by admin_lauth | Sep 19, 2017 | Private Investigations News
Private investigators tend to be known for their work in the private sector: finding missing persons, helping to track down runaways, and investigating concerns of infidelity. However, most private investigators actually conduct a majority of work in the public and corporate sector, working with law offices, hospitals, and corporations to help with everything from case investigations to fraud convictions.
One of the most common ways that private investigators help corporate clients is by conducting corporate crisis management. This blog post discusses what corporate crisis management is and how private investigators effectively help corporations when they find themselves in crisis.
What are the most common Corporate Crises?
Corporate crisis management is any situation where the unexpected arrives in a corporate setting, but there are common examples that can arise multiple times within the life of a corporation. The most common examples of corporate crises are:
–PR crisis – Information is leaked to the media and the corporation is put on the defense.
-Internal employee crisis– An employee has somehow compromised the company’s integrity, either by stealing, lying, or divulging information to an outside source. A PR crisis can be it’s own separate crisis, but most other types of crises end up being a PR crisis too once the media gets word of the situation.
–Financial crisis– The company finds itself in a financial crisis such as bankruptcy. Financial crises affect everyone from the accounting department to sales reps and are usually linked to an internal crisis such as theft or fraud.
–Legal crisis– The corporation is being accused of breaking the law, or needs to sue a client or partners. Legal crises require special treatment because they need to include outside sources such as lawyers, opposing counsel, police officers, etc.
–Partnership crisis– A partnership within the corporation is breaking up, leading to conflict and confusion in the company.
If you find yourself faced with one of the types of corporate crises described above, you will immediately feel the need to:
Conduct a thorough investigation of the events that transpired, build a strong defense for yourself and your company, locate any untrustworthy sources (employees that have leaked information, etc.), and mitigate damages as much as possible. If there is any sort of legal issues involved, you’ll want to gather a better understanding of any laws and regulations that apply to your specific situation, and how your state and federal laws can help or hurt your position. You’ll also need to stay on top of deadlines and maintain communications with the various parties involved in the crisis. This is why corporate crises have such a devastating effect on the CEO and HR departments in companies, and why private investigators have become a more common accessory for dealing with these kinds of issues.
So how do private investigators help the corporation manage the stress and work that comes along with a corporate crisis? Most of the help comes from the resources and tools that private investigators have access to that allow them to conduct more thorough research on individuals and companies, as well as the individual investigator’s experience when it comes to dealing with legal issues in that particular geographical region. (This is one reason why hiring a local investigator that specializes in your city or area is important.)
Returning to the four types of corporate crises discussed earlier, here are the major ways in which a private investigator helps corporations in these specific circumstances:
PR Crisis- Private investigators can use their tools and experience to track down any individuals who are leaking information to the press, they can also help the corporation understand how they can legally and effectively craft a better public image. Private investigators are well-equipped to deal with issues of privacy and can help CEO’s and employees install and manage the security equipment that they need to stay private and safe, both on the computer and in their office.
Internal crisis– In the case of an internal crisis, a private investigator can help you to discreetly and thoroughly investigate and screen your employees to figure out exactly what happened. PI’s can also act as consultants on how to take next steps after a corporation discovers any instance of employee misconduct or theft.
Financial Crisis- Private investigators that specialize in forensic accounting are used to track down corruption or fraud within a corporation’s books, catch instances of employee theft, trace suspicious transactions or activities, and essentially find any issues that a corporation has with their finances. If a company is already bankrupt, a private investigator can help to give experienced advice while helping the corporation to maintain their privacy and know their options.
Legal crisis- When a company is in a legal crisis, a private investigator can help to do discovery on the opposing council in order to build a strong defense for the company and its leaders. Going into a legal battle without having all of the information is a dangerous step that corporations need to avoid. Private investigators can even run background checks on their own clients in order to understand what the opposing counsel might be trying to use against them. In general, it is a good idea to have the expertise of a private investigator to help bolster the attorney’s case when in any sort of legal battle.
Partnership crisis– As with a legal crisis, a private investigator can help to protect their client by doing discovery on the other partner in the arrangement and help to build a strong case that will protect the corporation’s privacy and interests.
If you have found yourself in a corporate crisis, you may want to consider if hiring a private investigator will help you to solve your problems faster and with more privacy and efficiency. Most private investigators tend to be reasonably priced and will give you a big return on investment if they help you to catch the one piece of information that will make or break your case.
by admin_lauth | Sep 7, 2017 | Private Investigations News
Small business owners have so many things to consider at any given time. As a small business ourselves, we understand this. Day to day concerns regarding employees, inventory, pricing, and customer satisfaction take a significant amount of time and effort, leaving little room to worry about potential crises that could eventually happen like employee theft. We do not like to imagine the worst, and often try to live our day to day lives assuming the best. Unfortunately, this lack of focus on security makes small business owners especially vulnerable to employee theft.
Employee theft is the cause of failure for 30% of failed small businesses, and the median amount lost is $147,000.00 This is why it is so important to learn the signs of employee theft so that you can detect it early on. This blog article explains five common ways that employees commit fraud so that you can be on the lookout and catch problems before it is too late.
- Billing fraud- In this case of fraud, an employee would send out invoices to customers for products and services that were not actually rendered. This sort of fraud is common in the healthcare industry as well as for online subscriptions like web domain renewal invoices. Make sure that you have an extra set of eyes overlooking all invoices: not just the ones that come to your company, but the ones that are sent out. If you are a small business, you may have an employee that is sending out extra invoices to your clients and collecting the extra cash without you even realizing it.
- Kickback arrangements– Kickback arrangements are a type of fraud where an employee makes a deal with a certain supplier or partner to participate in a corrupt act such as inflating an invoice for products, and then gets a “kickback” payment as a reward for colluding with them. A recent example of this is the nearly 1 million dollar kickback scheme involving the Detroit Public Schools, where a school supply vendor provided kickbacks to more than 12 school employees in the Detroit Public School district in exchange for fraudulent invoices. Kickback arrangements are dangerous and highly illegal, but they can go on for years without being perceived. Again, make sure you look over all of the invoices coming in and out of your office to make sure that there are no extra or non-existent payments.
- Check tampering– Check tampering is usually a case of an employee stealing company checks and writing them out to him or herself, but it can also be a case of an employee intercepting outgoing checks and cashing them in their own account. The majority of check tampering happens in small businesses and employees who are guilty of check tampering most frequently come from the accounting department. Make sure that you physically keep your checks secure, but also double check your bank statements for all cashed checks to make sure they are valid and that you wrote them yourself.
- Skimming– Skimming is basically any example of where the full sum of a profit is not reported and some of the money is directly pocketed by an employee. Usually, employees practice this type of fraud by “skimming” relatively small amounts of money off of multiple purchases over time. Skimming can come from any area of your company: it could be employees who sell products that give things away for free to friends (or pocket them for themselves) or, on a larger scale, it could be accountants who record sums a little bit under the actual amount. Catching skimming can be hard. One of the best things to do is choose random transactions and double check them with your bank statement, and let your employees know that you are on the lookout for skimming. Knowing that they have a manager who is watching out for these kinds of tricks can help keep people in line.
- Expense reimbursement fraud– In expense reimbursement fraud, employees somehow tamper with their business expenses in an attempt to get reimbursed for personal expenses and purchases. This could be anything from a tank of gas to an expensive flight. Expense reimbursement fraud can happen at any level of your business, but it is usually upper-level employees (who often travel or host clients as a part of their position) who commit expense reimbursement fraud. To prevent expense reimbursement fraud, it is important to review all expense reports carefully and insist that your employees provide documentation (and explanations) for each expense.
If you notice any suspicious activity that leads you to believe an employee is committing any of the above forms of fraud, don’t panic. There are steps you can take to handle situations of employee theft correctly and calmly. Check out our blog, How to Suspect if Someone is Lying to You for tips on how to handle a suspicious employee.
by admin_lauth | Aug 18, 2017 | Private Investigations News
Many businesses in various industries (shipping and receiving, industrial and manufacturing, legal services, etc.) need to hire a private investigator at some point to deal with a case theft, or malpractice. The job of finding a private investigator usually falls on the shoulders of the company’s HR representative or CEO. In almost every case, this is the first time that the CFO/HR rep needs to hire a private investigator, so it is normal that they don’t necessarily know where to begin. This step by step guide intended to be a resource for anyone who needs to hire a private investigator for their company.
Step 1- Assess your needs
There are a lot of different types of cases out there that require private investigators. The first step to finding the right one for you is pinning down exactly what your needs are. Common questions to ask yourself are:
Are you investigating an employee within your company?
Do you need to meet face to face with your private investigator in the immediate future?
What is your budget?
Have the police been involved in this case or do you intend to get them involved?
What technology do you already have at your disposal? What technology do you need to get your questions answered?
What outcome are you expecting from hiring a private investigator?
These questions will help you narrow down your options when contacting potential private investigators, which brings us to Step 2.
Step 2- Research your options
Once you get an idea of the specific needs you have as a client, it’s time to start researching private investigators. Using a traditional google search is the most common method for finding a P.I. that fits your needs. Use the specificities of your case to narrow your online search. For example, if you want a local private investigator, search for “Private Investigator (your city)”. If you want a private investigator that deals specifically with employee theft, make sure to include that in your search. This allows you to narrow your results from the thousands of options available. Next do some browsing on different websites to find a private investigator with a proven track record, reliable testimonials, and a high success rate.
Step 3- Set up a meeting
The next step will be to set up a meeting with your prospective private investigator. This can usually be done through a telephone call with the number available on the website. The availability of the private investigator is a good sign of how it will be working with him or her. You want a private investigator who is extremely easy to get in touch with, who responds to telephone calls quickly, and who will take the time to hear out your case. Once you get a meeting in place, it’s time for step 4.
Step 4- Gather evidence and information
Hopefully your private investigator will provide some information on the phone about what information they will need at your meeting, but the general rule is that you can never have enough. Bring every thing that you think could be of potential use to your P.I., as well as a list of questions that you would like to ask. Some common things to bring to the meeting are:
-phone records (obtained legally)
-background checks of employees
-browser history
-accounting information (list of accounts, with reference to any disparities or irregularities)
-a list of employees
-security footage
-contact information and addresses of employees
-police report
Step 5- Have the Meeting
The meeting is probably the most important part of the hiring process for your private investigator, so even if you decide not to hire locally, make sure that your P.I firm offers video conference or phone conference meeting options so that you get a chance to talk before you make the decision to hire. Most private investigator firms will insist on this meeting anyway to make sure that your case fits their requirements and capabilities.
The meeting is the time to share your information, ask any important questions, and most importantly, see how you feel when you are with your P.I. Your private investigator should be someone who makes you feel comfortable, secure, and respected. This relationship is of the utmost importance when you are dealing with sensitive, emotional, confidential issues, so don’t underestimate the value of a P.I. that makes you feel at ease.
Step 6- Hire the Private Investigator
After you have your meeting with your private investigator, you will probably be able to decide if it is a good fit. The private investigator will have their own opinions and requirements about accepting your case. If both of you decide to proceed, it is time to hire the investigator to begin the case. Most private investigators offer a flat fee for the investigation process, and then charge additionally in the case of a positive outcome. Many private investigators will invoice you directly as soon as the investigation starts, so be ready to pay ahead of time. Again, additional fees may exist as the investigation develops so make sure to discuss this with your P.I.
Confidentiality is another thing that you will want to discuss with your P.I. to understand what their protocol is and if there are any agreements that need to be signed.
Once the Private Investigator is hired, he or she should offer you weekly updates on the case and alert you immediately with any new information as they discover it. They may hold interviews with employees, get in contact with the police on your case, and conduct other interrogations to get the information that they need.
Hiring a private investigator is a relatively straightforward process, but focusing on staying organized, presenting correct and complete information from the beginning, and looking for a natural and open relationship with your specific private investigator is a good way to make sure that you hire the right person for you and get the results you’re looking for.
by admin_lauth | Aug 15, 2017 | Private Investigations News
It used to be that only the old and naive were vulnerable to scams on the internet, however, with the creativity of scammers increasing, even the most tech-savvy can fall victim if they’re not careful these days. Everything from pop ups to emails can be potential threats, but gone are the days of obvious attacks. These days scams are a lot more subtle and more believable and so it’s important to be wary of the latest and most popular scams as well as how to avoid them.
The following list is based on statistics from scamwatch.gov.au and is ordered according to how much money they have cost their victims. Here are the 5 most popular scams of 2017 so far:
- Investment Schemes
Investment schemes is a broad heading to describe internet scams where the target is enticed to hand over money with false promises of making a return on their investment. The most popular investment schemes are forex trading, Ponzi schemes, and offshore investment schemes.
Forex trading is a means of buying different currencies and selling them once the exchange rate has increased. Forex trading is very risky because it is usually done by big international banks with large accounts, specially trained staff and advanced technology that can handle the complexities of the trading.. The likelihood that an individual working independently can compete with the resources of these banks is very slim, which is why Forex trading so often leads to failed investments. In addition to the stiff competition, a lot of times the companies online that promise great success in forex trading are actually fraudulent and won’t actually invest your money in anything, resulting in you losing a lot of money.
A Ponzi scheme, also known as a pyramid scheme, is disguised as an opportunity to earn money from an investment when in actuality there really isn’t any investment. What the promoters of these schemes do is they get you to invest money with promises of making a big return, however, you must invite/recruit others into the program in order to get any payoff. Eventually, though, people stop joining the group and the benefits that the first few investors used to receive begin to diminish because the ‘investment checks’ that they were receiving were actually coming from their investments and the money that their recruits added into the scheme. Due to this flawed system, Ponzi schemes always collapse when the money owed to previous investors becomes greater than the money being raised from the new ones.
Offshore investment schemes, are schemess that encourage you to transfer your money to an account in another country in order to avoid or pay fewer taxes. This is a big red flag when investing your money because if you get caught you could end up owing your government in back taxes, penalties, and interest. You should stay clear of any opportunity that lists avoiding tax paying as an advantage.
- Dating and Romance Scams
Not only are our identities and money at risk, but with dating and romance scams lurking around every other web page now our emotions are also at risk as well. Many times people will make false profiles on dating sites in order to scam people out of money.
What the scammers do is play on your emotions by using the information you post on your profile in order to make it appear as if you share the same interests, then they build a relationship with you until they begin to manipulate you and trick you into giving them money.
The FBI has a great video, which explains how dating and romance scams work, which you can view below:
Where is the video?
Another form of romance scams that occur online is ‘Catfishing.’ This kind of scam usually doesn’t involve any loss of money but results in other kinds of loss such as loss of time, distress, and disappointment. A ‘catfish’ is when you’ve been speaking to someone online and they turn out to be a different person from whom they claimed to be online.
A great way spot romance scams are by performing a Google image search of the profile picture that the person is using and see if the picture come up with a different name. This is an obvious red flag that the person you are talking to isn’t who they say they are.
- Up-Front Payment and Advanced Fees Fraud
Up-front payment and advanced fees fraud refers to any scam that requires you to pay a fee up front in order to receive a ‘reward’ later. ScamAlert lists reclaim scams, unexpected prize scams, travel prize scams, and rental scams as common examples of upfront payment and advanced fees fraud.
Reclaim scams happen when a scammer tells you that qualify for a rebate/reimbursement, but in order to receive it you must pay a fee This is the same thing that happens with the unexpected prize scam: You are told that you are a winner of a grand prize but that you need to pay processing fees before you can get it.
The travel prize scam, on the other hand, is when you are presented with a free or discounted trip on one condition, you must first buy ‘travel vouchers’ before you can book your holiday. The rental scam is similar to the travel prize scam, usually you are offered a discounted price on a room with a catch of having to pay a booking fee upfront. Both scams take your money without delivering the promised product or service.
The best way to protect yourself from such scams is to always be cautious of up front fees. If you are ever asked to pay up front under the guise of shipping costs, taxes, administration fees, or postage, then you should immediately become suspicious. If you truly did win something for free then most of the time such fees would have already been covered. There are cases, however when companies offer products for free and only require you to pay for shipping. Just be sure to contact the company using a number that you have found either in the phone book or by performing an online search. Never use the contact details that they provide.
- Buying and Selling Scams
According to ScamWatch, buying and selling scams include classified scams, overpayment scams, online shopping scams, and false billing. A total of 4.4 million dollars has already been lost due to buying and selling scams since the start of the year, with 14.5% of cases occurring on the Internet.
With these kinds of scams, scammers pretend to be an online seller, overpay you on an item you’re selling online, and send fake bills of ‘overdue’ payments. The ones that pose as a seller is simply copying the details of an already existing legitimate ad, including the pictures of the product. In order to lure you in, they will advertise the product at a much lower price than the competitors. Unfortunately, however, they often make up a story about being overseas and needing to use an agent to send you the item once you pay for it. As soon as you send the payment,they will flee with your money, leaving you with a fake receipt of payment via email.
To avoid selling scams it is advised that you only buy from reputable sites online, and if buying from eBay you should always check the reviews of the seller before making a purchase.
How the overpayment scam works is a scammer will send you more money than you’re asking for on something you’re selling online and then ask for a ‘refund,’ claiming that they sent the extra money to cover extra shipping costs or some excuse. The catch to this scam is that you are asked to ‘refund’ the money by sending a wire transfer, using a prepaid card or an online bank transfer and after you send the money their check bounces.
To avoid overpayment scams be sure to wait on the person’s check to clear before you return any money to them.
The final kind of scam in this category is the false billing scam. This occurs when a scammer sends you or your company a bill/invoice for an advertising listing, domain renewal or directory listing. Often times these claims are false and the scammers put emphasis on paying the amount due as quickly as possible. Sometimes they even threaten ‘legal’ action if you don’t pay the invoice in a timely manner. The best thing to do in a situation like this is to check with your employer to confirm that the invoice is actually real, or to speak to a lawyer about the validity of the invoice.
- Inheritance Scams
An inheritance scam begins when you are contacted by someone posing as a lawyer or banker claiming that an unrelated wealthy person with your last name has died leaving a large fortune and no will behind. The fake lawyer/banker will then tell you that you can claim the money left behind because of a legal loophole due to you both having the same last name.
Often times these wealthy persons live in another country and because of this, once again, you will have to pay processing fees in order for the bank to release the funds to you. However, the inheritance scam can be very convincing because the scammers go as far as to provide fake birth certificates and bank statements. Often times, they push the scam further by asking you to provide a copy of your birth certificate as well as your bank account details. (That being said, it is important to never provide a copy of your identification or bank account details to someone you don’t know, especially over email.)
A few things to look out for to spot an inheritance scam is that these cases of receiving money from unknown people who share a last name are never real. Not only that, but there are often spelling/grammatical errors in the documents they send you, they often ask for processing fees in order to receive the money, or they ask for your bank account details. If at anytime you suspect a scam you should always report it to the FTC. According to ScamWatch, there were 199 reports of inheritance scams in June alone .
Honorable Mentions
There are a few scams that didn’t make it to the top 5 because they haven’t resulted in as much monetary loss as the ones listed above, but there are still popular scams out there that are worth mentioning.
Lottery Scam
The lottery scam comes in the form of an email congratulating you for winning a large sum of money. The only catch is that in order to receive the money you must first send thousands of dollars to pay for the ‘processing fees.’ Often times what happens is that persons become so distracted by the thought of ‘winning’ that much money that they tend to forgot they didn’t enter a raffle or buy a ticket to begin with.
One of the basic rules to bear in mind when looking into opportunities online, is that if something is too good to be true, it probably is.
Make Money Online Scam
There are many false online money making opportunities out there. Always insist on payment for work you do for someone immediately, do not agree to wait for months at a time before receiving payment. That way you will not waste a lot of your time working for someone who is not going to end up paying you.
Disaster Relief Scam
Scammers take advantage of tragic events that leave people devastated. In most cases these people have suffered major loss; this could be the death of loved ones or the loss of property. Scammers know that there are many charities set up to provide disaster relief for these victims. The scammers set up phony charity websites to prey on people who wish to help the victims of these various disasters. At first glance these websites may seem legitimate, but the majority of real charities do not ask for donations online, much less prod you to provide your credit card and/or bank information.
The fact that the charity is online is a big indication that it is not an authentic charity. If you’re really convinced that the website is an actual charity, though, then you can double check by trying to contact them over the phone and speaking to one of their agents or representatives over the phone. As an extra safety measure, when donating anything to charity, it’s always best to visit the office of the organization in person.
Conclusion
There are several scams out there on the Internet. The best way to stay safe is to be careful and be cautious of anything suspicious. If you’d like to learn more about avoiding scams then we suggest you check out this list of 10 things you can do to avoid fraud by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Also, if you’ve spotted a scam or have been scammed be sure to report it to the FTC as you wouldn’t like others to suffer the same fate you have.
by admin_lauth | Aug 4, 2017 | Private Investigations News
Oftentimes Private Investigators are thought of as serving mainly the private sector. They are who you would call when you have a missing persons case, a case of infidelity or a private issue that you need resolved. In reality, this is a misconception based on common stereotypes. Private Investigators frequently serve the professional sector, and there are many careers where you may find yourself one day needing the help of a private eye. In this blog post we outline the 7 main professions that use Private Investigators, and what they typically rely on them for.
- Doctor’s office- Doctor’s offices and hospitals rely on private investigators to research cases of potential abuse for their patients, background checks for employees and most importantly, malpractice lawsuits against the doctors, nurses, or technical professionals on their team. Private investigators often also research malpractice cases for patients who were the victim of malpractice. This can go both ways; however, oftentimes it is the doctor’s office that relies on the private investigation firm to help protect them from unfair accusations.
- Attorneys- Attorneys often use private investigators to help them build a case against opposing counsel. Private investigators help them to collect evidence, conduct background checks on the opposing counsel, check their facts, disprove allegations they may be making against a client and generally dig up information surrounding the case. Private investigators also help clients and attorneys understand the laws surrounding common issues arising in court, such as a spouse’s right to surveillance family computers or a business owners right to spy on its employees. As lawyers commonly need to have a comprehensive idea of legal restrictions, and often are caught in cases of mistrust, betrayal, and suspicion; they are one of the private investigation industry’s most common clients.
- Business owners- Business owners need to hire private investigators for various activities, which also makes them one of the private investigation industry’s most popular clients. As expected, P.I.’s often are hired simply to conduct background checks on employees, but more importantly, they are known to investigate suspicious activity in the workplace and investigate possible identity theft, monetary theft or fraud within the company or between competing companies. Private investigators can also help to regulate accounting irregularities or help handle publicity concerns for businesses. No matter the issue, business owners can rely on private investigators for confidential, fast investigations into sensitive issues.6
- Human Resources Departments- Human resource representatives are another common client of private investigators because of their concern for employees. HR reps mainly use private investigators for background checks, but they also commonly use them for investigation into employee misconduct, such as fraud, employee theft and sexual harassment. Private investigators also commonly help human resource representatives look into fraudulent insurance claim investigations, mainly when employees abuse the disability insurance offered by the company. There are multiple issues where HR departments hire private investigators to look into their employees and regulate disputes, often in the attempt to avoid legal action.
- Accountants- Accountants are focused on tracking numbers and answering financial questions, which is why their line of work often intersects with private investigators. Accountants have been known to use private investigators to help investigate bookkeeping issues like missing funds, fudged numbers or fraudulent checks.
- IRS representatives- The IRS also sometimes needs to enlist the help of private investigators when researching tax fraud. Tax fraud can be a complex and complicated web that is difficult to untangle without the technology and knowledge that a industry specific private investigator can offer.
These professions comprise the issues of the majority of private investigation work. If you are someone in one of these positions and dealing with an issue listed above, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here.
