Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Proceed With Caution When Hiring a Private Investigator
Much of what I needed to know about my ex I was able to dig up on my own through online databases, but there was one nagging piece that I needed an answer to. Bob* told me he had never been married. The evidence supported that. I met many of his friends and his entire family. No one indicated that he'd been married before. But when he moved his numerous possessions out of my house the day the relationship ended, he left behind several items that raised suspicion.
These items were household goods, new, and still in the original boxes. He told me that he'd received one or more of the items as awards from golf tournaments. But these were household goods, not typical golf incentives: a cappuccino machine, hand mixer, juicer, dishes, glassware, about ten items in total. They looked a lot like wedding or shower gifts. I wondered if he had lied about his marital history as well as his financial situation.
So I asked a local PI to conduct a background check just to be sure. Weeks passed and my curiosity grew. One day I received an email from the PI asking me to call him regarding the investigation. Our conversation was shrouded in mystery. He told me he could not tell me everything he had found out, or how he had found the information, but he declared – in no uncertain terms – that Bob was currently married! I can't tell you what a shock that was to hear. We had ended the relationship just two months prior so I knew that the marriage was not a recent one. My mind raced with how he could possibly have hid a current marriage. I asked the PI for details but he refused to tell me more.
My mind reeled and my heart sank at the thought of this level of deception. I thought perhaps there had been a previous, brief marriage, but never did I imagine a current marriage. It took me about 24 hours to gain my composure and to put into action my own search for the truth. I emailed an associate of the PI who was involved in the initial search. I was able to pry a "possible" first name and age of the "wife" from the associate who relayed what he could remember. My next stop was the Registry of Vital Records where I met a sweet and helpful employee who performed a search of the marriage records for me. No marriage record turned up for Bob.
I spent innumerable hours online searching the name I was given. Nothing turned up that linked Bob to a potential wife. It took some time, and much angst, but I finally began to realize that the person the PI so adamantly claimed was his wife, was in fact his sister. This fact was later confirmed through another PI who, upon hearing my story, offered to conduct a database search for me.
The moral of this post is: Take every nugget you receive with a grain of salt. Not all information you, or a private investigator, pulls from a database is reliable. The PI who performed the initial search could have saved me much pain simply by qualifying his investigative results. Apparently he found a woman's name linked to the address Bob currently resided at (his parents' home). The woman's age was around Bob's age. The PI made a huge leap by assuming that it was a wife and not another relative.
Databases are subject to human error upon inputting data. Reports available on the Web from sources like peoplefinders.com and intellius.com, among others, offer very basic information and cost money to view. Much of the information they provide is available for free if you know where to look for it. The information on these reports is also not always current and in many cases inaccurate or unavailable. It cannot be relied upon. Beware that what they offer may not be available in your state. For example, usa-people-search.com offers a "Comprehensive Background Check" for $39.95 that includes marriage and divorce records. What you don't see is that in Massachusetts, marriage records are not available online, so you will not receive any marital information on someone you check in the state of Massachusetts.
I also have been told that intellius.com offers to provide a telephone number for $2.95. What they don't tell you is that the number may not be for the individual you are seeking. It could be any individual by the same name in that state. They also have a no refund policy. Buyer beware.
Bottom line: Hire a reputable private investigator. Investigate the investigator. Make sure he or she has credentials and is licensed if licensing is required in your state. Check references as well. Ask to see certified copies of marriage licenses before believing that the individual you are checking is truly married. Take information obtained from databases with a bit of skepticism.
* Name has been changed.
These items were household goods, new, and still in the original boxes. He told me that he'd received one or more of the items as awards from golf tournaments. But these were household goods, not typical golf incentives: a cappuccino machine, hand mixer, juicer, dishes, glassware, about ten items in total. They looked a lot like wedding or shower gifts. I wondered if he had lied about his marital history as well as his financial situation.
So I asked a local PI to conduct a background check just to be sure. Weeks passed and my curiosity grew. One day I received an email from the PI asking me to call him regarding the investigation. Our conversation was shrouded in mystery. He told me he could not tell me everything he had found out, or how he had found the information, but he declared – in no uncertain terms – that Bob was currently married! I can't tell you what a shock that was to hear. We had ended the relationship just two months prior so I knew that the marriage was not a recent one. My mind raced with how he could possibly have hid a current marriage. I asked the PI for details but he refused to tell me more.
My mind reeled and my heart sank at the thought of this level of deception. I thought perhaps there had been a previous, brief marriage, but never did I imagine a current marriage. It took me about 24 hours to gain my composure and to put into action my own search for the truth. I emailed an associate of the PI who was involved in the initial search. I was able to pry a "possible" first name and age of the "wife" from the associate who relayed what he could remember. My next stop was the Registry of Vital Records where I met a sweet and helpful employee who performed a search of the marriage records for me. No marriage record turned up for Bob.
I spent innumerable hours online searching the name I was given. Nothing turned up that linked Bob to a potential wife. It took some time, and much angst, but I finally began to realize that the person the PI so adamantly claimed was his wife, was in fact his sister. This fact was later confirmed through another PI who, upon hearing my story, offered to conduct a database search for me.
The moral of this post is: Take every nugget you receive with a grain of salt. Not all information you, or a private investigator, pulls from a database is reliable. The PI who performed the initial search could have saved me much pain simply by qualifying his investigative results. Apparently he found a woman's name linked to the address Bob currently resided at (his parents' home). The woman's age was around Bob's age. The PI made a huge leap by assuming that it was a wife and not another relative.
Databases are subject to human error upon inputting data. Reports available on the Web from sources like peoplefinders.com and intellius.com, among others, offer very basic information and cost money to view. Much of the information they provide is available for free if you know where to look for it. The information on these reports is also not always current and in many cases inaccurate or unavailable. It cannot be relied upon. Beware that what they offer may not be available in your state. For example, usa-people-search.com offers a "Comprehensive Background Check" for $39.95 that includes marriage and divorce records. What you don't see is that in Massachusetts, marriage records are not available online, so you will not receive any marital information on someone you check in the state of Massachusetts.
I also have been told that intellius.com offers to provide a telephone number for $2.95. What they don't tell you is that the number may not be for the individual you are seeking. It could be any individual by the same name in that state. They also have a no refund policy. Buyer beware.
Bottom line: Hire a reputable private investigator. Investigate the investigator. Make sure he or she has credentials and is licensed if licensing is required in your state. Check references as well. Ask to see certified copies of marriage licenses before believing that the individual you are checking is truly married. Take information obtained from databases with a bit of skepticism.
* Name has been changed.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Digging up Nuggets
As an innate detective and now a student of professional investigation, it is amazing the amount of information I was able to dig up on my ex simply by using the World Wide Web. Today I will share with you some of the sites I found that provided nuggets of information about my ex and uncovered some of the lies he told.
The first lie from Bob came even before we met in person. We met through an online dating site and emailed each other for a couple weeks before finally meeting. One of the first emails he sent said that he now lived in an apartment, but that he had previously owned a home which he sold to move closer to his job. He said that he had chosen to live in an apartment because he didn't want to deal with the maintenance required in owning a home. A public record search of deeds showed that he did own a home but he didn't sell it, it went to foreclosure. The reason he was living in an apartment was not so he could avoid home maintenance, it was because he had filed for bankruptcy and wouldn't be able to get a loan on a home. Check out www.masslandrecords.com for online searching.
A few days later he "remembered" he did own a home! He had forgotten when he wrote the last email! The reason he didn't remember was because he had just bought the house and it was income property. Wrong again. He did buy the house but a search of the deeds showed that he bought it from a close friend. Later, he admitted that even though the house was in his name, he didn't collect the rent on the property, pay the mortgage or the taxes, or do any of the maintenance. The friend took care of everything. A search on the friend at www.pipl.com turned up a government article stating that the friend, an attorney, had misappropriated funds for one of his clients, a child, and had lost his license to practice for three years. My guess is the friend was hiding assets but that I'll never know.
Another interesting piece to the puzzle turned up at www.archive.org. Bob said he had 50% ownership in a company he worked for. I was suspicious because the partner really put himself out there as the true owner. This website allows you to look at historical data on a website. That means that I can access their company website from previous years even though that site is no longer available on the web. I was able to see that as of December 2006, both men were listed on their website as "principals" with both photos side by side. But in January 2007 the site changed. The partner became President and CEO and Bob became Vice President of Sales. I put on my detective hat and surmise that they once were 50-50 partners but that must have changed in January 2007.
And one last site for now. You can also check out corporate ownership (and officers) through your state government site. Corporate filings are available, in the state of Massachusetts, at www.sec.state.ma.us. Just one more nugget to support my theory.
The first lie from Bob came even before we met in person. We met through an online dating site and emailed each other for a couple weeks before finally meeting. One of the first emails he sent said that he now lived in an apartment, but that he had previously owned a home which he sold to move closer to his job. He said that he had chosen to live in an apartment because he didn't want to deal with the maintenance required in owning a home. A public record search of deeds showed that he did own a home but he didn't sell it, it went to foreclosure. The reason he was living in an apartment was not so he could avoid home maintenance, it was because he had filed for bankruptcy and wouldn't be able to get a loan on a home. Check out www.masslandrecords.com for online searching.
A few days later he "remembered" he did own a home! He had forgotten when he wrote the last email! The reason he didn't remember was because he had just bought the house and it was income property. Wrong again. He did buy the house but a search of the deeds showed that he bought it from a close friend. Later, he admitted that even though the house was in his name, he didn't collect the rent on the property, pay the mortgage or the taxes, or do any of the maintenance. The friend took care of everything. A search on the friend at www.pipl.com turned up a government article stating that the friend, an attorney, had misappropriated funds for one of his clients, a child, and had lost his license to practice for three years. My guess is the friend was hiding assets but that I'll never know.
Another interesting piece to the puzzle turned up at www.archive.org. Bob said he had 50% ownership in a company he worked for. I was suspicious because the partner really put himself out there as the true owner. This website allows you to look at historical data on a website. That means that I can access their company website from previous years even though that site is no longer available on the web. I was able to see that as of December 2006, both men were listed on their website as "principals" with both photos side by side. But in January 2007 the site changed. The partner became President and CEO and Bob became Vice President of Sales. I put on my detective hat and surmise that they once were 50-50 partners but that must have changed in January 2007.
And one last site for now. You can also check out corporate ownership (and officers) through your state government site. Corporate filings are available, in the state of Massachusetts, at www.sec.state.ma.us. Just one more nugget to support my theory.
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