Internet Scams

People contact Sherlock Investigations every week who have been robbed by someone they met online. To make matters worse, the recipients die off before their generous benefactors even realize that they've been had.

We've all heard of the Nigerian scams (Still, it's amazing how many people still fall for them.). They contact you by email claiming to be the wife, husband, son, or daughter of someone who had control of a lot of money. They want you to help them retrieve the money. If you help them, they'll give you, say, a 20% commission.

The other day we had a guy who fell for this. He contacted us because he wanted to know if a certain person was the head of The Bank of Africa. He was already in over his head when he emailed us. He had called a number in Africa and spoke to a "lawyer." The lawyer assured him that he could help him negotiate the red tape to retrieve his money. His only fee would be $850, in advance.

The idiot sent $850 to Africa by Western Union. A week later, the lawyer said that he needed another $5500. That's when the idiot contacted us.

I told him that he'd be had, and not to go to Ghana to try to find the guy and get his money back. People have been murdered while trying to do this.

There are many, many scams on the Internet. Some people list themselves on dating sites or other social places. After weeks or months sending back and forth engaging email or instant messages, they win your heart. Then they ask you if you'd help them out. One potential client sent a guy $6000 for knee surgery.

When our would-be client started to get suspicious, he got an email from someone saying that the guy who had knee surgery died of a blood clot. Without a doubt, it was the same guy who received the money. Time to move on, he thought.

This week alone we received pleas for help concerning three different people who "died" during the course of an Internet relationship. One woman was told, "It was all your fault."

Young men often fall victim to scams because they engage in online chat with young females who are charming and beautiful. Of course, the photos they send are not usually themselves. One person was sending out photos of an Italian porn star. We tracked him down and found a fat kid living with his mother. We even got a surveillance photo of him.

In one case, which was unusual, a guy had been having a relationship with a girl from the Phillipines. He hired Sherlock to check her out. She actually turned out to be who said she was, and he went to the Phillipines and proposed.

A lot of people are greedy, and think that they can get something for nothing. It ain't gonna happen folks. The bottom line: Don't give money to someone you don't really know. Maybe you shouldn't even give money to someone who you do know. You can be the judge of that.

Was Brooke Astor's Office Bugged?

Last fall I received a call for technical surveillance countermeasures at an office on Park Avenue. The office belonged to Brooke Astor, who died on August 13, 2007 at the age of 105.

Of course, Mrs. Astor, 104 at the time, wasn't there when I went to her office. In fact, it looked like she hadn't stepped foot in there for many years. The almost-quaint office had all sorts of Astor memorabilia, photos on the walls of exotic places, and several dusty books that Brooke Astor had written.

I got the call to sweep the office right after Astor's grandson, Philip Marshall, sued his father, Anthony Marshall, for neglecting to care for his mother while allegedly trying to help himself to some of her wealth.

The court put JPMorgan Chase in charge of Brooke Astor's financial affairs. It was through JPMorgan Chase that I was brought in to sweep the office for listening devices or phone taps. That office, apparently, handled some of her financial affairs.

Before Anthony Marshall became a Broadway producer, he was employed by the CIA. I have no idea whether he had the knowledge to bug an office or tap a phone, or whether the financial overseers at JPMorgan Chase were even worried about him. When I do these jobs, I just do my job and don't ask many questions.

The office was clean; I found nothing unusual. Just another routine job.

Criminal Investigations

Some states do have repositories, which are supposed to contain the records of convictions from every county in that state. The truth of the matter is that very few state repositories are accurate or up to date. Why? Because the information on convictions comes, typically, from the court clerk's office. In some states, law enforcement agencies have to specifically request that conviction records be sent to the state repositories. Even at that, only the more serious felony convictions are submitted. Less serious offenses like fraud and battery are seldom, if ever, reported. Even when a request is made, busy clerks may or may not get around to sending the information in a timely manner.

Beyond the state repositories, there is no requirement for any court to report conviction information to any state or federal agency. There is the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) in Washington, which collects information on arrests and convictions. But access to their files is limited essentially to law enforcement agencies and a few other institutions, such as banks, which, by law, have been given access to the information. The average employer does not have access to NCIC information, nor do any agencies that claim they can do nationwide court checks.

No central, up-to-date location exists that provides the average employer with conviction records. A nationwide court check can be done, but it is nationwide only in a very localized sense. Anybody can contact a county clerk in any county, one at a time, to check a candidate's criminal history. But that raises a myriad of other questions. How many counties do you check? How many years do you want to cover? Which court systems -- circuit, county or municipal -- do you want to check? What about neighboring counties? A candidate could be a saint in his county of residence and have a conviction record a mile long in the next county over, but you'd never know it unless you check there also. Do you just conduct the check in the current county of residence, or do you check all the contiguous counties, or all former counties of residence? The list of questions goes on and on.

Why do a criminal court check at all? There are only two legitimate reasons: 1) because the nature of the position for which the candidate is being considered requires it or 2) because there is some doubt or suspicion about the candidate's background. There is a third reason why many companies insist on doing a court check. They believe that by doing so they can demonstrate that some measure of care was exercised in the employment process that will protect them from possible claims of negligent hiring. Conducting a court check, in other words, is a cheap way for them to cover the company's backside in case a charge of negligent hiring is brought against them.

Companies interested in more than "backside covering" should be doing reference checks to evaluate past job performance as it relates to the requirements of the position to be filled. They should be talking to work-related references who are familiar with the candidate's job performance over time. What, afterall, can a court check tell a prospective employer about a candidate's management style or ability to work effectively with others?
A court check falls into that same marginally useful category of cursory checks, such as verifying employment dates or job titles. Just confirming that a candidate really worked at the XYZ Company for three years obviously says nothing about the quality of the job that was done or much of anything else.

Beware of anybody who claims to do nationwide court checks. What they're offering to do is call the candidate's current county of residence and talk to somebody in one local courthouse. And as author and critic John Ruskin once said, "There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse or sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."

First published by Tracersinfo.com. Used by permission.

Myspace.com Promoted on Fox

Sherlock Investigation's Sherry Hart appeared on Fox's "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" on Monday, July 30th, to discuss locating people on myspace.com.

Billed as "Myspace Reunions: Finding loved ones online," the program was clearly formulated to promote myspace.com, a Murdoch company. Amid much laughter, the hosts, Mike and Juliet, said, "Myspace.com is owned by our company Newscorp." Indeed, myspace.com and Fox TV are owned by Newscorp, Rupert Murdoch's conglomerate.

The program featured a father-daughter, who were reunited after being separated years ago, and a brother-sister who were split up when they were kids. All had found each other through myspace.com. Most of the segment was spent on the lifeless brother and sister, who looked like zombies. Mike tried valiantly to add some life to their testimonies.

Sherry was introduced as "an expert on online investigations." The hosts asked Sherry, "Is myspace.com and these other sites putting you out of business?"

"People are pretty savvy these days," Sherry said, "about trying to find people on their own before they hire an investigator." She added that the process is so time-consuming and laborious that people often turn to a private investigator.

She warned about the fake entries on myspace.com, and that you have to be careful about what you believe when you read on myspace.com. She also mentioned the pedophiles in the news on myspace.com, to which Mike interjected, "But they've really cleaned up their act!"

Sherry also warned that after you go to myspace.com "you'd better run your Ad-aware and keep your Norton up to date," because of the junk that infects your computer. She said that going to myspace.com is "like walking barefoot in a Port Authority rest room."

Normally, Fox puts the segments from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet on their website later that day. In this case, they failed to add this segment. Hmmm, wonder why?

D.B. Cooper Update

You may have ended up here by googling D.B. Cooper. If not, google the name to learn more about this famous case. Now, we believe that this 36 year-old case is about to be broken by Sherlock Investigations.

D.B. Cooper is a name erroneously attached to a man who hijacked a Northwest 727 in 1971. He said that he had a bomb in a cheap plastic suitcase he carried. The man bought his plane ticket under the name Dan Cooper. The media later interviewed a D.B. Cooper. The name stuck forever to the case.

"Cooper" had the plane land, unload the 36 passengers, and picked up $200,000 in $20 bills, plus four parachutes. Soon after taking off again, he bailed out, never to be seen again. Even the yellow and red parachute was never found.

Many articles, some books, and even a movie, starring Treat Williams and Robert Duvall, have been inspired by the D.B. Cooper case.

Working on a lead we received, we've been on the case for several months. All the evidence we have fits the clues gleaned from the various articles and FBI press releases. We have photos, a fingerprint, and DNA evidence.

We believe that "D.B. Cooper" worked for Northwest Airlines (Northwest Orient at the time), was an experienced parachutist, lived in a Seattle suburb, grew up in the midwest, and was single. He even bought a house for cash two years after the famous hijacking.

Stayed tuned for more!

D.B. Cooper

On November 24, Thanksgiving eve, 1971, a unknown man hijacked a Northwest Orient Boeing 727 in Portland, Oregon, said he had a bomb in his briefcase, and demanded $200,000 in cash and four parachutes. He had the plane land, unload the 36 passengers, and picked up the cash and parachutes.

A little while after taking off with only the crew members, he lowered the backstairs and bailed out with the money. He's never been found since, dead or alive. However, some $5800 in cash was found along the Columbia River some years later.

The purpose of this telling is not to reiterate the story, but to announce that we think we know who D.B. Cooper was, and to solicite some help. Anyone who googles D.B. Cooper will find many accounts of the episode.

Our suspect was 45 years old at the time of the hijacking, an employee of Northwest Orient, and an experienced parachutist. He was a bourbon drinker, and a heavy smoker, as was Cooper, who ordered a bourbon on the plane and chain-smoked.

Our suspect lived in the Seattle area, but was originally from the Midwest. Although he retired from Northwest, he never had a bank account. Two years after the hijacking he purchased a house in the Seattle area, for cash, in $20 bills.

We have photographs of our suspect, one in a Northwest Orient flight attendant's uniform, and a mugshot that closely matches the FBI's composite drawing. We also have a thumbprint from his Army discharge papers (where he learned parachuting) and some DNA evidence.

There were two stewardesses on D.B. Cooper's (a fictitious name given to the hijacker by the media). They were Florence Schaffner and Tina Mucklow. We understand that Ms. Mucklow became a nun and is now sequestered in a convent.

First Officer Bob Rataczak, and the flight engineer H.E. Anderson also got a look at Cooper, as well as at least two passengers, Richard Simmons and his wife Barbara Simmons. The pilot is deceased.

If you're following this case, and know the whereabouts of any of the individuals listed above, we'd love to hear from you. Better still, if you're any of the people we listed, call today. We'd like to send these people copies of the photos we have and see if they recognize our suspect as being the man known as D.B. Cooper.

The FBI is also interested in this, but we're not ready to give up the information we have.

Gotham Private Eye Experience

Private investigator wannabes regularly contact Sherlock Investigations for employment or interships. We encourage people not to bother sending resumes because we don't read them. Instead, email us a letter explaining what you can do. If your letter excites us you might just get a job with us. Others have.

Still, the need is great for those who've always wanted to be a private eye and wondered what the experience is really like. As a result, we recently launched Gotham Private Eye Experience, a two-day, intensive, hands-on workshop in New York City.

A week ago we had our first student. After spending two days in the Big Apple working with us she exclaimed, "I had the experience of my life!"

In the workshop we reveal many of Sherlock's secrets. We explain how we locate people, conduct background investigations, run a surveillance operation, and teach people how to locate electronic eavesdropping devices...bugs, wiretaps, hidden video cameras, and much more.

Participants receive a copy of The Idiot's Guide to Private Investigations, required reading for Sherlock's investigators, and lunches at two of New York's Upper West Side Cafes.

So, come to New York City for the experience of your life.

Visit our sister-site www.gothamprivateeyeexperience.com to learn more!

Private Investigators: who uses them, men or women?

Generally, in domestic cases, women call Sherlock Investigations more than men. Lately, though, more men have been calling. Perhaps it has something to do with Spring's arrival. Women seem to cheat on their spouses or boyfriends as much as men do.

Women seem to have greater intuition than men. If a woman thinks a guy is cheating on her, the chances are great that she's right. Men don't seem to have that sense as much as women.

Same-sex couples also call us about their significant others. Women cheat on women and men cheat on men, just like straight people. We recently had a case where our client was a husband, who was suspicious that his wife having an affair with a woman. She was.

Our business clients are about equal as far as men and women go. This is true whether you're talking about attorneys or corporate types. The real exception are those involved with hedge funds. We regularly perform electronic sweeps for hedge fund companies in New York City. It's always a man who calls.

Our surveillance teams are usually women. This is effective because most people never suspect that women are following them. It's proven to be disarming in a lot of cases. Women seem to be able to get away with things that a man can't.

Cell Phone Bugs

Cell phone bugs, and/or roving cell phone bugs are hot in the world of bug detection. People contact us every day about the possibility of their cell phone being bugged. Sure, some of these people are just paranoid, but with the NSA spying on American citizens, and computer hackers setting their sites on cell phones, who isn't paranoid these days?

Can a cell phone be bugged? In short, yes. Actually, any transmission that is sent through the air can be intercepted. While not going into the technicalities of cell phone bugs, I will say this: If you don't want the world to know about something you say, don't say it on the telephone. And I mean landline, cordless phone, or cell phone. However, it's always good to have your phone inspected.

That's why Sherlock Investigations is offering to check cell phones for bugs. The way it works is you overnight your cell phone to us. We'll check it out electronically and physically, and send it back to you by Federal Express, along with our inspection report. Sure, you'll be without your cell phone for two days, but when you get it back, you'll know whether it's safe to use or not. You can't go wrong. For pricing, and our mailing address, contact us at sherlockinvestigations@gmail.com, or 212-579-4302. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Andy Barker, P.I.

I tried to tape NBC's new show Andy Barker P.I. last week. With my trusty old VHS recorder on Channel 4, I pressed Record, and then switched to Channel 7 to watch Grey's Anatomy.

A couple days later, we rewound the tape to watch Andy Barker P.I. and found Grey's Anatomy on the tape. I thought that once I hit Record, I could then switch to another channel and watch that channel and still record on the first channel. Guess not.

Even though private investigating is what I do for a living, watching P.I. shows is sometimes interesting, especially P.I.'s with a good sense of humor. Most TV and movie P.I.s seem to get involved in criminal matters. In reality, criminal cases seldom come through our door, unless you count various kinds of Internet fraud and identity theft.

Missing the first episode is like being late for a movie. I hate to watch a movie if I missed the beginning. Maybe when the series is available on DVD I'll order Andy Barker P.I. from Netflix.

How to Hire a Private Investigator

Most people who contact Sherlock Investigations have never before talked to a private investigator. This isn't unusual at all. After all, in the course of most people's life-times they'll never need a private investigator.

However, when you do need a private eye, you need to explain your situation as concisely as possible. Keep in mind: what, why, when, where, and how.

If you contact an investigator, state your problem and list all the facts. For example, if you're trying to locate someone, don't just say you have limited information. Say that you have a first and last name, and last known address, but that's all. If you have a SSN and DOB, say so. State precisely what information you do have.

We actually have people contact us who are looking for someone but don't even know their name! Near miracles can sometimes be done. We have located people with just a first name, but if the name is common, it can be real difficult.

If you're having marital problems and think you need surveillance done on your spouse, tell us briefly about the situation. Sometimes surveillance isn't the best option. If you have an attorney, it's best to consult with your attorney before contacting us.

The main thing that you want to avoid is sending a long, drawn-out email elaborating what you've been through for the last two years. Again, be concise, and state facts.

Free People Locator

The Internet is a great way to locate someone. Often, just entering someone's name in Google will come up with an address, phone number, and sometimes even an email address. Then there are specialized sites like classmates.com, anywho.com and a number of others.

When the going gets rough, people often click on the various ads found on Google and Yahoo. Most of these companies have access to databases such as the "headers" provided by the three major credit reporting companies. The headers contain basic information such as name, address, date-of-birth, Social Security Number, and often a phone number. Sometimes they include a place of employment.

When running a name through one of these companies that advertise on the Internet, you usually have to give your credit card information to see the results of your search. Many times, you'll get a long list of names, and you'll be left to figure out which one, if any, are the person that you're looking for.

Some companies offer Free People Locators. This will work if the person that you're looking for is in "plain sight" and not hiding from you or anyone else.

People contact Sherlock Investigations after they've tried all of the above. We specialize in finding hard-to-find people. Sure, we have access to all the databases that the other companies have. Too often, though, the person we're looking for is not on a database, or if they are, the data is old. People move a lot, and it takes months for the paper trail to catch up.

Sherlock Investigations offers hands-on service, and we work closely with our clients until we find the person you're looking for. You don't get this kind of service from most of the companies advertising on the Internet.

Some people, for any number of reasons, just don't want to be found. That's where Sherlock Investigations comes in. Based in New York City, we've gone in person as far as Tucson, Arizona to locate someone. In that case, we found her living under a bridge.

Free People Locator services may work fine for some people, but not hard-to-find people. Our rates may be higher than those of some agencies, but how many offer a guarantee? Not many, believe me. Our guarantee is that we will keep a case open and active until we locate the person you've hired us to find. We locate heirs, witnesses, deadbeat dads, runaway teens, fugitives, debtors, lost siblings, parents, and children.

If you're still looking for a free people locator, remember, you get what you pay for.

Online Dating Warning

Pity the newspapers that run "Personals." Online dating is really hot. Unlike ads in newspapers, you can communicate instantly with a person who piques your curiosity online. But beware!

Dating sites, like match.com, jdate.com, and eharmony.com, etc., post almost anything you'd want to know about someone. Of course, the members write their profiles themselves, and nothing is checked out. I know that there are a couple of sites that purport to do a background check on their members, but believe me, the background check is very sketchy and incomplete. No one can afford to do a background check for $30.

When responding to an "ad" online, prepare to be surprised. Women often lie about their age, especially if they're over 50. Some subtract as many as 10 years from their real age. And the photos they put up are often several years old, and some are even of other people. They also may cheat a bit, even quite a bit, in the weight category.

Men lie too. Men are more apt to lie about their marital status than anything. A close runner-up are lies about their weight and height. Some men join dating sites just looking for sex, and sometimes money.

Men, be aware that scammers from other countries are likely to contact you. (In many cases, they're men posing as women.) They'll try to get you to become infatuated with them, even sending phoney pictures. When they've got you hooked, they ask you to send them some money so that they can come over here. You send the money and they'll keep it and stay put.

If you meet someone online, they'll probably just give you their cellphone number. This is fine for starters. After a while, though, they should be willing to give out their home number, espeically if you've had a few dates. Be very, very suspicious of people who you've dated, but won't give you their home phone number or home address. What are they trying to hide? Believe me, it's something.

Keep track of all the information a person tells you. Good liars have to have superb memories just to keep track of all their lies. Most are bound to trip up sooner or later.

If you feel that someone is right for you, but you still remain suspicious, contact Sherlock Investigations. We can find out a person's true age, address, workplace, and marital situation, and more.

Having said all that, I endorse online dating as a great way to meet people. Just be very careful.

Wire Transfer Scams

Who wouldn't want $5000 for doing almost nothing? Say you get an email from someone in the United Kingdom. He says that he has three $5000 U.S. Postal Money Orders and can't cash them in the U.K., and he desperately needs the money.

He makes you an offer that's hard to refuse. He says that he'll mail you the money orders and asks you to deposit them in your bank. So far, so good. After you make the deposit, he asks you to wire $10,000 back to him. You get to keep $5,000 for this little gesture of good will.

Don't do it! Within a few days the bank will learn that these money orders are counterfeit. Meanwhile, the bank will have already sent the money to your contact in the U.K. Not only will your $5,000 earnings be no good, you'll owe the bank $10,000 for the money they transferred to the scammer.

Does this actually happen? Yes, every day.

This scam works in many different ways. Maybe you sold a $500 item on eBay and you receive a $3,000 check in the mail. The buyer asks you to send back $2,500. Don't do it! You'll soon discover that the $3,000 check is no good. And you've been scammed of $2,500.

If you receive a suspicious check or money order in the mail, contact your local Postal Inspectors. Check www.usps.com/ncsc/locators/find-is.html for more information.

Private Investigators

Because of TV and movies, a lot of people have misconceptions about what private eyes do. Most of us don't carry guns, and most of us don't even investigate criminal matters.

At Sherlock Investigations, our areas of expertise lie in several areas. While we do investigate crimes, especially Internet fraud, counterfeit merchandise sales, and the location of fugitives, we specialize in wiretap and bug detection, surveillance in the New York-metro area, background investigations, and the location of people for any number of reasons.

Much of our day is spent at the computer. Our access to non-public data bases enables us to find information that the suckers who buy NetDetective hope to find. Still, there is much information not found on data bases. Often, we are called upon to locate a person's place of employment. While social security searches sometimes come up with this information, it is usually out-dated. Then, we have to find it the old-fashioned way, sometimes even following somebody to work.

Several times a week we're asked to obtain a person's cell phone records. The only way to do this is to call a cell phone carrier and pretend that you're the person that you need the cell phone records for. Plain and simple, this is identity theft, and we don't do it.

There are a couple of other areas that we won't touch: obtaining medical records and how much people have in their bank accounts. Also, we do not place wiretaps, although we're often asked to. We locate them, but don't install them.

A lot of our requests from clients are unusual, but we welcome unusual requests, as long as they're legal.

Roving Bugs

The big news in the eavesdropping world is so-called "roving bugs." As a result, we've gotten calls from people who think that their cell phone is bugged. Before you call us, let me first tell you that your cell phone is very, very likely not bugged.

An article appearing in CNET News.com has generated all the buzz. Many bloggers picked up the story. Many of these bloggers subscribe to numerous conspiracies.

The article said, "The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

"The technique is called a "roving bug," and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.

"The FBI is apparently using a novel surveillance technique on alleged Mafioso: activating his cell phone's microphone and then just listening."

If you Google "roving bugs," you'll find the full story.

It's my opinion that a cell phone cannot be turned on remotely if the power is off. Even if it could, the microphone isn't sensitive enough to pick up conversation more than a few feet away anyway.

I think the story is really based on a judge's decision to allow roving phone taps. In other words, say the FBI gets permission to tap a mobster's phone. Well, he's not going to be in his home all the time. He travels. So, the newest thing in taps, is tapping every phone where the mobster might be, including payphones in his neighborhood. That's a roving tap, or roving bug.

In the CNET article, one TSCM expert (bug sweeper) whom I respect, affirmed the gist of the story. I still disagree with the article.

However, if you think that a program can be downloaded to your cell phone to turn it on and eavesdrop on you, there are several things you can do.

Pull the battery out. Get a prepaid cell phone. Put your cell phone in a clam shell-type glasses case (You'll still be able to hear it ring, but it will muffle the mic enough so that an eavesdropper won't hear a word.

But ask yourself, are you really important enough for the FBI to place a roving bug on your phone?

Background Check on YOU!

At Sherlock Investigations we commonly have clients ask us to check them out. They want a background check on themselves.

A recent client was applying for a Small Business Association loan. Before he sent in his application, he wanted to know of any adverse information that the SBA might find on him.

Frequently, we have clients send us their resume and ask us to check with their former employers to learn what they have to say about them. Often, the most that they'll answer is, "Is he/she eligible for rehire?" If the answer's "no," he or she has real problems. "Yes," of course, is a good sign

When inquiring past employers for a recent client, I heard "Interesting," when I mentioned his name. I knew that it was going to be all downhill from there.

Sometimes clients admit that they had a past criminal conviction, and wonder if it will show up on a background check. Generally, if it occured more than 7 years ago it won't, BUT, you never know.

It's best to be very honest on job applications and resumes, because if the company to which you're applying for a job hires a P.I. to do a background investigation, the chances are that your untruths will be exposed!

Western Union Warning

Western Union is a very safe way to send money....if you personally know the person to whom your sending it. However, scammers and con artists also use Western Union to receive money. You might think that you know who you're sending money to, but anyone can come up with a fake I.D. to use for picking up money from Western Union.

I've picked up money from Western Union for Sherlock Investigations, and I know that they don't check my I.D. very closely. As long as it looks official, and has my name on it, it'll do. A person could set up a website, lift someone's wallet and use his name on his website, and then use his license when customers send him money through Western Union for something they'll never get.

Western Union is advising people to help prevent consumer fraud. Here is what they're saying:

"Are you sending money to claim lottery or prize winnings, or on a promise of receiving a large amount of money?" (If you didn't enter a lottery, you didn't win the lottery. And if you did enter a lottery, you don't have to pay more money to get your winnings. Duh.)

"Are you sending money because you were 'guaranteed' a credit card or loan?" (Don't pay money to get a credit card or loan.)

"Are you responding to an Internet or phone offer that you aren't sure is honest?" (Never spend more than you can afford to lose on eBay.)

"Are you sending money to someone you don't know or whose identity you can't verify?"
(Don't.)

Now, here is something really special that you should know about Western Union. Suppose you just read this blog, and it just happens that you sent money to someone yesterday and now you wish that you hadn't? Well, you might be able to get your money back if you hurry.

Go to Western Union and ask them to stop your money transfer immediately, or call them at 1-800-325-6000. If your money has not been picked up yet, it will be returned to you.

More on Gypsy Psychics

Since I posted Gypsy Psychic Scams some time ago, I've gotten quite a few responses from those identifying themselves as Gypsies. All of it has been angry.
In another posting, I apologized to Gypsies, because I did not mean to offend Gypsies as a people. Some have pointed out that Gypsies are involved in legitimate professions and businesses. That may well be.

Yet, I abide by my original contention: Shops with neon signs in the window that say Spiritual Advisor, Psychic Reader, or whatever, are fraudulent. A few of these women (most are women) may think that they have supernatural powers. What they have is the keen ability to read people, question people, and extract a great deal of information from them. Maybe they're convinced that they have supernatural abilities..

And, yes, most of these places are run by Gypsies. That certainly doesn't make all Gypsies bad, but it doesn't change the fact that most "fortune tellers" are Gypsies. I'm sure that there are many good, law-abiding Gypsies.

Most of the angry Gypsies who respond to this blog quote scriptures or use relgious terminology. None though, have said to me that it is wrong to lie, steal and cheat. And that's what goes on in these places.

Child Abuse

A social services office in New York frequently refers people to us who are trying to locate birth parents. Although these people usually have little money, we try to help them.

Today, a social services agency that helps homeless people called us. The case worker had a man there who was looking for the mother of his child, and the child. The social worker called Sherlock Investigations to see if we could help.

My associate, Sherry, talked to him. Right away, she asked the social worker if the homeless man had a criminal record. While still on the phone, the social worker asked the homeless person.

"Yes, he does," he said.

"For what," Sherry asked.

"Child abuse," he said.

Of course we're not going to help him find his child when he's been arrested for child abuse! You'd think that the social worker would have asked him himself.

Investigate Before You Invest

At Sherlock Investigations we get many cases from people who've invested their life savings with some "Wall Street" firm. In every case, they invested just a few thousand dollars for starters. Within a short time, the return on their investment reaped a great harvest. After they had taken the bait, and, yes, that's what they did, they invested a much larger sum.

When the time came to reap their great reward, the investor was gone. Then they hired Sherlock Investigations to find the person. In some cases we found the person, and when we did, they were arrested.

When I mentioned a "Wall Street firm" above, I didn't really mean it. Anyone can have a nice web site designed, and anyone can rent a phone, a desk, or a cubbyhole from firms located on Wall Street who rent to such fly-by-night companies.

In New York there are a number of such companies. They're on Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and the Empire State Building. Anyone can have a prestigious address.

Most of the time, our cases involving scam artists are past-tense. But, last week we had a client from Italy who was interested in investing with a New York-based company. Fortunately, he hired us to check out the company first.

It turned out that the company was run by scam artists, and two of the people involved were wanted by authorities in Europe.

Always investigate before you invest. If you don't, you could lose your retirement, your life savings, and your home.

New York Taxis

It's amazing how many people leave personal items in New York City taxis. Most of the time they never see them again.

One time a client took a cab to our office. On the cab seat he found a woman's wallet, so he brought it to us. From the driver's license inside we learned that a woman from Texas lost it. Included with the driver's license were credit cards (an identity thief's dream), and over $100 in cash.

To make a long story short, we tried for an hour to locate her. We finally found a phone number in Texas and left a message. In a little while, panic stricken, she called us. She didn't even know that she had lost her wallet until she checked her voice mail at home.

She took another cab to our office; I gave her the wallet, and she darted off with hardly a "thank you." Most Texans I know are more gracious.

We've had a number of clients who've come to us to report that they left something in a cab...everything from wallets to laptop computers. I don't think we've ever been able to track down the lost item.

This brings up one of my rules. Just like I have an eBay rule (Never spend more than you can afford to lose.), my New York taxi rule is, "Always get a receipt."

New York cabs have an automated receipt printer. If you don't take your receipt, the cabby will just throw it away. If you take your receipt, and you absent-mindedly leave something in a cab, you can easily track the cab and cabby and locate what you left behind.

Secret Video Taping

Yesterday I came across a story about a former police dispatcher who was charged with a felony for secretly videotaping his ex-wife. His ex-wife happens to be a deputy sheriff in upstate New York.

The man, Michael Alteri, was accused of hiding a video camera in his ex-wife's home. Ticonderoga town police obtained a search warrant for Alteri's home and found videotapes from a hidden video camera allegedly installed in his ex-wife's home. He was charged with felony eavesdropping.

This brings up several questions. Did Alteri place the camera in his ex-wife's home before the divorce? Or, did he trespass in her home after the divorce?

Where was the camera? In her bedroom or bathroom? Since the grand jury indicted him for felony eavesdropping, it was probably in one of them.

The article I read didn't say why the town police got a search warrant, but somehow the man's ex-wife must have suspected something was going on. Perhaps she had her home swept for eavesdropping devices.

New York state has very stiff penalties for audio eavesdropping, or wiretapping, as it's called. The laws regarding video eavesdropping are somewhat vague. In any case, a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their home, which makes this type of video taping problematic.

Victim of Identity Theft?

Recently I posted a couple of stories about a close friend of mine who was the victim of identity theft. Her JP Morgan Chase checking account was raided, and the thief was processing $6000 every-other-day through PayPal.

When she learned of it, she called Chase, who closed her checking account. Then, two weeks later, someone went into four different Chase banks and started withdrawing money from her savings accounts. (You'd think Chase would have had some safeguards in place by then, but they didn't.)

My friend did all the things that you're supposed to do when one becomes a victim of identity theft: notify the bank, the credit bureaus, and file a police report. When she filed the police report with the NYPD, a Detective Ramos said that the perp probably knew her.

When I heard that, I said, "Yeah, right." I didn't believe if for a moment. Well, to make a long story short. My friend's accountant noticed that four of her clients have recently become the victims of identity theft. In one case, the police called her to run a name by her, to see if she recognized it.

"Yes, I fired that person a couple of months ago," the accountant said. The police had come up with a name in one of the cases, and it turned out that the same woman stole the identities of four different women, and was raking in thousands of dollars a week.

Detective Ramos was right on when he said, "It's probably somebody that you know."

DivorceNet

If you're going through a divorce, thinking about divorcing, or have a friend in either situation, you need to know about divorcenet.com. DivorceNet is the Internet's largest divorce resource, offering state-specific articles, an online community and a nationwide directory of divorce lawyers, mediators and financial professionals.

DivorceNet has over 16,000 registered users. Registration is free. There are over 70 Community Forums, where members help each other. Each forum has a Community Moderator; a professional who will answer reader's questions.

"Ask the Private Investigator" is one of the forums. I'm the Community Moderator. I enjoy answering online reader's questions. We've enjoyed thousands of visitors at Ask the Private Investigator.

There are many helpful sections on divorcenet. com. Here are some of them:

Collaborative Law - Avoid going to court.
Divorce Mediation - Negotiate your agreement.
Financial Planning - Understand your finances.
Real Estate - Your home, your future.

eBooks & Forms - Our most popular self-help tools:
Predivorce Document Checklist - Find hidden income.
Divorce Financial Worksheet - Organize your divorce.

News:
Divorce News Blog - Nationwide news and editorials on divorce and separation, updated daily.
Paternity Testing & Family Law News
Community:
Community Forums - Support network with over 70 forums.
Daily Answer Desk with Jim Gross, Esq. - Divorce advice from an experienced attorney.

Related Resources:
Child Support & Alimony
What are the support guidelines?

Custody & Visitation
How often will I see my kids?

Property Division
Will I need to sell my home?

Military Divorce
Is this the same as a civilian divorce?

Divorce & Taxes
Are you aware of tax-related divorce issues?

Stages of Divorce:
Considering Divorce
Planning Divorce
Filing & Litigation
After Divorce

State Resource Pages - Divorce law is different in each state.
Please visit the state in which you and your spouse currently reside or last lived together.

Begin Your Divorce Online - Customized online divorce forms. Fast, affordable and easy.

Save Money on Legal Fees - Software suite designed to help you take control of your finances.

If you, or someone you know, needs help with a divorce, I highly recommend divorcenet.com.

Media Hurts Private Investigator's Image

Once in a while the media presents something positive about private investigators. Most of the time, though, it's either sensationalist or negative. In our field, just like any other field, whether it's politics, banking, or education, there are bad apples.

Fictional TV shows about P.I.s either make us look like wonder-workers (and do everything for free, for you never see a P.I. taking money from a client in a TV show), or sleezeballs. Some P.I.s add to our sleezy image with their own TV shows.

Private investigators do a lot of good for society. We reign-in fugitives and deadbeat dads, we bust bogus psychics (and most of them are bogus), and find sellers of counterfeit merchandise and perpetrators of eBay fraud.

We help people from making costly mistakes when we do background investigations, we reunite loved ones, find birth parents for medical reasons, and do a number of things pro bono...just for a good cause.

Private investigators know how to dig for information, and know what to do with the information we find. (Yes, sometimes we do work wonders.) Some of us use it for good, others for not-so-good things.

Cost of Iraq War on Families

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a toll on families. Besides those being killed and wounded, being apart from loved ones months at a time (and several times in a row) creates great stress on relationships.

Every week we at Sherlock Investigations get email from soldiers serving overseas who think that their spouses, or boyfriends or girlfriends, are having affairs while they're away serving our country. Sometimes we even get calls from Iraq or Afghanistan via satellite phone. These calls are from both men and women.

A soldier's pay is so little, that there is often very little we can do in these situations, as surveillance is usually required to prove infidelity. And surveillance is expensive. It's usually best if the soldier serving overseas enlists help from a friend or family member.

The best thing "family values" politicians can do for these families is to bring our troops home.

How to Locate a Cell Phone Bug

Cell phone bugs are the most popular means of electronic eavesdropping today. When I talk about cell phone bugs, I don't mean a bugged, or tapped, cell phone. While the government has equipment that can pick up your cell phone conversations, you're probably not a major criminal or a threat to national security, so the government has no interest in you. If you think otherwise, you're probably paranoid.

Most people who are interested in what you say on your cell can't afford $75,000 for the electronic equipment to do the job, and the manufacturer wouldn't sell it to them anyway.

However, there is a real threat with cell phone bugs. In this case, a cell phone itself is the bug. While you can purchase a specially equipped cell phone to use as a bug for around $1000 on the Internet, you can just go to your nearest cell phone store.

One or two things make these cell phones unique. First, when you call them, they don't ring or vibrate. Calling them simply turns on their microphone. Now the person calling can hear every word that's spoken within a certain proximity. Most cell phones have a pretty good microphone (mouthpiece) that serves quite well for eavesdropping. Some cell phones, though, are equipped with a highly sensitive mike that will easily pick up a conversation twenty feet away.

Think about the possibilities. A person could visit an office and drop one in a plant, under a bed, or, using double-sided tape, stick one under a conference table or desk. Then go on their merry way, and call the phone anytime they want to listen to the sounds in that room.

The best kind of phone to buy for eavesdropping purposes is a pre-paid cell phone that has a feature to shut off the ringer. These phones can't be traced to the purchaser. But, the number the person calls from would still show up if it was a published number.

There's another adaptation of these phones that you should know about. Eventually, the battery's going to die. Cell phone bugs placed in a vehicle have a wire going from the phone to the car's battery. This means unlimited listening time. They also have a seperate, sensitive microphone. The tiny mircrophone is often hidden several feet from the phone.

Thus, the phone could be hidden in almost any place in a vehicle. The wires to the battery and microphone are hidden very carefully, usually in interior trim or molding. These cell phone bugs often have a tiny circuit board about the size of a postage stamp attached to the mic wire.

Now, how to locate them. (Professionals have sensitive equipped that can locate a cell phone that is powered on.) First, any unclaimed cell phone in an office or home should be suspect. This is especially true if you find that they are turned on. To disable one, simply remove the battery.

If you go in a room, think about where you would hide a cell phone if you wanted to eavesdrop. Use your imagination. Don't forget to look on top of the tiles of a room with a dropped ceiling. Look under tables, chairs, in plants. Thoroughly search the room.

In a vehicle, do the same thing. The most likely place to hide a cell phone bug in a car is within a few feet in front of the driver. Look in the air vents, under the dash (use a mirror and flashlight), and under the seats.

If the cell phone bug is equipped with a seperate microphone, the search is much harder. Look for any screws, trim, or molding that may have been tampered with. Look in the map light, the air vents. Look at the battery and see if there is an extra wire that's not original equipment. The same with the fuse box.

It once took me two hours to locate a cell phone bug in an SUV. The microphone was in the maplight. I followed one wire up into the roof where I found a Motorola cell phone. Another wire went from the cell phone to the battery for power.

When someone calls a cell phone bug, they can hear everything up to twenty or more feet from the device. Cell phone bugs are the easiest and cheapest eavesdropping devices to install. No wonder they're so popular.

Plane Hits New York Apartment

When a single-engine plane slammed into a 50-story apartment building this afternoon everyone immediately thought of terrorism and 9/11. Apparently, it was a tragic accident.

Let's suppose for a moment that it wasn't an accident. There is virtually no security at the nation's hundreds of small airports. A person could easily steal a plane from one of them. In fact, in some small airports that rent planes, it's possible to obtain one without even displaying a pilot's license.

Taking this scenario further, let's suppose that someone rented or stole a plane, landed it in a field, and filled it up with explosives. Then they took off and literally flew below the radar to any chosen target.

In the immediate aftermath of today's tragedy, I wondered if this small plane could have been targeting the nearby United Nations. It probably wasn't, but it could happen in the future.

Spy vs. Counterspy

This week's New York Magazine has an article called Spy vs. Counterspy. The subtitle reads: "Two private eyes face off on getting the goods and keeping your secrets." By Sarah Bernard, it's a fun piece that came in the wake of the Jeanine Pirro revelation about her wanting to bug her husband's boat.

The article focuses on five areas, Eavesdropping, Stalking, Digits, Visual Contact, and Cybersecurity. I'm the spy in the article. Todd Morris, of Brickhouse Security, is the counterspy.

Of course, I want you to go out and buy New York Magazine, so I'm not going to reveal any more about the article. However, there is one point that the writer, or the fact-checker, misunderstood.

Under Eavesdropping, the article says, "Inexpensive scanners pick up wireless calls easily." This is not true. The older 900 MHz cordless phones (and baby monitors) can be picked up easily with a Radio Shack scanner. Even the first analog cell phones had this weakness. Today, it's very difficult to eavesdrop on a cell phone. I know of one company that has a scanner that will pick up cell phone conversations. They sell it to the government for about $75,000, something the average person can't afford (They wouldn't sell to the average person even if they could afford it.).

Anyway, I'll write a Letter to the Editor about the misunderstanding. In any case, you heard it here first.

Surveillance

When most people think of private detectives they associate us with tailing. And we do a lot of that. Even in the age of the Internet, where all sorts of information can be found online, old-fashioned surveillance is still the name-of-the-game. Some private investigators, and, especially, information brokers, do everything online. There are some things you can never find online.

The Sherlock Investigations' surveillance teams are busy every week. Sometimes we don't have enough personnel to cover our needs, so it becomes first-come, first-served.

Most of our surveillance involves what we call domestic cases...infidelity cases. As long as people think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence we'll be in business.

Some of our cases involve Indians or Pakistanis whose families practice arranged marriages. They might have, for instance, a daughter that they have arranged to marry a young man who currently lives in New York. They want to know what he's really like when certain others aren't around.

The best way to find out someone's comings-and-goings is to follow them. You can also find out if they smoke, drink, gamble, or what-have-you.

In other cases, we follow people around who come to New York, America's playground. They think that if they're 1,500 miles away from home that they can get away with things they can't do at home.

We'll follow them to restaurants, bars, and even when they pick up a prostitute and bring her back to their hotel. I've sat in a hotel lobby for 8 hours, and across the street from the Trump Plaza in the middle of winter on a park bench dressed like a homeless person, with my camcorder in a paper bag, looking like a bottle of beer.

Our surveillance teams have digital video cameras, hidden cameras, and a specially equipped surveillance van. One investigator even has a kayak that he said we could've used if Jeanine Pirro had hired us to conduct surveillance on her husband's boat.

Surveillance is expensive. One detective for 4 hours costs $600. Two detectives costs about $800. We did a surveillance that lasted for 10 weekends and ran into the thousands of dollars. Often, though, surveillance is the only way to conduct an investigation. What we see is what you get.

What Private Investigators Do

While we list our services on our web site in menu-style, we actually do a lot more than what we list. The only thing we won't do is anything illegal. For example, we're asked all the time to plant a bug or tap a phone. We'll find one in a business or residence, but we won't place one.

Of course, we do all the normal things PIs do such as tailing an unfaithful spouse, run background investigations on people, and locate missing people. Once is a while we are asked to perform countersurveillance. In other words, people think that they are being followed hire us to follow them to see if they're being followed.

Some of our assignments brings us to the New York Public Library where they have phone books going back to Alexander Graham Bell's time. A lot of useful information can be found in old phone books.

We have some smart people working for us. We know how to conduct research, whether on the Internet, or real physical places.

With the advent of the Internet, I worried about our business. After all, anyone can access the Internet. I've found that my worries were unfounded, as most people don't know where to go on the Internet to get the information they need.

Most of all, we're problem solvers. Contact us if you've got a problem that you think we can solve.

Witness Protection Program

The so-called "witness protection program" is administered by the United States Marshall's Service. The U.S. Marshall's probably apprehend more fugitives than any other law-enforcement office.

The U.S. Marshall's are generally in charge of prisoners, from the time they're arrested, throughout the trial, and until they are put away.

The U.S. Marhall's are also often in charge of protecting witnesses. Some witnesses risk life and limb when agreeing to testify against suspected criminals. Some criminals are so dangerous that after the trial a whole new identity needs to be set up for the witness. This includes a new name, address, occupation, and sometimes even plastic surgery to change the witnesses appearance.

At Sherlock Investigations we sometimes get calls from people who know the whereabouts of a fugitive. They're afraid to report this themselves, so they call upon us to do it.

Using our extensive contacts in law-enforcement, we're more than happy to provide this service. And it is a service. Putting dangerous people behind bars is a good thing.

Bugging a Spouse

Since the Jeanine Pirro investigation involving her desire to bug her husband's boat, a lot of people have asked me if it's legal to bug your spouse. The reasoning is, that you should be able to bug your own home or marital property, or tap your own phone.

I won't do it for anyone, and I always discourage people from doing it. Not being a lawyer, I can't argue the fine points of the law. Generally, if you're not a party to the conversation, you can't record it.

If Pirro did bug her husband's boat, and the FBI says it was illegal, then her discussion of it with a private eye was illegal too. It's conspiracy to commit a crime.

As a former district attorney, she should have realized that she was treading on dangerous ground. Also, the person she discussed it with on the phone was someone to be careful with, as he was the target of investigation. A good rule to follow: never discuss anything on a phone, landline or cell, that you don't want the world to know about.

Pirro Bugging Case

The FBI dropped a bombshell on Jeanine Pirro, the Republican candidate for Attorney General of New York State, by letting her know that she was the target of a federal investigation as a result of her wanting to bug her husband's boat.

The revelation was leaked to WNBC/Channel 4, in New York, after the FBI learned of her discussion with private eye Bernie Kerik after tapping his phone while conducting an investigation of Kerik. Kerik is a former Police Commissioner of New York City.

Yesterday, Pirro held a press conference in an attempt to save her faltering campaign. Pirro called the investigation a "political witch hunt and smear campaign," to ruin her politically.

She demanded an investigation into why sealed documents were leaked to the public. She said that her marriage was personal and not part of her campaign. She added that there's nothing illegal about one spouse taping another.

Jeanine Pirro, a former District Attorny of Westchester County, should know better. Wiretapping without a court order is illegal, period. Electronic eavesdropping, unless you're a party to the conversation, is wiretapping, and illegal.

On the FBI tapes, Pirro is quoted as saying, "What am I supposed to do, Bernie? Watch him fuck her every night? What am I supposed to do? I can go on the boat. I'll put the fucking thing on myself."

I can understand a woman's outrage at an unfaithful spouse. We get calls all the time from women in similar circumstances. The answer though, is not bugging. Surveillance would have probably done the trick for Pirro. Now, it's too late. Her political career is over, and probably her marriage too.

While the leak of the FBI tapes to the media was probably a political thing, the FBI's investigation into Pirro is not. Whenever the FBI suspects that a crime has been committed, or may be, it is bound to investigate.

In this case, they didn't know if private investigator Kerik went ahead with it, or not. They didn't know if Pirro found some other way to bug her husband, including doing it herself, as she had suggested.

The FBI is blameless. The person who leaked the tape transcript probably is not.

New York Post & Background Investigations

In their section called "Pulse," my interview about background investigations with the New York Post came out this morning. It looks like it'll land me on the Today Show tomorrow. We'll see.

The article focused heavily on online dating. Because of the frequency of calls we get about online dating, I decided to do something about it. As much as 50% of the posts you find on online dating sites are exaggerations, if not outright lies. People lie about their looks, age, marital status, and their employment.

So, a couple of years ago I started an online dating site. The unique feature of the site was that every member underwent a background check. If we found that they lied about something, we kicked them off.

I lost my shirt with the dating site. I got out before I lost my pants, too. The project was underfunded, and I don't know the business of online dating sites. However, I do know about background investigations. So, I decided to stick with that.

Now, background checks are becoming quite common on online dating sites. I heard about one company that does background checks for $25. That's like jumping out of a plane using a handkerchief for a parachute. I don't see any way a $25 background check would be of any use.

Background Investigations

Today, a reporter from the New York Post interviewed me about conducting background investigations. Her particular angle was employing background investigations in checking out a boyfriend. The article is supposed to appear in tomorrow's paper. We'll see.

I've written about background investigations several times on this blog, and I'm sure I'll write about it again. There's always more to say about background investigations.

There are several tiers to background investigations. First, there is the case where you have a lot of information to start with; things that the client tells you about the subject of the investigation. The investigator then verifies the information provided. Often, we're unable to verify the information because it's false.

These investigations cost the least because we have somewhere to start. We simply compare what's provided with what actually is.

The most difficult, and expensive, background investigations are when you have little to start with, and have to discover everything through investigating. Clients sometimes want to find out everything they can about a person's "lifestyle." In other words, does he smoke, drink, carouse, hang out, and who are his friends? The only real way to get this kind of case done is through surveillance. Surveillance costs a lot of money.

Whatever you're looking for on a person, we can find it, if you've got the money.

Detective Novels

I don't read many private detective novels, mostly because they fail to depict reality. But, several years ago I visited Partners & Crime mystery bookstore on Greenwich Avenue in New York. I asked for any books about private investigators in New York City.

They pointed me to Lawrence Block's series on Matthew Scudder. Since that time, I've read them all, and enjoyed them. Some were better than others, of course. Familiar places made me feel like I was part of the stories. There were some locations, though, that I couldn't quite figure out.

Later, I met Block. He confessed that he made up some of the locations, a sort of composite.

The main difference between private detective novels and the real world is that the private detectives in these books usually work on criminal cases. Most private detectives don't work on criminal cases. Yes, there are some that specialize in criminal matters, but not that many. About 10% of our cases at Sherlock Investigations involve criminal matters.

Also, many private investigators don't carry guns. Those who are ex-cops sometimes do, but even some of them have hung up their weapons. I stopped carrying a pistol years ago, before I actually shot someone.

In most states, private detectives aren't allowed to carry badges. Along that line, in Massachusetts, where I'm also licensed, we're called Private Detectives. New York, though, thinks that "detective" sounds too official, so we're called Private Investigators here.

Private detective novels are often a fun read, but just don't believe everything you read.

What's in Your Wallet?

"What's in your wallet?" is a well-known credit card company's advertising slogan. I know one thing that's not in your wallet. That's your proof of citizenship. It's not there because there really is no such thing, unless you're a naturalized citizen and you have a certificate issued by the government.

I have no proof of citizenship other than my birth certificate, and I don't carry that around in my wallet. My driver's license simply has my name, address, and date of birth. So, if I were arrested on suspicion for being an illegal alien, I couldn't defend myself on the spot.

At Sherlock Investigations we get quite a few inquiries either about a person's citizenship, or their immigration status. Since INS won't cooperate with us, and there is no database listing citizens, these cases are very dificult.

I don't think I'm in favor of a national identity card, but I am in favor of noting citizenship on a person's driver's license, or state ID card. It could just be two little boxes, and the state would just check one, citizen, or non-citizen.

Paranoia

"Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean that someone isn't watching me," goes the saying. And it's true. However, many paranoid people are totally convinced that some sort of electronic eavesdropping or harassment is being employed against them. They're so convinced that they relay convincing stories to investigators.

Most of the calls to Sherlock Investigations from truly paranoid people are from women over 60 who live alone. They're convinced that a neighbor, or someone else, is beaming some sort of radiation into their apartment. Some spend all their waking hours dwelling on this.

I've heard stories that go on and on with detail. Some people purchase radio frequency meters over the Internet and point them in their neighbor's direction. If they get a reading, they believe that they have proof. Even if the equipment is of decent quality, one needs to know how to use it.

With some callers I've said, "Have your doctor or lawyer call me. If they request our services, I'll be glad to help you." Lately, we've been limiting our domestic, individual cases, and restricting our technical surveillance countermeasures to businesses only.

While I mentioned women over 60 who live alone, I don't want to discount women living alone who are going through a divorce. Estranged husbands often bug their wives residences or tap their phones.

Not being a psychiatrist, I don't know if it's possible for a person suffering from mental illness to acknowledge that electronic eavesdropping is a figment of their imagination. If I believe that there's any possibility of a person being under electronic surveillance, I want to help. Therefore, I'll listen to your story, to a point.

The Secret Life of Private Investigators

Under "Buzzwords" in The Week in Review, Sunday's (9/17/06) New York Times featured an article titled "The Secret Life of Private Investigators." Spawned by the recent Hewlitt Packard scandal over pretexting, the piece briefly touched on what we do as private investigators.

Most private investigators employ pretexting, defined as posing as someone you're not. Usually, this is completely legal. However, when someone poses as the person they're trying to get information on, especially when it's to banks, phone companies, and utility companies, it becomes illegal.

The Times article gave away some of our secrets, but not all of them, fortunately. It also mentioned some of the legitimate reasons that we are hired to locate people, such as finding deadbeat dads, debtors, and runaways. I would add to that, witnesses who could testify in a court action, heirs, and fugitives.

While we do have a lot of tricks up our sleeves, most of our work requires persistence, an active imagination, and patience.

$500 Background Check

There is a difference between a background check, and a background investigation. Most of our clients can afford a background check, but not a full-fledged investigation.

When we perform a background check for $500 we don't leave the office. We search many public and non-public online records for information on the subject. We search newspapers online to find any possible articles written about the subject.

We also perform an in-depth Internet search, often coming up with very hard-to-find items. We also may employ some private investigator's "tricks-of-the-trade".

A $500 background check includes an address history, a search for criminal records going back 7 years, in any states and counties the subject has lived in during that time. It includes a search, again online, of relatives, associates, and may include anyone the subject has lived with, including a spouse. It includes bankruptcies, liens and judgments, and vehicle, boat and plane ownership. We also check to see if the suject is a registered voter, and if so, what party affiliation.

If we've been given a resume, we'll verify past employers and education claimed. Generally, a $500 background check won't include present employment (although it may come up in a routine search, and if it does, we include it). Of course, anything that comes up in the course of the background check is given to the client (However, we don't usually give out Social Security Numbers.)

I think that that's quite a lot for $500. However, some clients want much more than that. OK, now we're talking about a background investigation. An investigation includes all of the above, but more. An investigation may take us out on the street. We may interview neighbors, past employers, relatives...whatever it takes to get the job done.

One problem with this type of investigation is that the subject of the investigaion may learn about it. Sometimes great care needs to be taken to prevent this, which makes things even harder.

Background investigations may cost in the thousands of dollars. Telling us what information you specifically want will help keep down the costs. In any case, being specific about yours needs is always helpful.

Rick Ross and Destructive Groups

Rick Ross is in hot demand. I'm not talking about Rick Ross, the rapper. I suppose he's in hot demand too, but only to people who enjoy rap. I'm talking about Rick Ross the exit counselor.

An exit counselor is a person who helps people get out of cults. It's a profession with a lot of job security. Cults have been around forever, and because of our human foibles, they always will .

Exit counselors have varying degrees of expertise and integrity. I've known Rick Ross for almost 20 years. Rick is dedicated to his work and extremely professional. As a result, he's help a lot of families get their loved ones out of destructive groups.

I think I have a pretty good knowledge of various religions and cults, but Rick knows much, much more than I. In fact, I believe Rick Ross knows and understands cults, or destructive groups, as well, if not better, than anyone else in the world.

Interventions, i.e., the process of convincing a person to leave a destructive group, aren't always successful. The reasons range from a person being mentally ill, to simply bad timing.

Because of Rick Ross's successes, groups such as Scientology and others, have viciously attacked Rick. They've hired private investigators to follow him around and go through his trash. They've dug up indiscretions from his youth, and sued him in various courts around the country. Rick Ross still stands.

Because of his sincerety and dedication, and often because they feel his First Amendment rights are being violated, powerful lawyers have stepped in to help him out when he's challenged by destructive groups.

Rick Ross runs a not-for-profit educational foundation. His web site is among the most popular sites in the world, as it contains a wealth of information about destructive groups. Visit it at www.rickross.com.

Ann Richards

A great woman, former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, died yesterday. The only thing that this has to do with private investigations is airports. Let me explain.

I've always admired Ann Richards. She was outspoken, witty and fiesty. She's the one that quipped that George W. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth." While there isn't much to admire about most politicans, they should at least entertain us. She did that, and more.

So, when I spotted her standing alone in Chicago's O'Hare airport a few years ago, I just had to approach her and tell her how much I admired her. She accepted my compliments with grace, but had nothing funny to say at the time.

OK, so I previously lumped Ann Richards, airports and private investigation together. Sherlock Investigations constantly conducts surveillances in the New York metro area. Many times we've had to start the surveillance assignments at the New York airports.

This has always been a challenge, and has become more-so since 9/11. Security is tight at airports (but not at US ports...what's wrong with this picture?). Security is also tight in New York Hotels. That's one reason that we require clients requesting hotel surveillance to book us a room. You need a room key to be able to hang around a hotel lobby for long periods.

Anyway, life goes on. I'll always remember Ann Richards. Her sense of humor and pointed remarks did us some good.

Wiretap and Bug Detection

In the business, we call it TSCM, which stands for Technical Surveillance CounterMeasures. To most people, it's simply wiretap and bug detection. By "bug," of course, I mean electronic eavesdropping, not insects. The bugs we look for are not cockroaches. If so, they'd be easy to find, especially here in New York.

There are numerous reasons why people want our services. A company many be hosting a conference in which confidential information will be shared. They want to be sure that no one has placed a listening device in the conference area to learn their trade secrets.

In one case, a big city mayor just assumed office after an election. Sherlock Investigations was hired to sweep his office, conference room, and limousine. He wanted to be sure his predecessor didn't leave any listening devices behind. He didn't, but when I saw wires attached to the battery with alligator clips, I at first thought they were power for a transmitter. It turned out that they were for the mayor's car siren.

In a recent case, a high-profile socialite had us sweep her office for bugs. None were located.

In another case, a woman found that her husband, whom she was divorcing, knew a lot about conversations she had on her cell phone. She thought her cell phone was tapped. While this is possible, it's improbable unless the FBI is spying on you.

It turned out that her husband had placed a cell phone bug in her SUV. It took me two hours to locate it, as it wasn't turned on at the time of the search. Finally, within the maplight above the rearview mirror, I located a tiny microphone attached to a postage-sized circuit board. Two wires were attached to the circuit board. One led to the battery. The other led to a cell phone hidden in the ceiling of the vehicle.

The husband would call the cell phone from various places in the U.S. and listen to his wife's side of the conversation as she talked in her vehicle. The hidden cell phone didn't ring, but turned on the sensitive microphone.

Of course, once I found the cell phone, all I had to do is look at the phone numbers that had called the phone. All of the numbers were the husband's.

Cell phone bugs are probably the most common type of bug now. A specially prepared cell phone can be left on a desk, taped under a conference table, placed in a plant, or under a car seat. The eavesdropper can call at will and listen to the conversation in the room or vehicle.

Of course, we can locate cell phone bugs, and other eavesdropping devices, including hidden cameras, whether they be wireless or wired.

Pretexting

Hewlett Packard's scandal has put "pretexting" in the daily news. Until recently, only private investigators and information brokers knew about pretexting. According to today's Wall Street Journal, pretexting is "obtaining information by hiding one's identity." It's a lot more than that. It's not only hiding one's identity, it's pretending to be the person that you're trying to get information on.

When an information broker, or a private investigator, calls a phone company and says he's Bob Smith, when he's not Bob Smith, and that his house burned down and he lost all his cell phone records, and could they fax them to him, that's pretexting. Because it's identity theft, it's unethical, and, in many cases, illegal. At the very least, phone companies can sue a person for obtaining private information by fraudulent means.

We private investigators are equipped to employ pretexting because we can readily get a person's Social Security Number, date of birth, and mother's maiden name. With this power, though, comes responsibility. And because of the careless actions of some, private investigators continually lose their access to important information.

I know of at least two cases in which investigators provided home and work addresses to clients, who then went out and murdered the women that they had been stalking. That's why we at Sherlock Investigations are very careful to whom we give information. One of our policies is to never give out someone's Social Security Number unless there are legal grounds to do so.

We sometimes run a background check on our clients, for our own protection, and the protection of the public. Also, we sometimes ask clients why they want certain information. If their answers convince us, then we provide the info they want.

So, if you contact us for an investigation, don't be offended if we ask you some questions. If you have legitimate reasons, and there are many reasons, to order an investigation, you have nothing to worry about.

Employment as a Private Investigator

At Sherlock Investigations we are flooded with inquiries about employment. Some people call, others send email, and others send regular mail. Most applicants have no prior experience as an investigator, and most have no skills applicable to the field.

This leads me to believe that most applicants are on unemployment, and contact us just to meet their quota. It's obvious that none of these people have read the Employment section on our website.

If you're serious about getting into the field of private investigations, then learn some attractive skills. You don't have to have previous experience in law enforcement. I've seen librarians and geneologists become private investigators. That's because they know how to conduct research.

Take a look at our home page. See the kind of investigations that we conduct. How would you go about investigating these topics: locating someone, backgrounding a person or company, counterfeit merchandise investigations, finding a wire tap or other hidden eavesdropping device, investigating a cult, etc.?

If you have the skills to perform any of the above, you might make it as a private investigator.

Finally, please read our Employment column found at our home page.

Free People Search

Are people who get something for free called free-loaders? A while back Sherlock Investigations offered a free people search once a month for a worthy case. Our heart was in the right place, but it didn't work out because the people behind the cases we took were either unappreciative, or uncooperative.

You'd think they would be both, since they're getting hundreds of dollars worth of absolutely free services. But, that never seemed the case.

I don't know if TV has helped private investigators or hurt us. Television has focused on our industry to the point that people often think of us when they have a problem. The only problem is, TV doesn't present private investigators in reality.

The biggest point that they miss is the financial aspect. If you see a docudrama about private investigators, you never see a client signing the contract and handing the private investigator a check or credit card. In fact, no show about private investigators show such a thing.

Who's paying the bills on these shows? In the case of a docudrama the production company pays the investigator for his services. The so-called client gets everything free.

In programs like CSI, or other fictional shows, whether or not they're based on reality, some unseen and unmentioned entity pays the bills. In real life, the government foots the bills for investigations. Sometimes, though, they don't have the budget. That's why many crimes are never solved, because no one has the money to pay the detectives.

Criminal cases and civil cases are not solved by entering information into a data base and pushing a button. There are very specific steps an investigator must go through in solving a case.

We'll still take pro bono cases, but very, very seldomly. We don't have the time or the budget. Sorry.

William Koch's Investigation

William Koch is a billionaire, and most well-known for winning the Americas Cup in 1992. Koch collects wine. In fact, in the basement of his Florida mansion he has 17,000 bottles of it. Several bottles were alleged to be rare French wines once owned by our third president, Thomas Jefferson.

However, the legitimacy of this claim was challenged by several sources. Koch purchased the alleged rare wine from a German collector named Hardy Rodenstock. Since doubt was cast upon the authenticity of the wines, and knowing full well that the authorities had little interest in the plight of a billionaire and his rare wines, Koch himself launched an investigation of the wines and Rodenstock.

He hired former FBI agents to head the investigation. They concluded that Koch had been taken by a con artist. Now, Koch is suing Rodenstock. Koch footed the bill for the investigation, which cost over a million dollars.

Among other things, the private investigators learned that Rodenstock used to go by another name, and he apparently faked documents, among other misdeeds.

This brings us to the issue of the cost of investigations. A million dollars. Just to prove the legitimacy of a few bottles of wine.

People contact Sherlock Investigations for background investigations on various individuals. Among the things they ask us to find out are the number of bank accounts a person has, the amount of money in each account, properties owned, the person's place of employment and employment history, his marital status, how many wives he's had, the number of children, his educational background, and on and on.

When we tell them what we can actually do for their budget of, say, $500, they balk. Well, first of all, it's illegal to get most financial information. We can get information on certain assets, such as property, vehicles, boats, and planes.

Private Investigators can get a lot of information on a person. If there's anything detrimental, they can get that too. However, it's going to cost the client.

When the FBI does a background check on a person it takes at least 6 months, and costs the government thousands of dollars. Yet, people often want the same thing from us for $500, and done in five days.

As much as possible, we like to quote flat rates for investigations. To do so, we have to determine how many hours it will take us to gather the information. We roughly figure our fee at the rate of $150 an hour. So a ten-hour investigation would cost $1500. In reality, most of our background investigations go for $500. To do the kind of work many clients demand would cost in the thousands.

So, the truth is, you get what you pay for.

Con Artists

It never ceases to amaze me how often people are taken in by con artists. It shouldn't amaze me, though. The word "con" comes from "confidence." A con artist, whether a man or woman, builds up your confidence in them to the extent that they can rob you blind with a smile...and you'll smile right back while they're doing it.

Con artists are often complete strangers. You can meet them anywhere. They're always on the lookout for an easy target. Or, they can be members of your family.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal had an article about family members who take advantage of elderly family members. Like all con artists, one of their techniques is to try to separate the person being conned from other family members or friends.

The reason, of course, is that others can see what's going on more easily than the person being conned. So, the first sign that one should watch out for is that the person you trust so much tries to keep you from your friends or family. Another sign that you're being conned is that the person you trust keeps financial records from you, such as your check book. They assure you that everything's being taken care of.

The elderly are often afraid to report their suspicions about being conned, because they think that others will think that they've become incompetent. Actually, recognizing a con is a sign of competence.

At Sherlock Investigations we've conducted many background checks of con artists. Often though, the person being conned will never admit it, especially when others have pointed it out to them. Denial is costly.

JP Morgan Chase Security

Recently I wrote about a close friend whose savings account at JP Morgan Chase, or just Chase for short, was hacked into online. The final damages were that the hacker got $64,000, processed through PayPal. Every other day they extracted $6000.

Of course, my friend called Chase immediately upon finding out that her money was disappearing. Well, actually, that's not quite accurate. She received a letter from Chase verifying that she had changed her address. But she hadn't. So she got on the phone with Chase and within a few minutes they found out that a chunk of money had disappeared from her account.

Chase quickly put a stop to the leaking funds, or at least that's what my friend thought. Yesterday, she found out that $6000 was now missing from her checking account. How Chase failed to catch that I don't know, but it underscores my belief that online banking is unsafe. Sure, the accounts are insured, but it's still a pain in the ass to straighten everything out.

Prostitution in New York

New York City is known as America's playground for entertainment.
This also applies to illegal entertainment and the city's abundant underground sex industry. There are more than 250 brothels in New York City's five boroughs.

Prostitution may be illegal in New York, but there's no shortage of sex workers plying their trade. Working out of an individual's apartment or apartments converted to many small bedrooms, they advertise "in call" services on cable TV and several free weekly newspapers. For those unwilling to go to a brothel, the same services are just a phone call away. Many hundreds of escorts provide "out call" services to hotel guests. Of course, prostitutes still work the streets, especially near every hotel.

At Sherlock Investigations, we've researched the industry, and made a map of NYC's brothels. When conducting a surveillance, and when the alleged philanderer is followed, investigators are be able to identify an existing brothel, even though on the outside it appears to be just a regular apartment building or business.

Unfortunately, in the course of our work, we have a high demand for surveillance, and have the ability to track and investigate subjects frequenting brothels. Most people have no idea the prevalence and popularity of these establishments---what is known as the world's oldest profession is a thriving business in locations throughout the city that you would never be aware of.

Our maps of brothel locations in Manhattan was formulated after many hours of research, including phone calls to many of these establishments, surveillance, and information from company case files. We used to have this map on our web site, but we removed it so that we wouldn't cast shadows on any neighborhoods.

Whitey Bulger Sighting?

James "Whitey" Bulger has been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List since 2000. They're offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

A Boston mob figure, Bulger worked for years as an FBI informant. Now he's wanted in connection with several murders. He's considered armed (a knife) and dangerous. Photos of the white-haired Bulger are on the FBI's web site.

To this day, I believe that I spotted him on Saturday, September, 2003. Here's my story:

At approximately 1:25 p.m. I arrived with a friend at The Zipper theater at 336 W. 37th Street in New York to see a show called "Berkshire Village Idiot," a one-man comedy about Western Massachusetts.

After picking up our tickets at the box office, we sat in the waiting area for about 15 minutes until they opened the theater. Then we were ushered to our seats, which were second row center. The show began about 10-12 minutes later.

About 2:30 p.m., a half hour into the show, I noticed a distinguished-looking man sitting about 10 yards away from me, diagonally on the right. He was sitting at the far end of the front row. There were four people sitting to his left.

The physical appearance of the man caused me to do a double take. My first thought was that he looked like Whitey Bulger. His white hair was closely cropped on the sides. He appeared to have no hair on top. He was dressed in black slacks, a black short-sleeved shirt, and thick-soled black sandals, with no socks.

While he appeared very trim, his arms were somewhat muscular. He looked to be in his late 60s to early 70s. On the floor to his right was a medium-sized black, nylon backpack.

Dismissing my "sighting" as someone who looked coincidentally like Bulger, I let it go, but I occasionally glanced over at him. One time, our eyes met, and momentarily locked. After that, I avoided letting him see me look at him. For the next few minutes he acted figidty.

Although the show has some funny lines, I never observed him laughing, or even smiling to the extent of revealing his teeth.

In one scene, the lights were extinguished and the theater was almost completely dark. When the lights came back on, I noticed that the man had disappeared. His black bag was also gone. It was about 2:45 p.m.

I sat for a few minutes wondering what to do. It made sense to me that Bulger, being from Massachusetts, would find a show about Massachusetts of interest. My adrenaline began to rise. The seat in front of me, which was the front row, was empty. I quickly climbed over it and hurried out of the theater. I spoke to an usher who was seated on a folding chair outside.

I asked her if she had seen a man leave, and I described him. She said that she had, and mentioned that he had left in a hurry, and didn't look at her, or say anything.

I also spoke to the person in the ticket office. He had also noticed the man leave in an apparent rush. I went outside and looked up and down 37th Street, but didn't see the man, and found no one else who had noticed him.

Then, I called a contact at the FBI. My friend took my verbal report and suggested that someone would get back to me. I imagined that the FBI would first question me, and then go down to the theater and fingerprint the area where the man sat. If Bulger's fingerprints were found, then the sighting was real, and they would know at least that he was in New York.

I never heard from the FBI about this. Either they knew that Bulger was in some other location, or they're just slack in looking for him.

Google Earth

If you haven't discovered Google Earth by now you're really missing out on a fun and useful Internet tool. Google Earth is a great way to learn geoography. They list a number of fun sites that you can "fly" to. You can type in a location, including almost any address in the United States, and then Google Earth zooms in on it just like you're flying there. They even have a DaVinci Code tour, taking you to sites mentioned in the book and movie, which Google calls "a little-known and obscure book and movie."

At Sherlock Investigations, we use Google Earth as an investigative tool. It's useful in preparing for many surveillance assignments, as you can literally scope out the land. You can spot trees, buildings, lakes, and ponds. If fact, it is so detailed that I can see my parked car in New York. (The up-close details in some rural areas are somewhat obscure.)

Google Earth is comprised of satellite photos taken at least two years ago. It is not real time, but still very useful.

In one case, we found that the subject of an investigation had a large house with an olympic-size swimming pool. This was useful information as we were conducting a background investigation.

When trying to locate a person recently, Google Earth solved the case. No, we didn't see the person standing in front of his house. Through other means, we located the person and his phone number, but no one ever answered the phone there, and there was no response to a Fedex envelope sent to the address.

So I ran the address on Google Earth and noticed that it was a large complex in Florida near a golf course. Next, I ran the address on Google and found that it was a large retirement community. I Googled the name of the retirement community and found their contact number. I called their office and inquired about the subject of my investigation. Right away they told me, "Oh, he's on vacation up north and won't be back until the end of October." But they knew where he was and put me in touch with the subject.

So, besides being a lot of fun, Google Earth has numerous useful purposes.

Private Investigator's Q&A

If you have questions relating to private investigations, you can post them here anonymously and I will try to answer them on this forum. They could relate to personal problems that an investigator might help you with, or a general question.

We get many emails and calls a day at our office, but with caller I.D. and email IP addresses revealed it's difficult to remain anonymous. Now you can.

So, whatever your question, post it here, and I'll try to answer it in this column.

Cell Phone Records

On June 21, 2006, I appeared before the United States House of Representatives' Committee on Engergy and Commerce in Washington to ostensibly testify about "information brokers" who advertise cell phone records for sale on the Internet. If you Google my name, Skipp Porteous, you'll read on the Committee's website: "Mr. Porteous invoked his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination & declined to testify and answer the committees' questions."

The Committee is chaired by Congressman Joe Barton (R) of Texas, and had already passed a law that could land a person in prison for 20 years if they used deception to obtain a person's cell phone records. This was the first time I had ever heard of Congress holding a hearing after they had passed a law.

Earlier, they had invited me to testify. I politely declined. Then they subpoenaed me to appear. I would have gladly testified had they not kept me in the dark about why Sherlock Investigations was included in an investigation concerning what information brokers advertise on the Internet. Sherlock Investigations is not an information broker.

When our lawyer inquired why they included Sherlock Investigations in their investigation, as we have never advertised the procurement of cell phone records, the Committee's attorney said, "Are you sure?" Well, we were as sure as we could be.

When I was called upon to testify, the Committee posted a document on a large overhead flat-screen monitor. The document was a copy of a posting that a former employee had placed on the Internet...advertising a sale he was running on obtaining cell phone records. And he included Sherlock Investigations in his post.

After my initial shock, I said to myself, "So, this is what it was all about." Now, in a trial one has a right to "discovery." That means you have a right to know what the other side has on you. In a Congressional investigation you're kept in the dark, as it's not a trial.

We receive many inquiries about obtaining cell phone records. As useful as they might be in an investigation, we don't do it, period. I think you can understand why.