show her face on any of the posts. She did however, take all the photos in her bedroom. We were able to link her bedroom from her public Facebook posts to the bedroom from her Reddit posts. Since this was a child custody case, this was an important find.

Reverse Image and Exif Information

Where possible, reverse image searching and checking exif data can help provide additional information when investigating uploaded images. We explained in more detail what Exif data is in a recent post titled, “Where Was This Social Media Photo Taken?”

Reverse image can be done with a Google Image search or Bing Image search. Some paid versions are Tin Eye and Social Catfish.

The Dark Side of OSINT

After the horrific attack on U.S. Congress this month, many law enforcement people turned to photos on social media and the deep web to locate people of interest and to investigate further.

An article, “The Dark Side of Open Source Intelligence” warns to be careful when using this method.

“While the use of open source intelligence has been praised by law enforcement and investigative journalists for its crime-solving efficiency, public data can be dangerous when used in haste on social media. The speed that makes OSINT so effective as an investigative tool can also make its use more susceptible to blunders and bias. From terrorist attacks to protests and mass shootings, open source intelligence has led to inaccurate vigilante-style justice and the doxxing of innocent individuals.“

Like everything else online, some is real and some is not. Cross referencing for data accuracy is critically important.

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The Role Culture Plays in Social Media Research

When we think of social media research, or social media listening, culture is not something that immediately comes to mind. It is only when we begin to dig deeper and identify what our search parameters are, that we begin to understand that cultural differences will play an important role.

Recently, a client of ours asked if we had a Spanish speaking analyst because this does indeed help when conducting a search in social media or the deep web. Especially if the person speaks mostly Spanish or a combination of English and Spanish.

Facebook in particular is used by the Hispanic community as a way to stay connected to family and friends. It is also used as a way so celebrate & express diverse aspects of life.

During a recent search, our Senior Spanish Analyst uncovered a post that would lead the average person to think this individual was talking about her son. She called our person of interest her “Mijo” or “Hijo“ translated literally to mean son. Upon further investigation, our analyst knew from other data resources, that this woman was not his mother. It did indicate; however, she was a fan of his. Someone who this woman held dear. The word son in Spanish can be used as a term of endearment or for someone you feel affection for. Understanding culture plays a vital role in all investigations and this is perfect example of that.

In this example we see the literal translation. This is the case where the woman was using the word son as a form of endearment.

The Role of the Hashtag [1]

The Behaviour & Information Technology, publishes research on usability and user experience, human created interaction, human-centered and user-centered design, and human aspects of the digital world. It published an article on “Culture and social media: the relationship between cultural values and hash-tagging styles.”

In the article the authors clearly identify cultural differences in hash-tagging styles. There are characteristics of hashtags and the impact of individual cultures. Their study revealed four dimensions of hashtags.

  • Inspirational
  • Structural
  • Entertaining
  • Artistic

We discussed in a recent blog post; how important hashtags can be when you are researching a person of interest on the web. Don’t Forget the Hashtags highlighted a recent scan we conducted on a person of interest. We were asked to revisit an old case to see if there was any new information available on the subject. A senior analyst located the subject’s Mother’s Facebook profile and noticed she tagged all her photos of her daughters with a specific hashtag. Using the hashtag as a search tool through different social media platforms, our analyst discovered a different profile in which the subject was active and posted often. We wouldn’t have been able to find this profile through our normal search methods because the subject used an alias we didn’t know about.

Twitter & Latino Culture

A good reference is Twitter. Twitter, for example, has a group dedicated to empowering Latino and Latin American employees. Their account is @twitterAlas.

This is a great example. For a non-Latino person, one would need to first understand the meaning of Villancico & then as you scroll through the comments, you may need an interrupter to understand what you are reading.

“Every Latinx person has a story, each different and unique. It defines who we are, and also connects us to one another. We’re the Latinx voices at Twitter!” Tell us who you are using #IamLatinx

Twitter post: September 16, 2019

How Latinos Use Social Media

When it comes to language choice on social media, Hispanics are using both English and Spanish. According to E-consultancy, 33 percent preferred English, while 27 percent opt for Spanish; 40 percent used the two equally. But preference varied with the situation.

Because the culture is very family focused, much is shared with regard to events, celebrations, holidays and achievements.

Don’t overlook blogs and forums. Forums are a platform for expressing opinions and asking questions.

This is why we feel it is important to have a Spanish speaking analyst on our team. She has assisted in many of these cases over the years.  

[1] Pavica Sheldon, Erna Herzfeldt & Philipp A. Rauschnabel (2020) Culture and social media: the relationship between cultural values and hashtagging styles, Behaviour & Information Technology, 39:7, 758-770, DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2019.1611923

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Where Was this Social Media Photo Taken?

We get this question a lot. Can you tell me where this social media photo was taken? The short answer is probably not. Here’s why~

An easy way to explain this is to think of the chain of custody of a photo. How was the photo taken originally? Chances are, it was taken using a person’s smartphone. It could, in some cases, have been taken using a digital camera.

Digital cameras can store a lot of relevant information about a photo. It can reveal where it was taken, how it was taken & when it was taken. Digital Forensic Investigators and Examiners know exactly how to extract this data from a photo & use it to fight child exploitation and sexual abuse.

However, what many people don’t know, is that the data behind the photo can be manipulated and changed.

Geotagging a Post or Photo

It was once very popular to post a photo in social media and tag the photo by letting everyone know where you are. Remember Four Square? Many people still do this. You may see a friend who posts a photo on a beach and they tag who they are with and where they are. Those are the easy ones!

However, many people have learned the hard way not to do this. Not only does a geotag let criminals know where you are, they also let them know you aren’t home. Most people are very well aware of their privacy settings on their mobile phone and in social media.

Therefore, it is near impossible to determine where a social media photo was taken, if the geotag is set to private or is off altogether.

So what is the data behind the image? It is called EXIF data.

EXIF Data

What is EXIF data? EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format. It is basically the metadata attached to every digital photo you take. It will include information such as the camera model and settings you used, the date and time you took the picture, and even details about exactly where you took the picture. Photographers can use this data to help organize their photos, perform searches, or re-create the exact manner in which a picture was taken.

** But – please note: Facebook and other social media platforms do not publicly share EXIF Data. They strip it when it is uploaded.

The FBI warns against sending photos through the internet or sharing on some social sites.

How to Get Around EXIF Data

According to the FBI’s site, here are some of their suggestions. So, keep in mind that many people do know how to do this and are doing it.

  • Turn off your phone or camera’s geo-location feature before ever taking the picture. Note: devices in airplane mode can still capture geo-location information.
  • Remove EXIF data before sharing images with people or posting them online, especially when images are captured in private homes or businesses. There are free apps that you can use to do this.
  • Use an EXIF viewer to verify that you were successful in stripping the personal data from the photos before sharing.
  • Before uploading images, use available privacy settings to limit the audience to only your close friends and family.
  • Minimize the use of apps that automatically upload and share captured images.
  • Even without EXIF data, the image may contain identifying information, such as associated persons or location histories. Screen content with the assumption that anyone can see, copy, or forward photos that you post online.

Image Tip

To find an image’s exif data, right-click the photo and select either “properties” or “information”. If the GPS coordinates appear, simply type them into Google Maps to find the location.

While this is a long shot, it is worth the effort should you find a photo online that was not shared in social media and appears to be recent.

In a recent blog post, we suggested trying Photo Investigator: The Photo Investigator is an iOS app to view all image metadata (all the possible data stored ABOUT and within each photo). You can also remove photo metadata with an in-app purchase.  The Investigator can also open the image’s GPS location in the maps app for directions; view images at full size and zoom them larger than in the Photos App.

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Three Facebook Group Search Tips

Back in 2018, Mark Zuckerberg was focused on getting more people to engage on their platform. Facebook Groups became a very important tool to use to do just that. Facebook rolled out an algorithm known as “Facebook Zero,” and simply put, this is the reason why you most likely see Group content dominating your newsfeeds. (Hootsuite)

Many people who are involved in Facebook Groups are highly engaged. Once a person joins a group, there seems to be a false sense of anonymity in a way. Meaning, that no one outside of this group can see my posts. If the group is public, that is simply not the case.

It is important to remember this when you are conducting research on your person of interest.

We covered this in a previous blog. The “Must Have” to the “Nice to Have” in Social Research for OSINT featured a case study. From all appearances the POI seemed to be pretty clean cut. Someone who you would never suspect would use drugs. However, once we located a group she was active in, it revealed a different side to her.

When conducting scans, we have found some seemingly “hidden” posts in groups that were very helpful to our client’s case.

Hidden VS. Private Groups

According to Hootsuite:

Private and visible Facebook groups can be found through search, and it requires approved membership in order to see anything beyond a group description, members, and group history.

Private groups that are hidden can only be found by current members and those who have been invited to the group already (even if they aren’t members yet). Only members are able to view the group content beyond that waiting-room-styled display above.

Most business groups are most effective when set to private and visible. People can find you and you have full control of who gets to see and view group content, giving you the best of both worlds for a balance of quantity and quality while still being findable.

Hidden groups are most effective for internal team use or if you want to set up a highly-exclusive group that’s invite-only and don’t want the backlash of angry people who aren’t accepted.

Tips to Search Facebook Groups

  • Need a quick and easy way to search for groups? Start with Facebook’s Browse Groups page which is designed to help you locate a group that fits your interests.
  • Once in the Browse Group area, you can filter the search down a bit (see below).
  • If you have an idea that your POI is active in a particular group that is public, you can easily use the magnifying icon right on the page to search the group for names, keywords, dates, etc..

People who post in groups, seem to be more vocal, more honest and sometimes reveal much more than they are even aware of. It may be because they view it as being more “private” and not publicly available on their own profile page or timeline.

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3 Ways to Find Someone’s Email Address

When conducting online research, a person’s email address can be vital. When you consider that most social media platforms and online forums require an email address to sign up, you could be missing important information by not knowing it.

When conducting a basic background search there are times you don’t even pull up one email address on a subject. There are ways to find someone’s email address online.

Tools to Try

Where does the subject work? Knowing the name of the company (as long as they have a website?, can be step one. Next, use an email look up tool.

  1. Hunter..io: They have a free search tool on their website. In the example below, I used it to find email addresses for our website, www.e-chatter.net. Two email addresses were found. The great part of this is that even though they don’t provide the entire email address, you can see the format in which the company uses for their employees. If you were searching for me, you would know that my name is Kathy Doering. Easy to figure out that we use first name initial and last name as our format.
Email addresses

2. Rocket Reach: Search by name + Company, or Linkedin URL. You can also search by locations, title, industry, revenue, SIC, and + 15 other attributes & filters. You will have to sign up for a free account with this site however.

When searching for Kathy Doering, Rocket Reach found 3 correct email addresses. They also found several low ranking results that were not connected to me. They did have false positives like any other search tool.

Email address look up

3. Search using Duck Duck Go: Using an alternative search engine like DuckDuckGo, is a little known trick. Use “@domainname.com” in the search bar. Also try “@domainname.com” contact. This is not something that will work in Google or Bing. You can include the name of your prospect in the search if you’re looking to contact someone in particular, or just keep it generic.

In case you already have an email address and want to check to see if it is legitimate, refer to our blog post from May 2020, “Who is Tied to This Email Address?”

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The “Must Have” to the “Nice to Have” in Social Research for OSINT

In the world of online research, social research, OSINT, etc., information falls into two main social research categories. In one group you have the “Must Have” and the other is the “Nice to Have”. Let me explain.

Let’s take a look at this from the viewpoint of information collected on a person of interest.

Must Have: Facebook

Facebook intelligence is still in the “Must Have” category. In part this is due to the fact that there is still so much to discover there, if you know how and where to dig. That is the challenge!

  1. Groups: Sometimes people will showcase their groups and sometimes this information is kept private. If it is kept private, there are search techniques that can be used, but it is not easy. Sometimes this information is readily available on a person’s profile page. When it is, and the group is public, I would suggest taking some time to do a manual search.
Facebook Groups

What Can You Find?

When people post in Groups, I really think that most have a mindset that it is undiscoverable information. Meaning, it is safe within the constraints of the group. That may give a false sense of freedom to speak their mind or to post something that they wouldn’t want the majority of their friends to know. When viewing a person’s page, public posts may give an impression of being squeaky clean but posts in a group setting can reveal the opposite.

Recently, we conducted a scan on a person who from their two facebook profiles, looked to be pretty clean cut. After digging further, we came up with a series of posts that showed a very different side to the individual.

Facebook Post
Post of a person of interest in a Group

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, “wake and bake” it can be described as getting up in the morning and partaking of the drug of choice, without leaving the comforts of one’s bed. (urban dictionary).

Enough to toss that squeaky clean image right out the door!

Twitter:

If you are having trouble finding information online, one suggestion is to turn to Twitter. Is the person currently employed? By whom? What about past jobs? It may be worth it to scan the company’s Twitter pages because many mid to large size companies will post events, fundraisers, blogs, videos, etc. which have employees present.

We recently found several photos of an individual from their company’s Twitter page.

Nice to Have

There is quite a lot of information that can be filed under the “Nice to Have” social research category. When conducting a deep web scan for example, we may find out that the person had some past problems with the law. From simple traffic violations to bankruptcies and everything in the middle. This may date back 10 or more years.

While it may not be important to the case, it is something that is part of the person’s past. Voter registration, financial contributions to a particular political party, volunteer work, newspaper articles, digital records of all kinds, and so on. All of this additional information can help to give you a good picture of the character of the person.

UCC filing
Person had a possible DEA Controlled Substance License that expired in 2015

A piece of information like the one above can be useful in many ways. Perhaps you know the person to be a Veterinarian or he was one in the past. This piece of information can serve as another data point that confirms his profession. It may list an address or name of a business that you didn’t have before.

It can help you to eliminate false positives in your research as well. Without the help or assistance of multiple software platforms, you can easily get two people confused who share the same name.

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Don’t forget Hashtags!

Have you used hashtags in your online investigations? What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word hashtag or see the symbol (#)? Do you think of Twitter? Or maybe Instagram, LinkedIn, or even Facebook? Social media users notice hashtags within posts. Some users follow hashtags. Some create them for political purposes. Others use them to track an event or even to make a point. Millions of hashtags are used in Twitter alone each day.

What Makes Up a Hashtag?

A hashtag is simply a keyword phrase, spelled out without spaces, with a pound sign (#) in front of it. Wikipedia calls it a type of metadata tag used on social networks. Looking for the sale of a certain drug in social media? Search the hashtag. Be sure to gather the street names the drug uses, so you get a full picture.

How else can this be used in your investigations? If you are working a high profile criminal case you will want to include this in your research. I would recommend starting in Twitter. If you find a fair amount of information there, I recommend using Tweet Deck and build yourself a dashboard. This will allow you to keep track of any developments using relative hashtags in real time.

Once you have located some good hashtags related to your case, cross reference them in other platforms. Not only will it potentially produce some good information (who, what, where and why), it may also allow you to search photos attached to the post for other possible clues.

Case Study: Hashtag Led to Username

A recent scan we conducted on a person of interest came up empty. Using multiple software platforms as well as good old-fashioned hunting, led to nothing. While searching, we found an important hashtag. By researching the hashtag in each social media platform, we located our person of interest. The username was such, that is just didn’t get picked up by any software platform. It was a very unique variance of this individual’s real name. From there we found a very public profile of the subject.

It is just another example of using hashtags in online research.

Hashtags to Try for Investigations

Take a look at some interesting hashtags next time you are in Twitter. One of the best is #breakingnews. This hashtag can quickly bring you up to speed on news breaking in the moment.

There are so many more, as the photo below showcases.

Photo: https://ritetag.com/
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Selling Drugs in Social Media

With all of the troubling events in our world today, social media seems to be more focused on the Election, COVID-19, Protests and Riots. Not much attention is given these days to selling drugs in social media. However, it is still happening and many police departments are having a hard time keeping up.

Salt Lake City news outlet, (KUTV) actually reported that if your child is on Snapchat, there’s a good chance they are seeing ads from drug dealers. Several 8th grader’s say they see the ads almost daily.

“Like yesterday, this person added me and they were selling Xanax,” said the eighth-grader.

Drug dealers are called “plugs” on social media, sometimes using a plug emoji to describe them.

Some plugs “quick add” people on Snapchat, which categorizes users by zip code.

(reported by KUTV Salt Lake City)

The Dealers Don’t Hide

Just a week ago, we performed a search on a suspect for a client. While combing through the suspect’s social media posts, it became quite obvious she was dealing. She made no secret of it and actually announced she was ready to make a run, and asked if anyone needed anything. Of course, her Facebook page didn’t reveal her real name. She used an alias but we were able to tie it to her name due to many public photos she included of herself. It is not always as secretive as one might think.

Instagram’s Selling of Drugs

A quick search for “#Zannies (a Xanax slang) provided over 4,000 results. They don’t hide it either. The photo below is just one example of what is out there.

Drugs and social media just seem to go hand in hand. In a post we wrote over a year ago, titled, “Buying Drugs on Instagram: It’s easier than you think”, we outlined why this is so easy to get away with.

The problem is Instagram’s algorithms can’t distinguish the context the hashtags are used in. And if a user then follows a dealer using the hashtags, Instagram’s algorithms then suggest that user follow more drug dealers. In the course of one day over 50 Instagram dealer accounts were found simply be searching for different hashtags like #weed4sale.

Most dealer profiles have a bunch or “product” photos displaying their inventory and their contact information is in the bio or comments section. While some bravely post their mobile number, most use a messaging app called Kik and others. No phone numbers or personal info is exchanged here, only user to user messaging.


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Riots & Reddit Have Something In Common

Riots and Reddit are probably not something you would think have anything in common. However, because of the way Reddit is organized, it has been a resource for investigative journalism. It is heavily used for the monitoring of riots across the US.

Reddit

Let’s start with the basis. What is Reddit, you may ask? Reddit is a large group of forums that discuss all kinds of topics of interest. The site explains itself as the “front page of the internet,” and that’s not an empty boast. Reddit is the sixth most popular site in the United States, according to Alexa, and the 18th worldwide. 

Within Reddit are Subreddits. Subreddits are pretty much what they sound like, subgroups that are more specific in nature topic wise. Some of the subreddits are public, while others are private. They’re denoted by /r/, followed by the subreddit’s name, e.g., /r/gaming. The site has many “web sleuths” who use the power or crowdsourcing to reveal video footage of events all across the world.

Portland Subreddit Group

Portland, Oregon has a subreddit page that has 170,000 members and offers live streaming of events. r/Portland is the name of the subreddit. It contains lively conversation, Twitter resources that journalists are using to post about what is happening each night in their city and much more. It is one example of how a subreddit can be used within Reddit for riot monitoring.

Local Resident Uses Subreddit to Assist Police in Hit and Run

Here is a great example on the worth of understanding how Reddit works.  One user posted an image of a piece of broken taillight, asking if anyone could identify the type of vehicle it came from. After 400 comments and some back and forth, it was identified correctly by make and model. The user was able to go to his local police station, place a report of a hit and run and provide the officer with the information. This helped aid the officer in finding the owner of the vehicle based on the proof.

Reddit has grown its user base by 30% year-over-year, according to new data released by the company Wednesday. The self-proclaimed front page of the internet now reaches 430 million monthly active users, who collectively have created 199 million posts and 1.7 billion comments.Dec 4, 2019

source: Varitey.com

Interestingly enough, Reddit is an excellent resource for the Private Investigator or OSINT (open source intelligence) professional. In fact, I believe it is just as important as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. So, the next time you are ready to do your own online investigation, don’t forget to check Reddit!

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A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English language adage meaning that complex and sometimes multiple ideas can be conveyed by a single still image, which conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a mere verbal description. (Wikipedia)

I couldn’t help but think about how pictures in social media are worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to investigations. We wrote a blog back in February, 2020, about how important photos are in Instagram for an investigation. However, since COVID-19 hit, with people working form home more than ever before, the opportunities to capture an important photo have increased significantly. Look for the details!

This week, Joe Biden announced his running mate and released a photo of himself on Zoom with Kamala Harris. Did you happen to catch it? It is a great example of the importance of paying attention to what is in the background of a photo.

Photo distributed by Biden Campaign

What Biden’s Photo Reveals

The media mocked him for several things that were picked up in the photo. It appears that he may have had a script or notes of some kind. There was a third person on the call by way of the cell phone. A cartoon was on his desk in the background and that drew attention as well. According to the Business Insider, The comic is a simple two-frame piece from Dik Browne’s “Hägar the Horrible,” a 1970s-era comic strip of a charming viking from the Middle Ages, according to comics subscription website Comics Kingdom. “Hägar the Horrible” has appeared in numerous advertisements and pop-culture references, in addition to nearly 2,000 newspapers.

In Biden’s comic, Hägar appears stranded in the sea as his ship burns in the background during fierce storm. The viking bellows out to the sky, “Why me?!,” to which the clouds responds with, “Why not?”

Biden said he kept the cartoon on his desk for decades and that it humbled him in times of need, according to PBS.

Geofencing Photos

Let’s take our photo investigation one step further. Imagine creating a virtual fence around an area of the world using software. Once set up, this software can then run for a predetermined amount of time. This can be used for monitoring of infrastructure, crisis management, or executive protection. Once it is captured, it remains available within the platform, even if the user takes it down.

Pictures like this really are worth a thousand words! They bring huge value to any investigation.

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Reputation Management: Hire an Investigator

When you think of reputation management, what industry comes to mind? Perhaps you would think of a PR or Communication company. We have all seen commercials on TV around companies that can help you improve your image. They promise to get rid of those bad reviews, gather up good ones, and make you look like you are the best thing out there. But are they missing something? I believe they are. Here’s why.

Chief Reputation Officer

What many companies don’t think about is that reputation management is something that needs to happen proactively, not reactively. A recent Forbes article titled “Five Reasons Your Company Needs A Chief Reputation Officer” explained it best.

“Most companies, including your competitors, are usually only thinking deeply about reputation management after a crisis has hit. They react and try desperately to repair the damage. This is a huge missed opportunity because the damage done was often completely avoidable. Just like no sports team wins a game playing only defense, your company needs to play strong defense and come out with a strong offense.”

Forbes

Where the Private Investigator Comes In

When I speak to Private Investigators, I am amazed that many have not thought about this area as a vital way to grow their business. In my opinion, they should be considered to be part of any good reputation management program or team. In our digital world, they will be able to determine exactly what needs to be monitored and how. After all, they do this type of investigating all the time.

Family law, infidelity cases and divorce depositions have been mainstream avenues for revenue for decades. Some of the PI’s love them, and some avoid them like the plaque. Those that avoid them do so because of the amount of work vs. the amount of compensation.

Promote your business as a firm that covers Corporate Reputation Management services. By doing so, you are in some ways, investigating for a company in some of the same ways you would be investigating for a cheating spouse. Only better, because the work is proactive VS. reactive. If you catch an issue that a corporation has online before it goes viral, you have saved the day.

Back in June, we wrote about Employee fraud and COVID19. In that post, we cited a Fortune 500 company’s loss of over $100,000.00 because of a plant shut down due to a dishonest employee. It happens more than we know.

Proactive Steps to Take

As a service offering, it is smart to offer a corporate client a deep web scan on their business. What does their online profile reveal? Some things to consider:

  1. Reviews are obvious, but many people think of them as Yelp, Google, and Trip Advisor. They are the biggies, but there is much more out there.
online reviews

2. Location based Monitoring: Does the company have more than one location globally? By creating a virtual fence around physical locations, an added security level is created for any violent social media mentions in the area. Additionally, automatically pull in any negative keywords for reputation management.

3. Employee Revenge. As more and more employees are laid off because of our current pandemic situation, some are understanding and some are not. It is human nature. Just today, I read a post in LinkedIn about a disgruntled employee telling everyone how she was let go from a major company. She went on to say that she mistakenly placed all of “who she was” around this position for the past 8 years and how this was a major life mistake. Her post gained a lot of views and encouraging comments, as it should. However, think about the company’s name there. Most people are left with the impression that the company did something wrong to her. We don’t know the full story, but it can still leave a lasting impression. Glassdoor is a website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. I will bet many don’t even know about that one site alone.

See the possibilities yet? Do you think in today’s online world, this could be something your firm is capable of doing? Email me if you would like to kick around the idea for your firm.

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Staying Ahead of the Social Media Curve

One area that OSINT & Social Media Researchers have in common with Social Media Marketers, is the challenge of staying ahead of the social media curve. It seems like almost weekly, social platforms change something. Most of the changes have to do with ease of use for the user or trying to adhere to changing policy regulations.

Facebook Classic VS New Facebook

Facebook recently changed the way your profile looks to a new version. They allow you the opportunity to toggle back and forth if you wish. The New Facebook update is also referred to as FB5. Facebook wants its platform to be centered around group and events more than in the past. It has a white background or you can choose a dark mode.

How does this affect our investigations? How is Facebook 2020 different from Facebook 2019? One area of interest is the emphasis on groups. We have discussed this in the past, but I think it deserves another look and mention.

Pocket-Link reports, “Facebook said the Groups Tab has been overhauled to make finding new groups that you might be interested in even easier. The feed for groups will also serve up recent activity within groups you’re a member of and may even replace the News Feed as the default feed. You’ll also see more connections among groups and the Facebook features you use the most, such as Marketplace or Facebook Watch.

OSINT Facebook Tips

So how does this relate to searching Facebook? While some things may change, others remain the same. Searching for the Profile ID is still the same. Once you receive that information, you are able to use some other methods and tools to make your searching easier. This can be found in “properties” by right clicking on a profile page.

The person’s page ID can never change. Even if they change other aspects of their profile. Once you have this, check to be sure it is correct. In your browser, type in facebook.com/ID#, as a way to verify you have the correct number.

Facebook Market Place

Once you have Market Place as part of your profile, you can easily go and search there for your subject’s name. If you find something, you can see under the person’s name, the date in which they joined Facebook. This may be helpful in identifying when they joined. If you recently joined Facebook, you will not be able to participate in Facebook Marketplace. Another social media curve ball.

In future blogs we will dive into business page profiles and some good information you can glean from it. When doing a corporate scan, this is an overlooked area of interest.

Check back frequently or subscribe to our blog!

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Employees’ Rights & Social Media

Employees and social media have been a sore spot for employers over the years. Back in the early years of social media, many employers were concerned about the amount of time employees spent in social media during an average work day. Their concerns centered around productivity, rather than what the employees were posting about.

Fast forward to 2020, and we have an entirely new set of problems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, essential worker’s were posting all over social media about their work conditions and at that time lack of PPE. Everyone knows that if you want to get your concerns noticed, turn to social media. It has become one of the most effective ways in which to communicate today on a large scale. If you are lucky, you will be picked up by the news media and your story will become national news.

Social Media and The Whistle Blower

Erin Marie Olszewski is a Nurse-turned-investigative journalist, who has spent the last few months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, on the inside in two radically different settings. Two hospitals. One private, the other public. One in Florida, the other in New York.

As you can imagine, if you know her story, she has been scrutinized in the media. Some applaud her courage while others try to rip apart her story. So we wondered, who is Erin Olszewski and what does her social media story look like?

We conducted a deep web scan on Erin. Surprisingly, some of her prior “life” was still up for anyone to discover. The deep web scan revealed, as they many times they do, a story of who Erin is and what she has been involved with leading up to her fame.

You can view her entire deep web scan here. (Erin Olszewski) Taking a look at an employee’s online, publicly available, social media content, provides a story board of the person’s life to date. It can reveal a lot about a person, good and bad. In Erin’s case, one is left with the impression that she can be a bit of a rebel rouser. It also shows however, that she is also someone who stands up for what she believes in and isn’t afraid of the consequences.

Can an Employee Get Fired?

This is the new million dollar question. The short answer is, it depends. We did a little research and found the following as a place to start.

  • Some states and localities may have different laws or additional laws.
  • Federal Laws: First Amendment: Free Speech. Doesn’t state that employees or individuals can say whatever they want wherever they want without consequence.
  • According to the National Labor Relations Act: An employee’s comments on social media are generally not protected if they are mere gripes not made in relation to group activity among employees.

NLRA Board Decisions

In the fall of 2012, the Board began to issue decisions in cases involving discipline for social media postings. Board decisions are significant because they establish precedent in novel cases such as these.

*In the first such decision, issued on September 28, 2012, the Board found that the firing of a BMW salesman for photos and comments posted to his Facebook page did not violate federal labor law. The question came down to whether the salesman was fired exclusively for posting photos of an embarrassing accident at an adjacent Land Rover dealership, which did not involve fellow employees, or for posting mocking comments and photos with co-workers about serving hot dogs at a luxury BMW car event. Both sets of photos were posted to Facebook on the same day; a week later, the salesman was fired. The Board agreed with the Administrative Law Judge that the salesman was fired solely for the photos he posted of a Land Rover incident, which was not concerted activity and so was not protected.

*National Labor Relations Act’s website.

In the end, companies of all sizes should have a written social media policy in place. As an added precaution, lawyers have advised social media to be added to any anti- harassment policy as well.

If you are lucky, you will go viral, get picked up by a news outlet, and your story will become national news. Just like what happened with Erin Marie Olszewski.

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The COVID-19 Fraud Storm Continues…

When we think of fraud due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we think of individual people committing fraud. After all we are only too familiar with workman’s comp insurance scams & most recently, employee fraud. We have discussed in a previous blog post how one Fortune 500 company had a loss of over $100,000.00 after an employee falsely said they were tested positive for COVID-19.

The story now continues with business fraud. Small businesses across the country have been nearly put out of business due COVID-19. Many have been able to stay afloat from government PPP funding. However, some are sadly starting to take matters into their own hands.

What the Experts Predict

Data analytics provider Verisk has alerted folks that COVID has created opportunities to commit medical billing fraud and abuse. In April, the company said its data reported a 14% increase in claims linked to suspicious billing practices.

Verisk said its Insurance Service Office MedSentry team has identified several COVID-19 medical billing schemes. Among them:

  • Unlisted lab tests. There was no specific ICD-10 code for COVID-19 until April 1. Prior to then any COVID-19 tests were likely coded as “unlisted laboratory tests.” Claims for a patient who has received both an unlisted laboratory test and a COVID-19 test may be cause for scrutiny.
  • Hands-on therapy charges. Many providers eliminated in-office visits and began to offer telehealth sessions. Verisk said bills for hands-on therapies such as chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists should be examined.
  • Unnecessary durable medical equipment. Insurers should be wary of misleading claims for gloves, face masks, thermometers, and similar items, especially for patients who have not been tested for COVID-19 or have tested negative, Verisk said.

Social Media Monitoring

Work is being done to create a software that allows the user to find unapparent connections between all people in a claim to uncover potential scams. While it has a way to go in development, if created, it would be an excellent resource to help investigators identify potential scams and link the culprits.

Google Search – Trending

Google searches can be very revealing and a good indicator of what people are thinking of doing. The question, “How to Burn a Car” has increased 125% since January of this year.

setting car on fire

Not surprising, Google is showing some strong trending in Employment Fraud. The graph below shows Google trends over the last 90 days.

We will continue to report our findings during the pandemic.

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Employee Ethics & Fraud During COVID-19

Back in April we wrote about fraud predictions during the COVID 19 pandemic. Back then most of what was out there was PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) fraud. We saw a lot of fakes and it even began to show up in COVID testing. Much of this was controlled by the FDA who provided consumers with updated information on their website on a regular basis.

Once the government released stimulus checks, the scams began. Scammers were contacting people through email, telling them that their check, as part of the stimulus package responding to COVID-19, is already waiting for them and that all they need to do is to provide personal information. This included bank account numbers and Social Security Numbers, which are the key pieces of information needed to perpetrate identity theft.

 Bruce Dorris, J.D, CFE, CPA, President and CEO of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, explains that in the current conditions, we can expect to see a number of long-lasting implications. One important one being an explosion of fraud in the coming years — and organizations need to brace themselves.

Corporate Employee Misconduct

Some of our corporate associates have expressed concern with what lies ahead as they navigate the uncertain waters of the Pandemic. One company in particular needed to shut down an entire plant because an employee tested positive for COVID. The employee presented the company with a falsified COVID 19 medical claim. He went as far to provide an excuse letter from a medical facility appearing to corroborate the test results. In concern for its employees and customers, the company closed its facility for cleaning and paid its employees during the shutdown. This caused a loss in excess of $100,000 to the corporation and the unnecessary quarantine of several of the defendant’s coworkers. He is now released on $15,000.00 bail awaiting trial.

FBI Recommendations

The FBI has recommended that companies be particularly alert during the pandemic about possible fraudulent work excuse letters, as they are finding more people attempting to exploit the situation for personal or financial gain.  Submission of a medical claim proven to be false could lead to criminal penalties, including fines or imprisonment by U.S. federal and other authorities.

What This Will Mean for the Private Investigator

Investigation around employee misconduct is an area that could prove to be quite lucrative for investigators. ABC News in Phoenix, AZ did a story on how local investigators are getting calls from corporations to check up on employees who should be working from home. This is not an isolated incident.

I believe we will see more and more fraud cases such as this over the next year if not longer.

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How to Catch a Cheater: The Web & Infidelity

We see our fair share of infidelity cases in which a Private Investigator wants to conduct a deep web scan on the person accused of cheating. This is always a mixed bag for us because there isn’t any software out there than can pull any or all data from dating sites. Most dating sites are password protected sites and require the user to have an account in order to search. And sometimes it is even hard to search when you have set up a fake account.

If you are willing to take the time to set up fake accounts, it may be worth it in the long run. This is especially true if you take on cases like this. You may even find it helpful in other online investigations too. Here is how.

Dating Sites

Match.com

  1. Must have an account to search.
  2. Create a fake account to get started.
  3. Change your settings so you can be invisible and therefore not be able to be “searched”.

From there you can search. This is a great place to start any OSINT investigation because if a person is on a dating site, chances are they will be much more open there. You may be able to gather quite a bit of information that will help you locate your target on other sites, such as social media.

There are a lot more photos. Most people on a dating site want people to see them and therefore you will have more to go on.

Ashely Madison

Ashely Madison was hacked in 2015. Back then, hackers calling themselves the “Impact Team” stole 32 million records from users of the world’s leading extramarital affair site. As datasets go, this is one that’s tailor-made for extortion. Many people claimed to have the data dump, most proved to be untrue. I would bet that it made its way to the Dark Web however where information could be obtained for a fee and used in extortion cases. This one may be worth creating a fake account in. If you are not aware, it is designed for people who are married, but are looking to have an affair.

Meetup.com

This site is not exclusively used for dating. There are many different types of groups based on a particular interest. It may be a good one to dive into if you know some personal information on your target. For example, is your target a musician? There may be a group for that locally. It may seem like a long shot, but if you have the time, it could be worth the effort.

What About the Deep Web?

Diving into the deep web may help us to find a breadcrumb that could lead us to information that can help in surveillance. It may be a trend that is picked up relative to being part of the same forum, group or professional network. In cases like an infidelity case, the more data we have the better. One common thread, in discovering a cheating spouse, is the use of multiple email addresses. Try searching using all the email addresses because one of them just may be tied to a profile identifying the target. Almost any group or site online requires you to give an email address.

As you can see it is not always easy. While it may seem impossible, if you are willing to devote time to it, you may find what you are looking for.

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Who is Tied to This Email Address?

We have had a few requests over the years asking if there is a way to search an email address to see who it is tied to. There are actually numerous ways in which to do this on several different sites. Many of them require payment of some kind. You can try basic searches in Google, Bing and Yahoo first, however if you come up empty there, where do you go?

Interestingly enough, data breaches over the years have become an open source researchers’ best friend. In part this is due to the fact that when there is a large-scale data breach, it is often obligatory for the business to provide a site in which a user can check to see if they are part of the breach.

When searching for an email owner, we may want to know if the email is valid. Does it even exist or is it a made up, dummy email? By using some of the resources in this post, you can at least get confirmation that the email is valid. For example, if you discover the email has been part of a data breach, chances are it is a real email address. We can go one step further to say, with a degree of confidence, that it is most likely tied to other discoverable items in the deep web.

Not all data breach sites allow the user to look up another person’s email address. Most want to verify you are indeed the owner of the email address and genuinely want to know if your email has been compromised. There are a few that are not as strict. Two example sites that offer a quick and easy scan are:

Have I been Pnwed?

A quick search here will tell you if the email address has been part of a data breach or not. While it isn’t going to give you any details, it will give you a number of times it has been included in a breach of some kind.

Have I Been Pwned

You can see that a quick scan of this email address indicates it has been a part of 5 breached sites but doesn’t tell you which ones. It does let you know that it is most likely a “real” email address.

Avast Email Check

Another site you can try is Avast. This is one of the newest sites that provides users the opportunities to scan for a “friend’s email address”.

Avast Warning

Marianne’s email was linked to MySpace, which leads me to think that she had an account at some point tied to this email address. I would search on the site to see if anything still exists in MySpace.

You may also want to try variations of the email address just in case you find closely configured email addresses. Use Google, Bing to search them to see what you come up with.

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Small Business Acquisitions as a Growth Strategy

I remember when 9-11 happened and the tremendous shock that resonated throughout our country. The pain felt for all the lives lost. The fear that an enemy could attack us the way they did. The crash of our economy and the uncertainty of what was ahead. President Bush told America that the stock market was, “on sale” , and it was a great time to invest. At the time, I remember questioning that. However, I now understand it and embrace it.

Fast forward to today and I am feeling a lot of the same feelings. Economically, we must embrace a new normal. Small business owners are now adapting to these changes. I have been watching it across multiple industries and many have surprised me by their creativity. Learning to look at things differently and adapting to change can be very beneficial to the small business owner.

I can’t help but wonder if this is a good time to consider small business buyouts. Would this be a beneficial growth strategy? We hear about this all the time with large corporations, but is it smart at the small business level?

Acquisition of a Small Business

According to McKinsey, “acquisitions as a growth strategy can be used to meet many business goals. A business owner may want to acquire a competitor and consolidate their market. It may also make sense to acquire a new product, which you can then scale. It may be faster and cheaper to acquire a competitor that has better technology, so you don’t have to build the tech yourself. Lastly, you may identify a business that you believe you could grow substantially and turn into a winner. All of these strategies should be on the radar for small business owners who want to grow their companies.”

Identifying a business you believe could grow right now, after we are through this COVID-19 pandemic, may be a smart move for your company.

Do you have a company in mind? Start with a solid plan and investigate. Investigative due diligence refers to the research and analysis of an individual or organization done in preparation for a business transaction. A proper due diligence check list covers corporate filings, finance, operations, management and employee health, just to name a few. This occurs after preliminary discussions have taken place between the parties involved.

Online Background Check

But, sometimes things are not always as they appear to be. Conducting a thorough online background check on a business and key owners/executives may either give you the confidence to move ahead or justify a pause to collect more information.

More and more documents are stored online and are open sourced; you only need to know and understand where to look.

I will be writing more on this subject in the weeks to come because I think it is valuable information right now. We are seeing a rise in this type of online research and if you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to reach out.

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Linkedin Loop Holes: How to Use Them in Your Search

Could Linkedin be an OSINT analyst’s secret weapon? Whenever we speak to Private Investigators about OSINT techniques, we always point out that each social media platform can be used like a search engine. Trial and error is the course of action many of us experience when searching for a business or person in social platforms and Linkedin is not an exception. This can be time consuming but if you hit it right, it can reveal a lot about a business or person. Linkedin indexes pages within the platform to Google.

Facts About Linkedin

  • As of 2017 Linkedin got rid of their advanced search option.
  • There is a difference of what you will uncover if you have a free version vs. paid subscription.
  • You can use Boolean Search techniques.

When I conduct manual searches, I like to use whatever string of words I can to highlight, right click and search Google. The same holds trues when you are in LinkedIn. In other words, don’t be limited to the name of an individual or their profession. Another rule of thumb here is to think outside the box. Not everyone puts their title in their description field. In fact, many people will place all kinds of info there, depending on where they are in their career.

Linkedin profile example

This result was found by searching “looking for a new opportunity” in Linkedin. It is a good example of what I am referring to.

Recently, a team member was working on a potential fraud case for a client. The individual was a Pharmacist. He did not list his name as “John Doe”, rather he used his middle name. He listed himself as “Ryan J. Doe” and instead of using “Pharmacist”, he used Pharm. That was a tough one, but when someone doesn’t want to be easily found, they will use all kind of name combinations. When I search for a white collar professional, and I can’t find a Linkedin profile, I figure something is off. That is when further digging can really pay off.

Don’t Forget About Image Search Using Linkedin

Many times the photo that a person uses for their Linkedin profile. they use in other spots on the web as well. Take advantage of that by doing a reverse image search on your POI.

The above example shows my photo being linked to an article in Customerthink.com , where I commented on the article written by someone else. This is also an example of how you can find information in the deep web. A recent blog post, “The Devil is in the Details” explains more about deep web searches.

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Online Corporate Protection and Executive Security

Proactive approach to corporate security online.

One thing we know for sure; cyber criminals attack corporate executives. The bigger the company, the higher the stakes. Mid-size companies may also be a target because those executives are time poor & money rich. It is exactly that space that I believe Investigators have their biggest opportunity to grow their business by offering this protection. You may have even had opportunity to conduct this research for a client or two in your own experience. But doing an OSINT sweep once a year may not be enough. I would suggest an ongoing program and will walk you through how to pitch this to your business clients.

Understanding the Treat

Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) ‘s recent report, “23rd Annual Global CEO Survey,” reveals that around 80% of CEOs have changed their online behavior due to potential risks. Corporate Espionage is alive and well and needs to be taken seriously as more and more employees overshare in social media. This allows for competitors to gain excellent insight into a vast array of information that would not otherwise be easily obtained. Banning employees from using social media at work has proven to be a nightmare and monitoring their social media internally has major privacy concerns. However, when approached correctly this type of monitoring is very valuable to any business regardless of their size.

The Challenge of Balance

What makes this tricky, is that the company still has the responsibility to keep their employees safe, protect assets and data, mitigate risk for threats of fraud and monitoring reputation. High level executives travel to areas of the world that do not share the same security measures we do in the United States. All of this coupled with cyber security risks and you have a recipe for a potential disaster. In the photo below through the software we use, a Global Awareness search allows us to see natural disasters (i.e. earthquakes, fires, hurricanes,) as well as public security incidents’ in real time. A company’s HR team may wish to set a global awareness query around the area of travel and within the appropriate time frame. Real time alerts are set in place for immediate notification of potential risk.

In a nutshell, there are proactive steps that can be put in motion to ensure the safety of everyone.

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COVID-19 Fraud: South Miami

Emerging scams due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The scams have begun around COVID-19 and it appears to be just starting. When people are hit with diversity, sadly we begin to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. In fact, Americans have lost over 12 million dollars to Coronavirus scams already. The concentration in South Miami has been because of numerous complaints. This alerted the US Attorney’s Office to launch a task force in connection with local authorities to combat this growing problem.

Education is the best defense and law enforcement is doing just that with a series of community alerts, media reports and social media posts. Alerting the public to the risks early in an attempt to counteract the schemes.

In one of our latest blog posts, Crime Never Sleeps COVID-19 Online Schemes & Insurance Fraud, we alerted our Private Investigators to what we were seeing as emerging trends in the insurance industry. Below, is a set of scams targeting individuals.

Here are some examples of COVID-19 scams, reported by Sabrina Lolo, of West Palm Beach News:

  • Unlawful Hoarding and Price-Gouging: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has designated certain health and medical resources necessary to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as “scarce,” including respirator masks, ventilators, and other medical protective equipment. These designated materials are subject to the hoarding prevention measures that trigger both criminal and civil remedies.
  • Testing Scams: Scammers are selling fake at-home test kits or going door-to-door performing fake tests for money.
  • Treatment Scams: Scammers are offering to sell fake cures, vaccines, and advice on unproven treatments for COVID-19.
  • Supply Scams: Scammers are creating fake shops, websites, social media accounts, and email addresses claiming to sell medical supplies currently in high demand, such as surgical masks. When consumers attempt to purchase supplies through these channels, fraudsters pocket the money and never provide the promised supplies.
  • Provider Scams: Scammers are also contacting people by phone and email, pretending to be doctors and hospitals that have treated a friend or relative for COVID-19, and demanding payment for that treatment.
  • Charity Scams: Scammers are soliciting donations for individuals, groups, and areas affected by COVID-19.
  • Phishing Scams and Cyber Intrusions: Scammers posing as national and global health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are sending phishing emails designed to trick recipients into clicking on a link or opening an attachment that downloads malware that steals the user’s credentials, such as usernames, credit card numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information usually stored in internet browsers.
  • App Scams: Scammers are also creating and manipulating mobile apps designed to track the spread of COVID-19 to insert malware that will compromise users’ devices and personal information.
  • Investment Scams: Scammers are offering online promotions on various platforms, including social media, claiming that the products or services of publicly traded companies can prevent, detect, or cure COVID-19, and that the stock of these companies will dramatically increase in value as a result.
  • Stimulus Check Scams: Scammers are contacting people over email and are telling them that their check, as part of the stimulus package responding to COVID-19, is already waiting for them and that all they need to do is to provide personal information, such as bank account numbers and Social Security Numbers, which are the key pieces of information needed to perpetrate identity theft.
  • Other scams include fraudsters claiming to work for the government or banks/credit cards and offering assistance for student loan relief, foreclosure or eviction relief, unemployment assistance, debt relief, and direct financial assistance, like government checks.

Anyone who believes they were a target or victim of fraud, or knows about any hoarding or price-gouging of critical medical supplies, is asked to report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or disaster@leo.gov.

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Crime Never Sleeps- COVID-19 Online Schemes & Insurance Fraud

Sadly, in times of crisis, some people use it as an opportunity to make money. COVID-19 is not an exception to that rule, and the FBI is already seeing a rise of Coronavirus fraud schemes. The FBI is warning Americans to be especially careful during this pandemic hitting our country. Always check your sources when receiving an unusual email. Do not click any links that appear suspicious.

Insurance Fraud

As business owners and employees are starting to learn what is covered under insurance and what is not covered, panic is setting in. Couple the fact that many people are out of work for an infinite amount of time, desperation can set in. People begin to do things for money that they never would have under normal conditions. We found this to be true in the beginning of the Great Recession.

Insurance Fraud

According to to the FBI, “The total cost of insurance fraud (non-health insurance) is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year. That means Insurance Fraud costs the average U.S. family between $400 and $700 per year in the form of increased premiums.” This is something that affects all of us one way or another.

If past behaviors are an indicator, we know that we are most likely going to see a surge in insurance fraud. SIU Investigators are going to be overworked in the months ahead. A surge in slip and fall cases for example will occur. The claims are bound to pile up.

Online & Social Media Research

As a company who specializes in online research for fraud assessments, I can not emphasize enough how important it is to conduct your research as soon as possible. What is here today may be gone tomorrow . People will begin to clean up their social media posts.

social media Facebook

If you think that Google and Facebook are all you need to check, you could run the risk of losing your client or employer a lot of money. When steaks are as high as this, a deep web search will serve you best. That is because people love to share online. They may leave crumbs that lead you to the exact place you need to be.

In conclusion, it is an excellent time to get in front of your insurance clients to let them know you are there and ready to go if and when we start seeing fraud increase over the next months.

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If it Can Happen to Amazon, it Can Happen To You

Social Media: The Industry Disrupter

Social media continues to be a major business disrupter. For the last decade most companies and brands have been working like crazy to figure it all out. From social media marketing to social hiring reports. How does it all work?

Which platform should we use to market? What is the ROI? How can we keep track of our online reputation? The waters get murky when it comes to hiring employees and screening their social accounts. Yet, so many HR professionals continue to conduct unethical searches and find themselves in compromising situations. Should we screen employees social media prior to hiring? How is that different from the background checks were already conducting? 


Just last week it was reported that an Amazon employee was fired for reporting that her supervisor instructed her to “scour social media on applicants to determine race and gender. ” She did not feel this was the correct way to do this, and notified management. She was terminated. The ex-employee has since then filed a lawsuit against Amazon for wrongful termination among other things.

Many times we hear HR executives say that they do check social media on applicants and don’t give it too much thought as to the legality of it all. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), HR execs recruit candidates for specific jobs using social media, up from 56 percent in 2011 and 34 percent in 2008. Using this as a recruitment strategy is different than using it to determine employment, however.

The Right Way to Conduct Social Media Background Checks

This varies from state to state, however for the most part be aware of the following red flags that are allowed under FCRA compliance:

Racist, Sexist, or Discriminatory Behavior
Sexually Explicit Material
Threats or Acts of Violence
Potentially Illegal Activity

Developing a social media policy for your company is a great first step. This way everyone is on the same page when it comes to remaining fair to all applicants.

Never ask for passwords.

Include this as part of your background check policy and clearly state it for all applicants to see and agree to.

Use an outside agency.

Reputation management and workplace safety are just two of the three top reasons companies seek out social media background checks.

At eChatter we use software that is FCRA compliant. Results generated by our staff are in line with federal and state specific laws. However, we don’t stop there. Avoid a PR nightmare by monitoring social media once employees are hired, to protect employees from toxic behavior in the workplace. What starts at the office, sometimes spills into social media and vise versa.

Human Resource Social Media Hiring Scan

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OSINT Research: The Devil’s in the Details

For those unfamiliar with the term OSINT Research, it is explained this way by Wikipedia

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of information that is gathered from public, or open, sources.[2] OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and business intelligence functions and is of value to analysts who use non-sensitive intelligence in answering classified, unclassified, or proprietary intelligence requirements across the previous intelligence disciplines.

OSINT sources can be divided up into six different categories of information flow

Open Source Intelligence

OSINT Resources Reveal the Details From the Deep Web

Many times our clients want to better understand the difference between a social media scan and a deep web scan. Taking a close look at the image above explains a lot and kind of surprises most people in terms of the data on the web that is openly available.

eChatter Case Study Examples of Deep Web Details

  • Recently, we were trying to find out whether a POI (person of interest) was married. He had no Facebook clues other than he was in a relationship. After conducting a deep web scan we found a local newspaper article in which he was named along with “his wife”. The wife chose to keep her maiden name.
  • A deep scan was ordered by a client to determine what happened to a deceased person’s body. We found an association letter that was published online indicating the person was cremated and buried at sea.
  • A client needed to know if their POI had any business affiliations that wasn’t disclosed in a divorce settlement. After a deep scan was conducted, we located quite a few businesses tied to the POI.

Does it always work out this way? Not at all. Mainly because some people are much better at hiding this than others or because they were advised to delete everything online by advice of counsel. However, these are the kind of details OSINT research is all about. You will not find this in a Google search.

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A Private Investigator’s View of Social Media Intelligence

I am pleased to share with you our first guest blog post. It is written by Larry Forletta, owner of Forletta Investigative/ Security Consulting. As a former DEA agent, Larry Forletta has established many resources in the United States and abroad.
https://fcisllc.com/

Social media investigations have changed the investigative landscape for private investigators.The forensics have been learned through a series of trial and error, utilizing some of the most popular social media platforms in order to gather essential evidence under the laws of collection. Those who work in this department are sometimes referred to as social media
vendors. However, not all social media forensics are the same and they certainly don’t produce the same results every time.

The effective use of social media has aided many investigations already. One investigation that comes to mind is an attempt to extort money from an individual involved with prostitution. By investigating through social media, the individual’s full identity (including name and base of
operations in the U.S.) was able to be identified. This investigative information was then provided to state authorities who were further able to identify the prostitution extortion individual.

It’s quite amazing what people continue to share on social media platforms. Despite the fact that there can be real consequences for what gets posted online, even if it might seem like fun and games, people continue to post sometimes incriminating and hard evidence that can be used against them. Americans spend more time using social media platforms than any other
internet activity, such as email. Most online evidence is compiled manually by an investigator who might screenshot or archive as needed. If something was sent or posted, perhaps even published, then it can be found and used accordingly.

Even when posts are deleted, they never really go away. Emails can be trashed, and accounts can be removed, yet the data and imprint of what has been put online may be able to be resurfaced with a little help. After all, a private investigator is only as good as their resources.

Our primary social media associate is eChatter, an online global source for social media researchers. They are spearheaded by their president, Kathy Doering, and specialize in a multitude of services including deep web searches and dark web searches. They are professional, communicative, and will get the answers that you need.
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Every Picture Tells a Story

How to Use it in Your Next Investigation

More than 95 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day,(as of November 2019). People love to look at pictures in social media and they love to share them. Most Instagram photos are uploaded in the moment of experience, right from a mobile phone. This can be very telling when conducting an investigation around a missing person, a criminal, or even someone who you are trying to serve papers to. Paying attention to the details of the photo is especially helpful. Who are they with? What is in the background? Can you tell what the weather is like?

As an added feature, Instagram stories was launched in 2016 and allows users to upload photos and short videos that will disappear in 24 hours. Yes, like the social platform, SnapChat. Timing is everything and that is where continual monitoring of a site comes in handy.

Not only can Instagram be helpful in your online research, it is also a great place to promote your business. For now, let’s dig in deeper in this overlooked platform for the investigation world.

Starting with the name one chooses when creating a profile, users are encouraged to use any combination of numbers, capital letters, lowercase letters and underscores. Usernames cannot exceed 20 characters. So, as you can see knowing your POI’s full name may not be of help unless they use it publicly in their profile. A good rule of thumb is that most people reuse their usernames. Chances are if you know one, you will uncover other platforms with the same username in your search.

There are even username generators online that help new users create an username that “gets them noticed”. Spin xo is just one of many sites.

Spin XO

As you can see, finding a POI’s user name can be a challenge. Once you do some digging, and you find the profile, the following searching sites can be used to make digging in easier:

  1. https://picpanzee.com/
  2. https://www.piwox.com/
  3. https://www.searchmy.bio/

As with every other social media account, marketing dollars are a high priority. In order to get that revenue, the site must show ROI., which includes how may people engage. There are many tools to use for this purpose.

Don’t forget to check Instagram!

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Wait…Where Did That Social Media Post Go?

What happened to that social media post you saw yesterday during your recent online investigation? Are you kicking yourself that you did not capture that post when you saw it? It can happen and very often does. The old adage, what is here today, is gone tomorrow, is something that happens all of the time, especially in social media. It may suddenly be changed from “public” to “private” at any point. The user’s entire profile can be deleted at any time. Where will that leave you and your investigation?

Largent V. Reed

Back in 2011 this was not an issue as social media was just starting to grow. In a personal injury lawsuit, Largent v. Reed, the plaintiff claimed that a recent accident had left her with severe physical and mental pain. During the trial, defendants presented her post-accident photos posted to her Facebook profile. These photos revealed the plaintiff was clearly feeling well enough to engage in her daily activities and exercising at her gym on a regular basis.

Fast forward to 2020 and things have changed. People are more aware of what they post and use user names that are different than their real name. Let me give you a recent example. One of our clients requested a deep scan from us for a case that involved fraud. We conducted the scan and produced the report capturing the subject’s Facebook account. Scans include live URL’s as well as screen shots showcasing all publicly available data. Once given to the attorney, he had a question about one of the posts specifically. When attempting to click on the link within the profile post, he came to a dead end. We did capture a screenshot, which in most cases is sufficient for investigative purposes. However, time is critical when conducting this type of research. Looking a little more closely at one of the posts was no longer possible.

Web Preservation

Preserving digital data is something many attorneys are starting to take a serious look at and in some cases are requesting from their private investigators. Judges are getting stricter when it comes to allowing social media as evidence in court. Not all cases make it to court of course, but preserving social media may be that extra step that your clients may want you to take.

Social media posts can be altered quickly, often at the advice of opposing counsel. Be sure not to wait too long to capture the data you need and in some cases, be sure to preserve that data.

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There is a Rumor Going Around…

In any work environment there is bound to be a whole bunch of dynamics around the office. Too many type A’s in the office could be quite exhausting for example. It takes skill to navigate it all with the help of a good HR department. This is however, very understandable and common to most people.

But what happens when things turn ugly at work? What if someone has it in for a person or even a group of people? Workplace conflict is a very real issue and one that should not be taken lightly. With the mental health issues we currently have in our country, employees should be trained in what to look for and have a safe place in which they can voice their concerns. In fact, many work places are taking a proactive approach by conducting workshops on this topic to teach employees what is acceptable and what isn’t.

Workplace Policy

Developing a workplace policy like the one below is helpful and can be especially important should any legal issues come up.

Under federal law and Department of Labor (DOL) policy, harassment by DOL employees of DOL employees based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, or parental status is prohibited. The Department of Labor does not permit harassing conduct by anyone in the workplace, including contractors.

Taken from the DOL website

Posting it in the lunch room or in a public area would be a great first step. But it does take much more effort on the part of management and prevention is key. Years ago, when a company had a problem within their organization, it pretty much stayed there. Not true anymore, thanks to social media.

Social Media’s Role

What is social media’s role in all of this? Does an employer have the right to monitor employees social media? Can it be cause for dismissal? More and more the answer is yes because it can be a red flag alert that will stop a publicity nightmare down the road.

Where there is smoke there is fire. Social media can be a red flag to other things that may be happening within a department. This was true of a Seattle Officer who showed signs of of violent tendencies on and off social media.

The Seattle Officer lost his job over a collection of social media posts. The post became public by placing a blurb about it on the Office of Police Accountability’s website. The officer included some pretty rough comments about illegal immigration, with an emphasis on endorsing violence. The department issued this statement:

“The department’s ability to fulfill its public safety duties depends on communities believing that officers will treat them equally and with dignity, regardless of their immigration status,” Best concluded. “Your comments suggest that you will not do so. They could have substantial negative consequences to the relationship between members of the Department and those that we serve and showed exceeding poor judgment.”

Additionally, the officer was suspended for escalating another incident to the point where a fellow officer feared for their safety.

As an employee, would you feel more safe knowing your employer was being proactive? When does safety in the workplace trump privacy? Please share your thoughts…

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Cyber Crime: The Rise of Sextortion in Video Games & Chatrooms

Sexual predators will use any means available to lure innocent kids into doing what they want. The scary part is that they do their homework first. The FBI reported about a man recently, in his 40’s, who actually worked as a youth Pastor to learn how kids talked and interacted with each other. Next he created fake social media profiles to lure boys to take videos of themselves. He was caught and is now in jail.


Video games is another avenue with which predators attempt to communicate with kids and it is perhaps the most dangerous. The reason for this is because parents don’t always understand the nature of the video games their kids are playing. This puts them at a disadvantage and is one reason why the FBI started a school campaign on the dangers of talking to strangers online.

So, what resources are out there to help educate parents and educators help prevent this crime? One great resource we can recommend is Thorn.

Thorn was born in 2012 by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. When they learned about sex trafficking in Cambodia, they started to dig deeper. Its then that they realized it was happening in the US as well.

Today, Thorn is thriving with a lot of wonderful partners and continued education and promotion.


Facebook has adopted Thorn, and created The Stop Sextortion Hub as an additional resource for people. On this site, Facebook offers a great selection of information.


Meet the staff at Thorn and reach out to them if you are interested in getting involved.


Our success is measured by how many children we’ve helped save, how many cases we’ve contributed to solving and how much harm we’ve prevented. Through focused and persistent effort, we can stop online child sexual abuse.”

From: About us on www.thorn.com

If you are wondering who is most vulnerable, read “Online Predators: What Every Parent Should Know” . Many times parents think that kids are in their room, in their home, playing video games and they are safe. However, there are warning signs parents need to know.

Resources You Need to Know
Chatrooms Community by Talk With Stranger is like a social network of strangers. Discuss topics, follow people, chat with people, make friends & share everything for free! We have 1000s of online users waiting to chat from every corner of the world.


Discord is a proprietary freeware VoIP application and digital distribution platform designed for video gaming communities, that specializes in text, image, video and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers.

If you are reading this blog, please share with parents and people who can make a difference. Education is key to stopping these predators.

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How to Find Someone in Prison

Before you start your search for someone in prison it is important to know some important terms.

Prison – also known as a penitentiary or correctional facility, is a place in which individuals are physically confined and are deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Individuals held within prisons and corrections facilities have been either charged with a crime or convicted of a crime. Individuals who have been charged with a crime are incarcerated until they are brought to trial or released. Those who are officially charged with a crime will remain in a prison or jail facility until they completed the duration of their sentence.

Inmate – a person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient).

Corrections – refers to the supervision of persons arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses.

How Do You Find Someone in Prison?

1) Try using the website Vine. VINE is a website that lets victims of crime and other concerned citizens access information about offenders. The service is available via the website, a mobile app, and a toll-free number. Victims can register to receive alerts about inmate status changes via phone, email, and text.
To find an offender, click on the “Find an Offender” icon and select the appropriate state. From the next page, enter the incarcerated person’s last name and first name. Alternatively, you can enter their inmate ID number, if you have it. In addition, you can click on the “Advanced Search” link to add other search parameters such as Facility Name, Date of Birth and Age Range.

2) Another option is CheckPeople.com. This website makes it fast, easy, and effective to perform an advanced people search. You can track down old friends, relatives, or classmates. All you need is the person’s first and last name but you can narrow down the search if you know what state they are in. Search results will reveal detailed information including criminal records, civil records, marriage license(s), and more.

How to Find an Inmate in a Federal Prison

To find someone in a federal prison, use the Federal inmate locator. This search tool allows you to search a database of federal inmates who were incarcerated from 1982 to present. Once you find the individual, you can use the Federal prison facility locator to learn more about the specific facility where they are being held. This search provides the details on such things as the type of prison and the security (e.g. minimum security, maximum security, etc.).
You can lookup inmates two different ways:

1) First and last name (required) and middle name, age, race, sex (optional)

2) Inmate number from the: Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Register, D.C. Department of Corrections (DCDC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS)

How to Check an Inmate’s Background

If you need to learn more about someone who is incarcerated, a BeenVerified Background Check Report allows you to search billions of public records online in just a few seconds. You can search for criminal records, arrest records, bankruptcies and more. In addition, you can find people using address, phone number and email search. BeenVerified offers an easy and affordable way to run a background check.

Federal Prison Records 1982 – Present

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) maintains records of federal prisoners released after 1982. You can use the Inmate Locator to find out when a prisoner was, or is expected to be, released. To learn more about an inmate, submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BOP. Also include a completed Form DOJ-361 (PDF, Download Adobe Reader).
The BOP Library provides a wealth of resources on corrections, criminology, and related fields.
State and Local Prison Records
For state and local prison records, contact the state or local corrections department.
Prison and Prisoner Resources
Following are resources for prisons, correctional institutions, jails, and inmate searches.
• Amnesty International – Amnesty international is a global network of human rights activists who campaign to end abuses of human rights. Their website provides resources, news, and data on human rights abuses around the world.
• Corrections Connection Network – Provides news, data and vendor intelligence for the corrections community. Provides resources, tools and forums for corrections professionals. Also a great place to stay in touch with the latest news about what is going on within the system. Includes links to inmate locate queries for each state.
• PrisonMap.com – PrisonMap.com shows aerial photos of prisons in the United States.
• Prison Policy Initiative – Attempts to document the impact of mass incarceration on individuals and communities in an attempt to improve the criminal justice system. The organization produces cutting edge research to expose harm created by mass incarceration and then sponsors advocacy campaigns to create awareness about the issues.

About Us:
We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.
eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

We offer:
• Deep Web Scans
• Jury Vetting
• Jury Monitoring
• Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net
(866) 703-8238

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How to Manually Get to Deep Web Content

In a recent article , the deep web was clarified – what it is, what it’s not, and why it can be useful. The question that always comes up is, “How can we access it?”

In part, you are accessing it each time you do a Google search – you’re just not going back far enough through the search results. Outside of spending hours weeding through page 25 of a search result, how can deep web searches be more efficient?

1. Google may be a household name, but it’s not the only game in town. Most people rely on Google to be their online search companion. Of course Google is the major player – after all, it’s become more than a search engine – it’s a verb. Don’t forget about the other search engines, namely Bing and Yahoo. While they may be considered the red-headed stepchildren, they can still be helpful. Like software platforms, each of the major search engines has its own algorigthm, which in turn may produce different results. What Google things is unimportant may be significant to Yahoo or Bing, or vice versa. Search using a variety of major search engines to find the most content available.

2. YouTube isn’t just for music anymore. From music to how to videos to families sharing cute kid videos, YouTube has become almost as popular of a search engine as Google. Don’t forget to run searches in YouTube as well.

3. Don’t start at the beginning. When running a general search using Google, Bing, or Yahoo, start at page 3, maybe 4. Don’t start with the first page. Those are the surface web results that you can easily look at later. To get to the deeper content, you’ll need to start on a later page. You will start to find more irrelevant results on these later pages too – don’t let that deter you; within those false positives can be some great information to help in your research efforts.

4. Use more than a name. Don’t just search a person’s name or their name with a city and/or state – search using known user names the person created for social accounts, nicknames, phone numbers, addresses, the person’s name and a family member’s name, you get the idea. Set up searches that use more specific information and you may find more information this way.

5. Learn how to search using Boolean. While you’ve likely heard the term and you’re only knowledge of Boolean search is what most of us think of – using AND, OR, or quotes in your search – there is so much more to it. Setting up specific searches in a certain way can bring those deep web results to the surface. We recommend taking a look at the sites below as a guide to learning how to use Boolean searching to your benefit.

https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-advanced-search-operators/

https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/how-boolean-search-operators-make-searching-a-piece-of-cake

Knowing how to search efficiently can help you dive into the deep web and find what you might be looking for. It’s not a scary place, like the dark web, and shouldn’t be confused with that. It’s just a matter of having patience and knowing how to search to access this type of information.

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Students & Social Media

Not too long ago the highlight of our day was hearing “You’ve got mail!”

Those were simpler times when we didn’t have to worry so much about offending people with what we posted or someone sharing our status. But now, social media allows anyone, including students, to make any part of life much more public. Whether you like it or not.

Politicians, professional athletes, and celebrities are the most common groups to have their posts shared, retweeted, and broadcast across social media platforms for all to see. But lately, students have been making waves. From social justice campaigns, to controversial photos or videos, students’ social media posts can stir up some strong reactions.

So what exactly is acceptable when students decide to take their opinions online? Can students expect to have their “free speech” protected?

The First Amendment and Online Expression

In general, students have the right to freedom of expression unless it infringes on the rights of others, school safety, or interferes with the ability of a school to deliver its educational services and processes. Thus, off-campus online expression would be protected in the same way as traditional speech.

We must protect First Amendment rights of students while also recognizing that schools do have some ability, under very limited circumstances, to discipline students for off-campus speech.

But when “free speech” becomes threatening, that’s when educators need to speak up. Some instances of student social media use, including that which is off-campus, amount to misconduct that can be disciplined according to school policy.

Let an administrator know about student social media use that:

  • Breaches school policy.
  • Leads to or creates substantial disruption to the educational process.
  • Results in bullying toward students or staff.
  • Threatens school violence.

Here are some questions that may help students decipher what they should and should not do when using social media in regards to school policy.

 

Do I have the right to access social media while I’m at school?

Yes and No. It is up to the school to determine when it is appropriate to use devices that allow social media access. Some schools prohibit personal cell phones on campus and others may block certain sites on their computers and networks. Check your school’s policy to learn the rules.

 

Are my rights different if I use a school computer or device instead of my own?

Yes. Most schools have rules for their own computers and devices that you have to follow. There may be software installed that monitors your activity, including browsing history, so be cautious of the actions you take while on a shared device. And always log out of your accounts!

Can my school search for my social media activity without telling me?

Yes and No. If your school starts a social media monitoring program, they must let you and your parents know, allow you to see the information they have collected about your social media activity, and delete it when you leave the district or turn 18.

If your school does not have a monitoring program, you do not have the right to know what information teachers and officials find through their own searching on social media. Remember, anything you post publicly can be seen by anybody, including police officers, teachers, officials, and other students.

Can I be disciplined for simply expressing my opinion on social media?

Sometimes. You have the right to speak your mind on social media. Your school cannot punish you just because it doesn’t agree with your opinion. However, you can be disciplined if you say something on social media during school hours or at a school function or event that officials believe could lead to a “substantial disruption,” your school can discipline you.

You can also get in trouble for “cyberbullying” outside of school. This includes creating false profiles, impersonating other students, or creating fake pages in order to bully someone.

What is a “substantial disruption”?

Your speech is a substantial disruption when it encourages violations of school rules, illegal activities, or it risks causing a big interference with the education of other students. For example, threats to other students or your teachers using social media will likely be considered a substantial disruption.

What can I do to prevent school officials from looking at what I post on social media?

Make sure your passwords are secret so that others can’t sign in to your accounts and post as you. Manage your privacy settings to make sure only your friends see your profile and posts. And remember that the people you decide to share with may share your posts with others or in a public way.

Ultimately, with the great power of social media comes great responsibility. Whether online or offline, on-site or off-campus, student communication in the digital era is still plainly a First Amendment issue. We must keep that in mind.

Social Media Search vs. Social Media Investigation: What’s the Difference?

In the world of digital intelligence, the terms social media search and social media investigation are often used interchangeably. But make no mistake—they are not the same. Understanding the difference is crucial if you’re looking to uncover actionable information for a legal case, insurance claim, background check, or workplace inquiry.

At eChatter, we offer both services, and our clients often ask: “What’s the difference?” This blog breaks down the key distinctions between a basic search and a full investigation so you can choose the right approach for your needs.

What is a Social Media Search?

A social media search is typically the initial step in locating a person’s online presence. It’s a surface-level scan of publicly available information across social media platforms such as:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter/X
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Snapchat (when content is public)

This search aims to identify whether a subject has an online presence, what platforms they use, and some general details like profile names, photos, and bio information. It may also include:

  • Profile creation dates
  • Recent posts or visible activity
  • Basic connections or followers

Use Case: A social media search is ideal when you’re trying to confirm identity or determine if deeper investigation is warranted.

What is a Social Media Investigation?

A social media investigation goes far beyond the basics. It is a comprehensive, analytical deep dive into a subject’s digital activity, using both manual review and AI-powered tools to uncover patterns, behaviors, and inconsistencies. These investigations can include:

  • In-depth analysis of posts, photos, and comments
  • Geolocation data pulled from images and check-ins
  • Associations with other individuals or groups
  • Timeline building for specific dates or events (e.g., after an injury)
  • AI-enhanced facial recognition and image matching
  • Archived or deleted content (when available through legal means)
  • Behavioral or sentiment analysis

Use Case: A social media investigation is used in legal claims, fraud detection, workplace misconduct, background screening, and civil or criminal litigation. The output often includes a documented report with screenshots, metadata, and analysis suitable for courtroom or internal use.

Key Differences at a Glance

FeatureSocial Media SearchSocial Media Investigation
PurposeLocate basic profiles and contentUncover detailed, case-relevant information
DepthSurface-level scanComprehensive review and analysis
Tools UsedManual searches, open webAdvanced AI, geolocation, facial recognition
OutputList of profiles, general infoDetailed report with screenshots, timelines, associations
Recommended ForPreliminary review or ID confirmationLegal evidence, fraud investigations, litigation

Which One Do You Need?

If you’re simply looking to find out whether someone has a digital footprint, a social media search may be enough. But if you’re trying to gather evidence, verify claims, or identify behavioral patterns, a full social media investigation is the way to go.

At eChatter, we specialize in both services. Our AI-powered tools and trained analysts ensure that no relevant detail is missed—especially in high-stakes cases.

Need help choosing the right level of investigation?

Contact us today for a free consultation, and we’ll help you determine whether a search or full investigation best suits your needs.

eChatter is a digital intelligence company providing OSINT and social media analysis to law firms, insurers, investigators, and businesses across the U.S.

Gang Activity and Group Affiliations Identified Through Social Media Posts

In today’s digital age, social media platforms are not just tools for connection—they’re also treasure troves of information for investigators. One emerging area of intelligence gathering is the identification of gang activity and group affiliations through social media posts. From images and hashtags to emojis and clothing, online behaviors can paint a very telling picture.

 The Digital Footprint of Gang Activity

Gang members and affiliated individuals often turn to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to share aspects of their lives. Whether consciously or not, they frequently reveal:

  • Symbols and hand signs
  • Color-coded clothing or bandanas
  • Group photos in known gang territory
  • References to specific streets, “sets,” or rivals
  • Hashtags tied to local or national gangs
  • Emojis that replace words (e.g., 🅱️ for Blood, 🐍 for “snake” or betrayal)

These clues, when collected and cross-referenced, can offer deep insights into group affiliations and potential criminal networks.

🧠 Case Studies and News Highlights

  1. Chicago PD’s Social Media Division has long been utilizing public Facebook and Instagram posts to track gang rivalries and predict retaliation after shootings. In one case, an Instagram Live post helped them intervene before a potential violent retaliation.
  2. A 2022 Department of Justice investigation in California used TikTok videos to tie suspects to a series of robberies. Members of a gang had been flaunting stolen items and taunting rival groups, giving investigators time-stamped evidence and location markers.
  3. Academic research, such as the 2017 study “Digital Gangsters: Gangs and Social Media Use in Chicago” (Papachristos et al.), emphasizes how online conflict—called “Internet banging”—often escalates to offline violence.

🔧 How Investigators Can Use This Data

For private investigators, insurance companies, and law enforcement, recognizing digital gang markers can:

  • Validate existing suspicions or criminal history
  • Link individuals to known groups or criminal networks
  • Discredit or verify alibis using geotagged content
  • Support background checks for sensitive cases (e.g., custody, employment)
  • Aid in threat assessment or workplace security reviews

⚠️ Key Markers to Watch

When analyzing a subject’s digital footprint, consider the following as potential indicators of gang ties:

TypeExample
🧢 ClothingColor patterns, logo flips, bandanas
🤳 PosesFlashing hand signs, gang-specific symbols
🏷️ Hashtags#FreeTheHomie, #GDK, #BDK, #TrapLife
🧩 Emojis🅱️, 🐍, 💯, 🔫
📍 LocationsFrequent check-ins at known gang areas or streets
🎶 MusicLyrics in videos referencing violence or affiliations

🛠️ Our Role in Helping You Connect the Dots

At eChatter, we specialize in analyzing digital behavior through a combination of OSINT, SOCMINT, and proprietary tools. Our team is trained to identify not just what’s visible—but what’s implied, coded, or intentionally hidden.

Through our reports, clients gain a clear view of affiliations, patterns, and risk factors. Whether you’re investigating a person of interest, building a case, or conducting due diligence, we deliver insights that matter.