Spies Online - Newsweek interviews Porteous

PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

The advent of the Internet transformed the private-eye industry, shifting its focus from background checks (which can now be completed for a small price on myriad Web sites) to surveillance.

Skipp Porteous, president of New York–based Sherlock Investigations, says much of his business is derived from spouses who suspect infidelity. “A lot of times we get calls from a wife whose husband is coming to New York, usually on business, and she’s afraid he’s going to fool around,” Porteous says. “So she hires us and we get the goods.” (Incidentally, Porteous says women are right in their suspicions about 90 percent of the time; when men think their wives are cheating, they’re usually wrong.)

Sherlock dispatches teams of two licensed private investigators, experts at blending into crowds and going unnoticed, to follow the suspected cheater and snap photos. In one case, a woman from Bermuda hired Sherlock to follow her husband while he was in New York. Investigators took pictures of him with six prostitutes (at once) and e-mailed them to their client before her spouse returned home.

Additionally, since the Internet has enabled people to easily purchase illegal audio and video transmitters, Sherlock has seen a boom in “bug sweep” business, especially among celebrities who believe the paparazzi have infiltrated their homes or cars. As new technologies emerge, experts expect intelligence and counterintelligence methods to grow in sophistication, and generate even more job opportunities for a new generation of supersleuths.

(This is part of a much larger article in Newsweek.com)

Bug Detectors and Bug Detection

A few years ago I was looking for a storefront in Manhattan's Upper West Side to open a spy store. One of the things I wanted to sell were various kinds of bug detectors since I already did bug detection anyway and could teach people how to use the devices.

I would have to pay first and last month, plus a security deposit, and invest in the inventory. A couple of my friends, Jimmy Mesis, who owns pigear.com, and Michael Jackson, who owns mjelectronics.com, have spy shops on the Internet where you can buy all kinds of devices. I'd be in competition with them, and I didn't want that.

A lot of the bug detectors you can buy online work quite well, if you know how to use them. I've had some clients that bought various kinds of bug and camera detectors who had no clue how to use them. Then they called me.

Of course, I decided not to open the shop. I still have mixed feelings about it, but I think I made the right decision.

Gay-friendly private investigators

Sherlock Investigations proudly serves the gay and lesbian community in New York City and elsewhere. We’ve always employed gay or lesbian investigators. Many of our best clients have been LGBT.

Sherlock Investigations participates in the various events of the LGBT community in New York. We consider it an honor to work with LGBT clients.

Call us if you have any need. We’re confidential and discreet.

Bug sweeps in NY, CT, NJ and beyond

Recently I flew to Jamaica West Indies to perform a bug sweep for a well-known celebrity. He rented a villa there and was concerned about paparazzi placing hidden cameras. The place was clean and I was there for less than 24 hours.

Last year I swept a conference room in Washington, DC for a major pharmaceutical company who was having a convention. The job started at three in the morning. When I finished, a guard was placed at the door. The place, again, was clean.

I find eavesdropping devices in about one in twenty sweeps. Women going through divorce seem to have the most possibility of being eavesdropped. Usually, pretty low tech stuff is used.

Of course, competitors spell out the most trouble for corporations. I do a lot of sweeps at hedge funds, construction corporations, accountants, and attorneys. It seems that the most problem comes from their own employees. Several employees have been fired before I swept their office. I found eavesdropping equipment in every case.

If you even question how secret items are being leaked, give me a call. I’ll go anywhere.