social media investigations Archives

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.

Secrets About Social Media Monitoring That Nobody Will Tell You.

By now most people have heard of social media monitoring in one form or another. Social media monitoring is something that companies do in order to maintain a good online presence and to monitor their online reputation. Restaurants, retail stores, doctors, lawyers and more are smart to hire a company to conduct this ongoing research on their behalf. It can reveal a lot about the company and its competitors.

In the investigation world, social media monitoring can take on an entirely new dimension. If you advertise that you conduct social media investigations, this added service could be a great new source of revenue for your company. A recent case study provides a good example of what we are talking about.

An investigator’s client (who is an attorney) was interested in locating an individual involved in a case she was working on. She wanted the individual’s social media watched for updates, as he was not able to be found using traditional surveillance methods. The investigator needed social media monitoring in order to watch for location clues in as close to real time as possible.

In the social media/ online world, things can change in a second. What is sometimes here today, will be gone tomorrow. That is where monitoring comes in. When an investigator uses social media monitoring, they are getting updates in real time. This type of online surveillance can be handy as it allows the investigator to get a clear picture and an update day to day on the whereabouts of his poi. This allows an investigator to act “in the moment” to better target resources to serve the person as needed, or to even find a missing person.

While conducting social media monitoring for this investigator we were able to locate the person. Within their instagram stories, we could see that he was on vacation and wanted to share his experiences. Looking at the background of an image can reveal a lot. We could see that he was visiting a very popular tourist destination. With this added information, it allowed the investigator to target more effectively. This may not be true in every case as some people don’t use social media at all. However, they are in the minority.

So next time you think about social media investigation ask yourself this question:

Would it be of value to my client to conduct social media monitoring for this case?
Some examples include:

Jury monitoring before, during and after a high profile case
Locating a missing person
Threat monitoring

The bottom line to all of this is to begin with the purpose & be certain it is well justified and that you are monitoring open source data only. When needed, this is an additional step in your investigation that may save time and money in the long run. People love to share their experiences online and this will never change. Learn ways to use it to your advantage.

How Gangs use Social Media

Social media is often used to paint yourself in a different light…it can make you seem more popular, more successful, and happier than you really are. In other words, you can take on any persona you want, and quickly develop a following of fans who want to be just like you.

So it’s no surprise that gangs use social media to recruit new members and intimidate rival groups. In the view of police officials, today’s gang violence is largely fueled by social media, which is used to taunt and threaten rivals, or the result of beefs that can span years, involving not just gang members, but their families and friends, as well.

Police have tried different strategies for reducing the violence, from monitoring gang members’ online activity to visiting the homes of friends of homicide victims to talk them out of seeking retribution.

The ever-expanding reliance on social media has for gang-related criminal activity has law enforcement scrambling to stay ahead of emerging trends and platforms. “If your law enforcement agency has yet to incorporate social media investigations as a routine step during your investigative process, your agency is falling behind and missing out on a gold mine of intelligence gathering,” according to Aaron Concepcion, a correctional sergeant in New York with 15 years of service, five of which as the head gang investigator assigned to an intelligence center.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Over the past 20 years there has been an increase in the use of social media by street gangs. According to the National Gang Investigators Association, the most popular platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Google, Flickr, WhatsApp and kik.

It’s now called “cyberbanging” and gangs use the broad reach of social media to recruit new members, intimidate rivals, promote criminal activity, advertise their brand, communicate between members, brag about accomplishment to validate street credibility/dominance, and antagonize rivals.

In gang-plagued Chicago, Lamanta Reese, 19, was gunned down in May 2017 after posting a YouTube video disparaging a rival gang, which included a possibly misconstrued emoji that his shooter believed was an insult against his mother.

The Mexican cartels, specifically Los Zetas, have tracked down and murdered at least four bloggers posting opposition. This includes a 39-year-old woman who was decapitated and two men hanged from an overpass with a sign saying, “This is going to happen to all internet snitches. Pay attention, I’m watching you!”

ONLINE TOOLS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

Because of the increased use of social media, law enforcement is stepping up its game in an effort to conduct surveillance and interdiction operations. The new generation of tech-savvy millennials joining the ranks of law enforcement are more in tune with social media trends. Concepcion says he has utilized a wide variety of online tools: “There’s no one-stop-shop or sole technique for mining information online. You might find success with a particular technique on one case, and then find it unsuccessful on another,” he said.

“You would be surprised at the amount of information you can acquire by simply running a name on Pipl.com,” said Concepcion. While most gang members rarely use their real name on social media, searching the profiles of their family, friends and visitors who are less cautious often leads directly to the suspect or provides valuable intelligence.

SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEILLANCE

There is no shortage of operational successes utilizing strategic social media monitoring. In June 2014, NYPD used 1 million Facebook posts in its largest recorded gang raid when officers stormed the General Ulysses S. Grant and Manhattanville housing projects in West Harlem, arresting 40 suspects charged with crimes including murder, assault, and conspiracy in a 145-count indictment.

Another successful case comes from San Diego, California, where members of the West Coast Crips were arrested after some posted selfies that were taken at murder scenes to Facebook; 56 gang members were charged with racketeering and conspiracy to distribute drugs and guns.

“Mining social media may not always hand you a home run like the above cases, but it can provide you with pieces of the puzzle, like a photo for facial recognition, gang affiliations, associations or current locations,” said Concepcion.

Concepcion suggests departments choose at least two officers and begin sending them for training. Next, start searching for suspects they’re already familiar with and continue mining for information. “If there is a particular gang in your area, I’d research and decipher their lingo, as well as read through their lessons if possible,” he said. “You can execute a simple hashtag search on google or Instagram using the same lingo such as #MS13 #BlazingBilly.”

Create files and utilize programs like the snipping tool that comes with most Windows-based computers, and take screen shots as you go. Using the snipping tool also saves the date and time stamps your activity. There is no doubt you will come across pages with photos of familiar suspects, guns and drugs. Your biggest issue will not be finding the activity, but organizing the information and identifying the suspects.

2019 Facebook Search Tips For Social Media Investigations

Social Media Investigations has been known to take an unbelievable amount of your time or that of an employee. Facebook searching is one of the areas that can be the most confusing but can harvest some of the best results. Either way, it can cost you money and you may not even reap the rewards of the time spent.

A good Social Media Investigation Strategy begins with a thorough understanding of each of the platforms you are using in your research. “You don’t know what you don’t know”, sort of thing. 2019 will be the year that goes down in history as the year of privacy, which makes social media investigations even more difficult, but not impossible.

One of the very first things to take a look at when beginning to use a social platform for search purposes, is their privacy settings. This way you know ahead of time exactly what you are up against. In this post, we are going to go over two privacy areas that often get overlooked.

Facebook Minor Privacy

Minor privacy in Facebook is taken very seriously, as it should. Take a look at the privacy clearly stated in Facebook:

Social Media Investigations — Facebook Minor Policy

While searching for a Minor in Facebook is allowed, you may not be privy to the type of information you are looking for. Today’s Tweens and Teens are very good at hiding in social media, which makes our jobs even harder.

Facebook General Privacy

Who can look you up using the phone number provided?

This is quite specific and one you may not have even realized existed. When we think about privacy settings, we think about a few questions to answer and it’s done! Not so with Facebook as you can see. This is where a lot of confusion can come in when it comes to mining social media. Any person may have certain aspects of their profile public, while others are set to private.

Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?

Can’t find the social media profile in a Google search? This may be the reason why. Searching in Facebook is key to overcome this setting. Search in a number of ways – think outside the box.

So, how do you know if your person of interest has these privacy settings in place ? You won’t ever know. You just have to find ways to work around it.

Be sure to subscribe to this blog to stay up to date about the details of social media investigation that can save you time and money.

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