by admin_lauth | Nov 22, 2017 | Tips & Facts
The time has come, once again, for the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. While we all look forward to this time of year, criminals especially do as well. 
They rely on us being excited, relaxed and distracted. In an effort to keep our information safe, we must be overly aware during this time of year.
Traveling
During the holidays, traveling increases by 54%. That’s a lot of empty homes waiting for criminals to do their work. Here are just a few tips to keep your home safe while traveling:
- Only tell one close family member or friend that you are traveling out of town. This one person should be the one to check on your home while you are away. Having them enter your home one or two times daily would be ideal. Although they are busy as well, this will make it look like someone is there frequently.
- Do not post on social media your travel schedule. Although you think only friends and family can see this information, you are incorrect. You can take pictures and still update on the fun your having, just do it responsibly. No one needs to know you are half way across the country.
- Put your lights on timers, inside and out. If your lights are popping on and off throughout the day, anyone watching your house will tend to believe someone is home. You can get the timers from any home improvement store and they do not take long to install.
- A small final tip from my parents! Turn off your main water line before leaving. You do not want to come back to a flooded, moldy home due to a small hole in a water line. Trust me, it was not fun! Once you return from traveling, you just want to be in your own bed. If this water line break occurs, you will be back in a hotel for weeks.
Wallet and Identity
I group the wallet and identity together as the items utilized to steal your identity are generally located in your wallet. Here are just a few suggestions for keeping your information safe while you are enjoying the shopping frenzy:
- Pay with cash as often as you can. We’ve all seen the security issues with credit card machines. This can happen at any retail store. Avoid giving your card information out and pay with cash. If you do not want to carry cash, get gift cards with cash and use the gift cards instead of using your debit/credit card.
- If paying with cash, ensure you place your cash close to your person when out shopping. Put the cash in the pockets of your jeans or in a place where you would notice or feel someone trying to take the cash from you. Do not place it in your purse on a cart where you would turn your attention away, for even a second. All it takes is a second to turn your head away and your purse is gone.
- Along with the cash, put all identification (driver’s license, social security card, credit cards) information in your pockets as well. Always make sure your information is close enough so you will know if someone is trying to get to these items.
- When pulling out your cash to pay, do not pull out the large stack of bills and count it out in an obvious manner. You may not realize how closely people are watching you, but criminals are watching every move as this is their job.
- As you are buying your items, try to condense the amounts of packages you are carrying. Any bags that can be combined, do so. The more you are carrying, the more vulnerable you appear.
- When you take your items to your car to drop them off and start off again, we all do it, make sure you cover the items with either a blanket or a screen. Do not leave anything out in the open in your vehicle.
The holidays are fun and happy time of the year. Do not let criminals make this time stressful for you. Small adjustments can keep your home, wallet and identity safe. Always be aware of your surroundings, trust your gut, and keep your personal information personal.
Lauth Investigations International is a private investigation firm. We consistently work with people whose identity has been compromised. The one minute it took a criminal to steal their information created months of stress for these individuals to recover. Do not let this happen to you.
by admin_lauth | Feb 7, 2017 | Tips & Facts
This was a big week for news in America. It seemed like a new story broke before you could finish reading about the first one. All of the major networks and newspapers were scrambling to report on everything taking place, but one story in the private investigation world stood out me more than the others.
The headline “Stranger enters Arizona woman’s home, eats food, uses shower, sleeps in her bed, police say” was attention grabbing and hard to forget. Most people would read this headline and quickly move on under the assumption that surely this was an outlier. This is a case of one dumb criminal who got far too cozy during a break, but if you do the slightest bit of googling, you’ll quickly find it’s really not that uncommon for home intruders to do these kinds of things. Here’s a rundown of some similar incidences and what you can do to protect your home and property.
Denver Police Warn Home Owners String of Break-ins, Burglars Eating their Food
In 2015 there were a series of break-ins across Denver. Each of the burglaries had something in common; the thieves weren’t stealing anything, but were breaking in and eating food at the houses. Wile nothing was stolen, it was happening so often that Denver police issued a warning to people in the area.
Denver police didn’t think the break-ins were related, but that almost makes it stranger. What are the odd all of these people were breaking into houses just to steal food? One of the burglaries was perpetrated by a kid. The homeowner walked into to find the kid watching anime on her tv while eating food. He ran from the scene when they cam home.
Arizona Man Enters Home, Sleeps in Woman’s bed, has Standoff with Police
The case referenced in the introduction took place in Mesa, Arizona last October. Joshua Forsgren broke into a home and took a nap inside the homeowners bed. Forsgren must have been pretty tired from all that burglarizing, because he was still asleep when the homeowner came arrived home with her children and found him in her bed.
She quickly exited the house and called police. When the police arrived they tried to get Forsgren to exit the home of his own volition, but he had other ideas. As police waited outside they observed Forsgen going through the house and eating food. After 90 minutes the police entered the home and took Forsgren down with a stun gun. He’s now in jail awaiting trial.
Man breaks into house, takes shower, eats pizza, but steals nothing
The Florida Man stories never cease to amaze us. If you’re unfamiliar with Florida Man, do a quick search and you’re mind will be blown. Whether it’s Florida Man setting his underwear on fire at a Starbucks or when Florida Man got body slammed by a pro wrestler after threatening him with a bb gun while trying to make him buy him a beer, Florida Man is always up to something.
While this story is surprising, Florida Man being the perpetrator sure isn’t. In September, 36-year-old Timothy Tomlinson broke into a home, showered, ate pizza and downed two bottles of water. Tomlinson didn’t steal anything, but he was charged with burglary for unlawfully entering the home. Luckily the homeowner didn’t lose any valuables to theft, but Tomlinson broke multiple kitchen windows to get in.
What does this mean to you?
It’s alarming to think someone could just enter your home while you’re gone. The fear of coming home while someone is still in your house is a scary proposition. One of the easiest things to do is make sure all of your doors and windows are locked whenever you head out. Porch lights are a great deterrent and they can help ward of would-be burglars by making it difficult for them to approach the home undetected.
Security cameras are excellent to catch in perpetrator in the act, but they’re also good at scaring burglars off. Some burglars are dumb enough to see cameras on a house and try to break in anyways, but most won’t. It’ll also give you excellent evidence to help the police catch any intruders.
Another great tip is is catalogue your property. By keeping an active inventory of all of your valuables, you’ll be able to immediately identify any property that’s stolen and provide pictures to police. This is as easy as snapping a picture with your phone and saving them to the cloud with a brief description you can write in your notes app.
If family heirlooms are stolen, consider contacting a private investigation firm like Lauth Investigations International. While the police would like to catch every single burglar and return property to their owners, their resources are limited and if it’s not a violent crime their motivation to catch the crook is low. Private investigators on the other hand work exclusively for you and know where to look for stolen goods. Armed with pictures and descriptions of the items, private investigators like Thomas Lauth can make short work of finding your belongings.
David Schroeder, Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations International
by admin_lauth | Nov 29, 2016 | Corporate Investigations, Tips & Facts
Human Resources has a tough job when it comes to screening future employees. They’re betting on someone whom they’ve only met in person maybe three times. Not every candidate can be a winner, but that doesn’t mean you should accept the losers.
Every business takes on some level of risk when they bring on a new-hire, but how serious is employee theft? The 2015 US Retail Fraud Survey says, “Overall the biggest area of store loss remains employee theft with 38% of respondents citing it as the number one area of store loss and, across first, second and third highest causes of loss, scoring 59 points.” Here are some ways Human Resources can better vet employees and prevent future theft.
Ask tough questions throughout the interview process
Interviewing job candidates is the best chance you’ll get to learn who they are before hiring them. Take advantage of these opportunities to ask candidates tough questions about their past. This may seem like an obvious tip, but it’s one many people can find difficult to execute.
People can be surprisingly candid about things they’ve done in the past and may be more open than one would expect. In these moments of truth human resources is given the opportunity to evaluate the honesty of the candidate.
Follow-up with multiple references
There’s a reason every business asks for multiple references when considering candidates for a position. After you’ve interview a candidate face-to-face you’ll have a better idea of who they are and what questions you still have about them. Following up with a candidate’s references can be very illuminating.
Calling just one or two of the references should not be seen as enough. Every candidate should supply at least three references to be considered for employment. These should be professional references, not friends or family. Call at least three references when considering any candidate.
Use a Private Investigations firm to help
Human Resources departments only have so much manpower they can put towards vetting employees. With all of the duties HR handles it increases the chances that someone will slip through the cracks and get hired when they shouldn’t have.
You might not need them for every candidate, but Private Investigation firms can help any business be certain about the people they’re hiring. When businesses are expanding they may need to hire people rapidly. Instead of asking HR to do more with less, contact a private investigations firm and see how they can help shoulder the load.
For Private Investigation Inquiry contact Thomas Lauth, Lauth Investigations 317-951-1100
David Schroeder, Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations International
by admin_lauth | Nov 29, 2016 | Personal Investigations, Tips & Facts
What good is a child custody agreement if you’re unable to have it properly enforced? Everyone expects or at least hopes the agreement will be respected by both parties, but that isn’t always the case. When you suspect child custody agreement violations and potential abuse, you need to document them and keep records. That may sound like a lot, but here are tips to make keeping records a little easier.
Take pictures
The easiest way to document violations and abuse is by using the camera on your phone to take pictures. If you think you see bruises, cuts, or marks on your child then you should be taking pictures of them. Photographic evidence is some of the strongest evidence one can have.
Timestamps will tell you the date and time the picture was taken. By default most phones have timestamps on every picture they take, but make sure your’s does too. If it doesn’t have timestamps then go into the app store on your phone and find an app that does it. It won’t be hard.
Write down notes and details in a journal or notebook
The details are important in cases of child custody agreement violations and abuse. No matter how good your memory is, recording as much information as soon after it happens as possible will help in court. If you write about the events and pair them with the timestamped photographs it will bolster credibility.
Back-up your data
When are records useless? When they don’t exist. You must back-up all of your data and records. No one thinks it will happen to them, but one power surge and your hard drive is fried. One slip and your phone is shattered on the pavement. Backing-up your files requires little to no extra effort and can be automated on most devices.
If you’re taking pictures on an iPhone, make sure your saving the photos to iCloud. If something happens to your phone you’ll be able to download the photos to a new one or to a computer. On Android and iPhone you can plug your phone into your computer and back it up to the computer’s hard drive. Back-up your data at least once a week and anytime you’re saving something of particular importance.
Hire a private investigator
Proving violations of the agreement and abuse can be difficult. Depending on how often you get to see your child or the time you need to work each week, your ability to track everything your ex is doing might be limited. How can you prove your children are being taken places they’re not allowed to be at?
Private investigators have nothing but time for their clients and can document everything while keeping an eye on your children. If anything happens that violates your custody agreement then it will be documented. If there is abuse happening you will get the proof you need for court. PIs can be your eyes and ears and help you protect your children.
For Private Investigation Inquiry contact Thomas Lauth, Lauth Investigations 317-951-1100
David Schroeder, Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations International
by admin_lauth | Nov 11, 2016 | Private Investigations News, Tips & Facts
The Family Medical Leave Act protects employees positions from termination in the event they have to take time off to care for a sick family member. According to FMLASource as much as 10.7% of the U.S. workforce is on FMLA leave at any given time. While countless employees have benefited from FMLA, others have taken advantage of the program for their own gain. FMLA fraud costs business million. Here’s how you can stop it.
Require proof
If an employee needs to use the FMLA then they should always be required to provide proof of the medical problem causing them to take leave. Workers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA so it’s fair for companies to require employees provide adequate proof. Make sure you comply with state and federal regulations governing what medical records you legally can and can’t ask an employee to provide.
Familiarize employees on FMLA
Is enforcing the Family Medical Leave Act difficult? Not if you have a good team of informed employees. Supervisors being educated about FMLA will make abuse more difficult because the supervisors will know what to look for and how to respond. It will also save time since supervisors will be able to answer employee questions themselves. Keeping other employees informed about FMLA will clear up confusion about what is required for someone to go on leave. Consider training for employees on FMLA.
Take FMLA seriously
Creating an environment that appreciates the seriousness of FLMA will show employees the importance of treating the program with respect. Companies cannot allow FMLA to be treated as a way to get easy time off. Take potential FLMA abuse seriously. Report fraud to the proper authorities and investigate further as needed. It’s unfair to employees and the company when people take advantage of programs like FLMA. It makes it more difficult for honest employees to receive it and costs businesses millions of dollars.
Keep records organized
Kevin McCarthy from the Kalamazoo Human Resource Management Association said, “Many certifications for intermittent leave list the period of the need for the leave as ‘indefinite’ or ‘permanent.’ ..the employee will never have to ask for an extension of the intermittent leave. Unless the employer receives good information that the individual’s medical circumstances have changed significantly or that the need for an intermittent leave is no longer valid, the employee will never have to submit a recertification. In the types of abusive situations discussed above, this is a major problem…”
Employees may only ever file for FMLA once but will remain eligible for the benefits indefinitely. Employers must stay on top of who is and is not certified and for how long. Spread sheets can be particularly helpful for this task. Organizing all of your employees FMLA records into one place will make it easy to quickly identify who is eligible and for how long.
by admin_lauth | Nov 7, 2016 | Tips & Facts
What is malingering? Malingering is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “to pretend to be sick or injured in order to avoid doing work.” The most famous malingerer might be Ferris Bueller, but while he only cost his friend’s dad money buying a new car, malingering Americans cost billions of dollars a year. According to a study available in the US National Library of Medicine, malingering adult mental disorder claimants costs were $20 billion in 2011. Below are some ways you can nip malingering in the bud.
Apply standards consistently
In order to make sure employees understand expectations and don’t feel singled out, standards and practices have to be enforced consistently. If you make one employee get a doctor’s note after calling in sick then you need to make every employee do the same. Medical issues are a sensitive topic and companies can get into hot water if an employee feels they’re being treated unfairly due to their health. Consider printing out a guide explaining expectations and having employees sign a sheet acknowledging they received one so there’s no confusion if this becomes an issue.
Ask for proof
If an employee is having bad enough medical issues to miss work then they should see a doctor to find out what’s going. Getting sick for a day isn’t uncommon, but when a medical issue regularly prevents an employee from working, something needs to be done. It’s not unfair for an employer to ask for documentation of the problem.
Knowing ahead of time that proof will be required when they come back to work will help deter malingering and prevent excuses about why they couldn’t provide proof. Even if you trust the employee, always get documentation for company records and to ensure consistently applied standards.
Be accommodating to employees needs
Even if you suspect an employee is malingering, be open to accommodating their needs. If they are malingering then they’ll lack excuses for not working when the company shows it’s ready and willing to work with them. If they’re not malingering then the company will have already done the right thing by creating an accommodating and inclusive environment. Making it tougher for employees to excuse their lack of work actually makes it easier for employees with genuine issues to work.
Be patient whether they’re faking it or not
Determining if an employee is malingering can take time. One of the most famous cases of malingering is the 1927 Bruneri-Canella. Brunei, a petty thief and con-man, pretended he had amnesia and was mistakenly identified as an Italian professor that went missing in World War I. The thief kept up his charade for years even pretending not to remember his family despite them identifying him. Eventually a court determined he was faking it. Patience is needed because if an employee is faking it, eventually they’ll be caught, but if they’re being honest, rushing to judgement is a big mistake.
Investigate
When an employee continues to claim they’re having medical issues, but you suspect something is off, contact a private investigator to look into the matter. It’s never fun to accuse someone of lying, but it’s a lot less fun to lose money to a scammer. Private investigators will be able to quickly find out if the employee is malingering or genuinely having problems.
I group the wallet and identity together as the items utilized to steal your identity are generally located in your wallet. Here are just a few suggestions for keeping your information safe while you are enjoying the shopping frenzy: