When you think of favorite snacks, it’s unlikely your go-to option is the delicious flavor of sun-dried Kobe Beef. It’s not because it doesn’t sound delicious. It’s because it doesn’t exist.
In one of the biggest scams in Kickstarter history, a company called Kobe Red opened a page on the crowdfunding site claiming they were preparing to distribute organic, beer-fed beef jerky treats and needed crowdfunded startup cash. By the time the team behind Kickstarter hired a private investigator to discover the validity of the business, Kobe Red had raised over $120,000.
If it hadn’t been for the unlikely help of a documentary crew and their trusted private investigator, it would have been the “biggest definitive fraud in the history of crowdfunding,” according to Quartz Magazine – a loss of over $120,000.
Check out the documentary team’s footage on the story below.
Through a series of fake online reviews, fabricated initial backers, and even live-tweeted “taste tests” at made-up events, the fraudsters at Kobe Red were able to fool over 3,000 real online supporters. It wasn’t until a duo interested in documenting the success of the crowdfunding site Kickstarter chose Kobe Red for one of their case studies that the lies started to set off warning bells.
Los Angeles filmmakers Jason Cooper and Jay Armitage attempted to contact the organization promoting Kobe Red, Magnus Fun, Inc. They had a short exchange of emails, but were never able to get any real documentation or meetings with the company owners. Magnus Fun, Inc. also promised to send footage from a tasting they had done at SXSW, but it never arrived.
The two filmmakers started to get a feeling that they – all all the Kobe Red backers – were being duped.
Several commenters on Kobe Red’s Kickstarter page felt the same. Some had contended with the company’s claim that they had thousands of pounds of meat read to be processed. This was incongruous with the idea that Kobe beed had just recently become legal to export from Japan to the U.S. Many said that it would be impossible for them to have that stock available in such a short time. Others questioned the company’s lack of personal information through Kickstarter, as well as the validity of screenshots from SXSW.
Photo via Mashable
“I got a few emails from our backers” — Kickstarted is raising funds through Kickstarter, too — “that said they thought this was an obvious scam,” Cooper told Mashable. “Knowing that we weren’t the only ones really helped make this clear.”
It was in the midst of growing concerns from the documentary team’s financial backers that they decided to hire a private investigator (PI) to look into the validity of Magnus Fun, Inc. It was through this PI that they found a trail of lies, scheming, and fraud that led to the Kobe Red Kickstarter campaign to be unplugged – a mere hour before stealing $120,000.
The unnamed PI found that Magnus Fun, Inc. was not who they said they were. Not only had they created the Kobe Red fund just hours after a failed attempt at a totally unrelated product, there was no record of their company in California State, even though their Kickstarter page claimed that was their home base.
What really brought the company down was one of their most outspoken defenders, Mr. Stanley Owens. The PI realized that this was the same name as one of the business partners on the product, and tracked both names to the same address in Chicago. In addition, this address was found to be connected with a Desjon Allen, who had created several other bogus money-raising schemes, including the “George Zimmerman Defense Fund,” designed to exploit Zimmerman backers, and “Cure the Coast,” a thwarted attempt to make money from the Pepsi Refresh Project.
The PI and independent filmmakers published their findings immediately on Reddit, to viral success. Within hours of the close date for the Kickstarter campaign for Kobe Red, Magnus Fun, Inc.’s account was suspended and all the backers were able to keep their money.
Without the assistance of a good private investigator and a number of watchdogs in social media, this could scenario could have turned out quite differently. Fortunately, there are always professionals willing to help bring scammers to justice, especially in light of near-misses like the Kobe Red incident.
If you’ve ever seen a spy movie, you might believe that every private investigator has a room dedicated to gadgets, gizmos, and weapons that can help take down a perpetrator. While the tools for a private investigator are not as sensational as movies would like to admit, there are several very cool technologies that private investigators use in real life that will blow your mind.
1. Mini Cameras – If you can imagine it, there is probably someone who’s put a video camera on it. From clocks to keys, video camera technology has gotten so effective that they can be placed on almost any kind of object. Remember the camera glasses from Mission Impossible? Today, those are old technology. Now, we have hidden video watches, fountain pens, smoke detectors, and even clothes hooks.
2. Data Retrieval Tools – We tend to think that if we’ve deleted a piece of data from a computer or phone, it vanishes from existence. In fact, almost everything that you do or say in a digital format is backed up in a special area of your computer or phone’s hard drive. Detectives can invest in “phone sticks” that will find deleted data and allow it to be copied to the device.
3. Video Phones – One of the newest tools in the detective arsenal is the remote-controlled IP phone camera. It looks like a regular phone, but an investigator can remotely control the video device at will, turning it into an innocuous surveillance tool.
Photo via Gwyneth Anne Bronwynn
4. GPS Trackers – It’s always helpful to know where your subject is headed. Fortunately, GPS tracking has made that easier than ever. Investigators have many different types of GPS tools at their disposal, from ones that connect to a vehicle’s Onboard Diagnostic Port (OBD Port) to the quarter-sized GPS Retriever Tracker, which can be attached to a phone or even a key.
5. Defensive Weapons – Although private investigators are not often in dangerous situations, any investigator worth his or her salt will be prepared for potential aggression. Some PIs may invest in a concealed carry permit and small handgun to keep them safe from attack. Others may choose to have a non-lethal weapon to deal with aggressive people or animals that may attempt to harm them in the line of duty. These weapons can include stun guns, tasers, pepper spray, light guns, or impact guns.
Photo via ukhomeoffice
6. Backup Electrical/Photographic Gear – Since documentation is the name of the game, it pays for every investigator to have backup batteries, chargers, and converters. No one wants to be at the crux of a video investigation and have the feed cut out due to lack of electricity. Investigators may also have backup car batteries, flashlights, flash drives, and memory cards.
7. Investigative Software – While you may know that private investigators and detectives use programs like Facebook and Twitter to catch wrongdoers, you might not know about some of the other computer programs that investigators have at their disposal. Mobile phone tracking and forensics allows investigators to monitor the behavior of certain cell phone users. Specialized background checking software allows investigators to glean information about a person’s past residences, their phone numbers, and employers. Financial scrubbing software allows investigators to see unusual transactions, often ones that have been deleted by the handler.
Summary
Often, a person will call an investigator when they can’t find proof of a suspected activity. Although skill plays a huge part in getting data on a person who is trying to lay low, access to equipment and technology is also a major part of getting the proof of wrongdoing that will hold up in a court of law. And, although it’s not quite as exciting as the movies portray, the technology is just as cool.
There are things that are lost, and there are things that are intentionally misplaced. For a skip tracer, the job is to know which things are lost on purpose and how to reclaim them. A combination of bounty hunter, collections agent, and private investigator, a skip tracer locates things and people that don’t want to be found.
For example, a person who has a bail debt or child support obligation may choose to “skip” town rather than pay what they owe. In this case, a skip tracer is hired to find where the person has gone. Through in-person and digital investigation, the skip tracer can find out where the person has gone, where they live, and how to bring that person to justice.
Skip Tracing Up-Close and In Person
If you’ve ever seen “Dog and Beth On the Hunt,” you have an idea of the in-person element of skip tracing. This may involve going to the person’s new work, visiting at their house, or attempting to trick them into coming into an area where law enforcement is ready for them.
In a recent skip tracing coup, skip tracers called individuals with outstanding warrants to tell them about a sweepstakes they had won. A local community center had been decorated with a Hawaiian theme, and local police officers were dressed as travel agents. When the perpetrators came in to receive their free Hawaiian cruise, they got much more than they bargained for.
Skip Tracers in the 21st Century
Photo via Jess Knish Photography
As information has become more accessible by almost anyone, skip tracers and other private investigators can use a perpetrators own digital footprint to track them down. Credit card purchases, online social media updates, and other digital information is often used to find elusive offenders
Of course, not everyone is naïve enough to share their personal data online. One of the world’s best skip tracers, Michelle Gomez, explains that it takes more than good Googling to find these kinds of perpetrators.
“Profiling a subject is a lot like constructing a motherboard,” Gomez says. “You have to see connections that are invisible to other people by filling the spaces between with information.”
These high-level hiders often keep their online life secret, preferring to buy with cash and using social media only for planting misinformation. Still, careful study and online resourcing turns up the smallest details that aid in eventually finding these subjects. “They get tired and slip,” Gomez says. “Everybody needs human contact, and that’s usually what brings them to ground.”
Skip Tracers vs. Investigators: What’s the Difference?
Skip tracers and investigators are very similar, although their goals are slightly different. Both skip tracers and investigators must follow federal and state laws when it comes to privacy guidelines, trespassing laws, and evidence-gathering standards. Both professionals spend a large amount of time tracking and gathering evidence about individuals as well.
Investigators, however have a wider variety of goals than skip tracers. While skip tracers only focus on finding people or items that are purposefully missing, investigators often work on cases where the person is missing through no fault of their own. Private investigators also investigate a wider variety of crimes, including skip tracing. So, while a private investigator can usually do the duties of a skip tracer, a skip tracer can’t necessarily fulfill all the duties of a private investigator.
Summary
If you need to find a person that doesn’t want to be found, a skip tracer is the perfect place to look. Fortunately, many professional private investigators like Thomas Lauth have the skills required to find the unfindable.
After a string of online attacks against big-name accounts, the coup de grâce came this week with the cyber attack from potential ISIS collaborators against the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Twitter and YouTube accounts.
One of the menacing tweets read, “We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children. U.S. soldiers! We’re watching you!”
In addition to these threatening statements, the hackers shared spreadsheets showing the names and locations of soldiers and their families, as well as potentially privileged documents regarding North Korea.
The ISIS attacks are clearly designed to spread terror, but you don’t have to live in fear. There are a few things you can do now to keep you and your family safe from potential online aggressors.
Clean Up Your Online Footprints
No matter where you are online, you are leaving tracks. From your online purchases to your social media consumption, there are a thousand pieces of information you give out to anyone who might be looking.
One of the biggest areas of concern is social media sharing. Not only are outlets like Facebook and Twitter hotbeds for people who are trying to get information about you, but all of your updates are defaulted to be completely searchable by databases like Google and Bing.
Clean up your online footprint by:
Deleting any posts or tweets that mention your children’s names, ages, your home location, or where you work.
Changing your preferences to make your profile unsearchable on general search engines.
Unfriending people who you don’t know in real life.
For Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, ensure that you don’t reveal locating information.
Use a public computer at a library. Your purchase records and online traffic is erased after your session, and the IP address can’t be traced back to your house.
Unmobilize
Photo via Jim Pennucci
Another way in which you may be putting yourself in danger is by using location services on your phone. If you have a smartphone that has a geolocation or geotagging option, your location can be shared with almost anyone who has access to the Internet.
For example, if you take a picture of your child with your smartphone and geotagging is set by default, you may have unknowingly captured the exact coordinates of your location. And, if you upload that image to the internet, there are online services that can extrapolate that data very easily for a small price.
Unmobilize yourself by:
Turning off your geolocation services completely. Not only will you get fewer geotargeted ads, but predators can’t see where you are.
Change your phone settings to only allow location services on a few apps (such as a map app). That way you don’t accidently upload an image with your location.
Leave your phone at home or turn it off. You are much less likely to share your location if you don’t have it with you.
Go Proactive
Finally, one thing that the ISIS attacks have proven is how easy it is to find information (like addresses and childrens’ names) from open online sources. Take a moment and just Google yourself. Do you see all the information (or misinformation) that comes up in the search. Be very specific in your criteria. Can you find where you live? Can you find where you work? Can you figure out what your kids’ names are?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you need to be proactively eliminating the risk that your information poses to your family. Or, you can get a deeper online scrub by hiring a private investigator to do this for you. They have access to a wide range of software that criminals might be using to gather information about you, so they can more effectively eliminate any online information that could put you in danger.
Proactively reduce your online risk by:
Eliminating any references that might be used to excavate more information about you, such as date of birth, company address, or name of your high school.
Use an online avatar instead of a picture.
Delete any images of you that might be used to gather additional information.
Hire a private investigator to thoroughly “scrub” your online presence.
Summary
Even though the ISIS attacks targeted a very small group, there are other online predators that could easily gather information and hack into your life. Don’t wait until it’s too late to clean up your online act. Be proactive in eliminating information that could put you in danger. Better yet, hire a private investigation firm like Lauth Investigations International to ensure that your online presence is professional and private.
The recent tragedy at the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo magazine has given thousands of people reason to consider the security of their workplace. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report that between the years of 2006-2019, there were 551 workers killed each year due to workplace homicide, with 33% of those being from people that the victims personally knew.
While this doesn’t mean that you should stop going to work, it does create a need for a significant evaluation of the risks in the typical workplace. Even if you’ve never had a problem with your organization before, who’s to say that your building is completely safe?
Fortunately, that’s where a private investigator (PI) can be the perfect addition to your work team. A PI can act as an outside set of eyes to ensure that each level of your safety procedures is perfectly constructed to ensure a secure workplace, despite potential threats.
Private Investigation Means Better Safety Measure
A private investigator can ensure your staff’s safety procedures like no one else can. As a direct hire of your company, he or she can attempt to get through your security measures in the same way a potentially threatening visitor might. You’ll be able to gain valuable information from a PI visit, such as:
How employees react to strangers in the building.
Whether doors and windows are secure.
If employees can recognize and report strange behavior or people.
Whether vital information, systems, or areas are secure.
When the visit is complete, your PI can create a debriefing report or seminar that will teach your staff how to handle potentially threatening situations.
Private Investigation Means Safer Staff
Photo via Phil Whitehouse
Another area that a PI can help you with is the safety of your staff. While many offices do a background check before hiring staff, a PI can give you an in-depth look at your employees’ current criminal records.
For example, if an employee was hired with no criminal record, how would you know if he or she had incurred several DUIs during the course of his or her employment? This kind of infraction could mean danger if coupled with employment frustration or heavy machinery management. That’s why regular background investigation is a key element of ensuring that your office is safe and secure.
Private Investigation Means Secure Data
Finally, keeping your staff safe goes hand-in-hand with keeping your data secure. A disgruntled employee who has access to another person’s private information or home address can quickly become deadly.
By hiring a private investigation firm like Lauth Investigations International, you can determine the level of safety provided by your information management systems. Are your financial records tamper-proof? Are the passwords for your vital systems situated so that former employees can’t access them? A private investigator can evaluate each of your data storage devices to ensure that frustrated employees can’t cause irreparable damage to your organization’s important information.
Is Sony Pictures sorry they toyed with their online security? Photo via davidd
Sony Pictures Hacks: What This Means for You…
The nightmare before Christmas continues for Sony pictures, only the most recentcorporate victim of cyber hacking.
Currently investigators and government officials are still trying to locate the culprits who call themselves the Guardians of Peace. So far they are looking into the strong possibility of North Korean involvement stemming from the release of controversial Sony comedy The Interview. Finding the exact source of the problem remains easier said than done. Even if officials are able to locate the hackers, it only solves a symptom while the virus(es) rage on.
In the past 18 months we’ve witnessed some of the largest retailers (Target, Home Depot), banks (Chase Morgan), and a government institution (NSA) fall victim to cybercrime. Such stories make easy headlines. With Sony pictures’ ties to Hollywood, celebrities, and power-tripping CEOs, it’s unlikely these stories will be swept under the rug anytime soon.
This new awareness of digital security – or insecurity – begs a question that every online user should be asking: if some of the most powerful organizations in the world can be broken into, what chance do we as individuals have?
Although online infiltration of a single account might not make headline news, it can still destroy a person’s credit and credibility. Fortunately, there are certain precautions you can take to prevent a downfall similar to the Sony Pictures fiasco.
A Little Common Sense Can Save You a Lot of Cash
One might think precautionary measures entail extra levels of encryption or costly security infrastructure changes. But, like William of Ockham might have said: The easiest solution is probably the most correct. With Sony Pictures as a good example of what not to do, here are some simple solutions that are probably much more efficient and cost-effective.
Passwords
If your password is “Rosebud” or your dog’s/wife’s/husband’s/child’s name, you’re just begging for online retribution. It’s like hiding your prize jewels underneath the bed mattress. Don’t labeling your vault of secrets by the one name that brings holiday cheer to hackers everywhere. Instead, create a totally unique password for each online venue – one that is strange enough to remember, but different from any keywords in your personal life.
Diversify
Having multiple passwords bring up the unfortunate problem of how to remember all your secret info. Hopefully you wouldn’t dare think of storing all your precious password and security information on a single document.
Shame on you, Sony Pictures. And shame on anyone else who would try this novice-level move.
You wouldn’t put all your life savings into a single stock, so why would you keep your most precious information in one location? The reason why Sony stories are still being unloaded by the truckload is because of this very failure. Keeping everything in a central facility? Bad move.
Warning Signs
Sony employees have given interviews indicating their lack of surprise that Sony became the latest victim of a cyber crime. There were reports of Sony ignoring potential security violations, not taking proactive security measures, and undervaluing the damage of an online attack from the get-go. These weaknesses caused a snowball effect, making an easy path for cyber hackers.
What Can You Do?
Corporations doing their due diligence can come a long way to preventing public catastrophes. Additionally, individuals can take simple steps so as to avoid a lifetime of regret. Still, you never really know how secure you are until you test it for yourself. Of course, that can be difficult, seeing as you already know all your password information and you’re probably not a hacker.
That’s where a private investigation firm can really be helpful in a situation like Sony’s. Instead of waiting until your information is broken into and revealed, causing potential damage and financial ruin, enlist the help of a PI to ensure that your information is safe. It’s one of the easiest and inexpensive ways to keep your online information as secure as you need it to be.
