Taking care of our parents when they age and require assistance is a great responsibility, which comes with all sorts of difficulties. Sharing the workload with other family, paying a commercial facility or using Government resources to help care for parents are a few of the main issues. Add to this degrading cognitive abilities and you begin to appreciate how hard it can be to take care of your parents in their twilight years.
Sometimes, adding to these normal difficulties, comes the added burden of abuse, physically and mentally, as well as a high instance of fraud and theft.
These problems are normally associated to family members as the most common perpetrators of abuse and theft of the elderly, as it is with children as well. Sadly, many families do not realize the abuse until it is too late, either due to the perpetrator having trusted access to the parent, or by refusing to see the signs of abuse. The parent conversely cannot speak up, either due to mental or physical disability or due to fear instilled by the caretaker committing these crimes.
Additionally, we see increased victimization at care facilities, where caseworkers see opportunity and use it to steal goods, or use abusive measures in perverted means to discipline the patients. New in the news but not reality, is the increasing focus on patient on patient violence which can occur in situations with dementia patients which can cause great harm to loved ones who are supposed to be safe in the confines of the care facility.
These cases can be difficult to initiate, particularly as the investigation will undoubtedly focus on the family at some point, but the process itself is usually solvable in a relatively short period once the investigation has commenced, providing you with the evidence needed to pursue litigation or criminal actions.
Call a local private investigator to see how they can help, or just to bounce some ideas off of them on your best course of action.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Thursday 7 November 2013
Friday 1 November 2013
Surveillance Investigations
Surveillance investigations are one of the most effective means of establishing fact. Most other methods can be subject to error, but when something is seen and documented by an investigator, it becomes hard to refute evidence when conducted properly.
While surveillance and private investigators tends to conjure up images of a PI in a car waiting for a couple to leave a hotel on their way back to their respective spouses, the reality is that surveillance is useful in a wide variety of case types. Some of these include competitive intelligence, counter-intelligence, harassment, vandalism, fraud and employee misconduct issues.
Hiring a surveillance investigator should be fairly simple as surveillance is ultimately a basic investigator skill, however you should always look out for false claims as surveillance is very much an art and not a science, meaning that there are many variables which impact the success of a surveillance, and chief among those variables is that you are waiting for a subject to act in a specific manner, which Murphy's Law dictates won't happen right away once the subject is observed.
Despite the unpredictable nature of surveillance, it remains one of the most powerful tools in a PI's toolbox. Contact a local PI to ask how they can help you!
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
While surveillance and private investigators tends to conjure up images of a PI in a car waiting for a couple to leave a hotel on their way back to their respective spouses, the reality is that surveillance is useful in a wide variety of case types. Some of these include competitive intelligence, counter-intelligence, harassment, vandalism, fraud and employee misconduct issues.
Hiring a surveillance investigator should be fairly simple as surveillance is ultimately a basic investigator skill, however you should always look out for false claims as surveillance is very much an art and not a science, meaning that there are many variables which impact the success of a surveillance, and chief among those variables is that you are waiting for a subject to act in a specific manner, which Murphy's Law dictates won't happen right away once the subject is observed.
Despite the unpredictable nature of surveillance, it remains one of the most powerful tools in a PI's toolbox. Contact a local PI to ask how they can help you!
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Friday 25 October 2013
Social Media Privacy
As times goes by, the big (and small) social media sites tend to upgrade this or that and inevitably change the privacy settings you forgot how to set.
Usually they will give out some press release, but for the noon-0nerds out there who don't get the tech blog info, they tend to miss it.
It should be a general monthly chore to go and check your privacy settings, but people are busy and let's face it, we like to think once we have set something, we can forget about it.
That being said, if you're reading this, then it's a good time to remind you about some of the more recent changes:
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Usually they will give out some press release, but for the noon-0nerds out there who don't get the tech blog info, they tend to miss it.
It should be a general monthly chore to go and check your privacy settings, but people are busy and let's face it, we like to think once we have set something, we can forget about it.
That being said, if you're reading this, then it's a good time to remind you about some of the more recent changes:
- Google has decided to implement a new system in which your +1's and Google+ endorsements can now be publicly used to help advertise certain products. While not really new in the free to use business model, it can be a shock to people who were not aware their info would be used in this way. If it is a shock and you want to adjust these settings, take a look at this blog to find out how you can limit this - http://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-google-shared-ads,news-17690.html
- Facebook has also made some new changes, namely the unhiding of people from it's new graph search function. This is great news for a private investigator (as I am), but not so great for everyone else. The thing here is that there is no way to adjust this setting. Add to this, Facebook indicates now that they are unblocking the ability for youth to share with others, meaning that their indiscretions may yet haunt them down the road. The best thing here is to educate yourself and kids about what is appropriate and not on Facebook. If you can't beat 'em, at least limit what they can get.
- Final point here is for those living in Canada, Bell has decided it will now use your browsing data to sell targeted ads to you. This is a pretty gross violation that hopefully hits the courts soon or gets shut down by privacy heads. As opposed to others who do this, like Google, you can't escape the grip of your internet service provider (ISP), who can see everything you do (for Google and others, you can simply use a service that does not take your data and sell it). An ISP getting into this is pretty major and should be fought at all levels, so feel free to contact your local MP and let your voice be heard.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Friday 18 October 2013
Parental Abduction
Parental abduction cases are traumatic events for obvious reasons. This occurs when one parent takes a child away from the other, sometimes in the midst or after a divorce and child custody decision, sometimes at other times. Although in some cases the abduction is in the abducting parent's mind altruistic, it is nevertheless illegal and needs to be settled ultimately through law enforcement and legal remedy.
While abductions within the parent/child home country is usually sorted out easily once the parent/child have been located, traditionally in the past, once the abducting parent has crossed a border (or more), the recovery process becomes very difficult.
This have gotten better though, as the UN and signatory countries have enabled the recovery process to be eased significantly on most locations, enabling local law enforcement and courts to hasten transfer back to the home country quickly for legal proceedings there.
The trick still remains location. While law enforcement should be the first stop in an abduction case, the more complex the movement, the more difficult it is for local law enforcement to keep up the hunt in a quick and manoeuvrable fashion. Private investigators can help out significantly in cases like this as they are significantly less bogged down by jurisdiction issues and can deploy rapidly to a host country or city and begin the leg work, sometimes with local support when the laws require, and can keep immediate pressure on the abducting parent. Once found, they can advise local and home country law enforcement and maintain surveillance until contact by law enforcement is made.
If you are involved in a situation like this, contact a local PI after you have notified police to see how they can help out and what advice they can provide.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
While abductions within the parent/child home country is usually sorted out easily once the parent/child have been located, traditionally in the past, once the abducting parent has crossed a border (or more), the recovery process becomes very difficult.
This have gotten better though, as the UN and signatory countries have enabled the recovery process to be eased significantly on most locations, enabling local law enforcement and courts to hasten transfer back to the home country quickly for legal proceedings there.
The trick still remains location. While law enforcement should be the first stop in an abduction case, the more complex the movement, the more difficult it is for local law enforcement to keep up the hunt in a quick and manoeuvrable fashion. Private investigators can help out significantly in cases like this as they are significantly less bogged down by jurisdiction issues and can deploy rapidly to a host country or city and begin the leg work, sometimes with local support when the laws require, and can keep immediate pressure on the abducting parent. Once found, they can advise local and home country law enforcement and maintain surveillance until contact by law enforcement is made.
If you are involved in a situation like this, contact a local PI after you have notified police to see how they can help out and what advice they can provide.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Thursday 10 October 2013
Recent Corporate Spying
Here in Canada, and specifically Ottawa, two events serve well to warn off the public sector about the effects of corporate espionage, and to hammer home the concept that corporate espionage does in fact occur on the large scale, and the work can often be split between public and private bodies to execute.
The first report came from the Department of National Defence report leaking out indicating that there were concerns over the potential presence of eavesdropping devices on the former Nortel campus. While it is amazing that a defence security/intelligence organization failed to consider this before dropping a cool billion on a real estate transaction, the real bit goes to show that while Ottawa is only an average sized city globally, it is a hub of hi-tech business, and as such has a heavy amount of corporate espionage. That the Nortel campus had been bugged is not so new, but knowing the extent of the penetration is really an interesting story on the capabilities and the devastating effects of corporate espionage, as this was one of the main factors contributing to the downfall of the former tech giant.
The other story is the Communications Security Establishment of Canada getting its hand caught in the Brazilian mining cookie jar after further Snowden leaks revealed the Canadian spy agency was prying into mining and energy sector information from Brazil. Again, this should not (I hope) be news, as many advanced countries take part in healthy spying campaigns, even on their allies. This means that France spies on the US, we spy on the Brazilians and the Americans spy on the Germans. It is normal business. However there exists a belief, particularly in newer companies, that the first world and allied countries are super duper friendly and would never seek to advance their own corporate capabilities and R&D. This is naïve and all corporations should make sure they incorporate at least some thought towards how they manage their info and counter-measures to mitigate the damage which can occur in the face of international corporate espionage.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
The first report came from the Department of National Defence report leaking out indicating that there were concerns over the potential presence of eavesdropping devices on the former Nortel campus. While it is amazing that a defence security/intelligence organization failed to consider this before dropping a cool billion on a real estate transaction, the real bit goes to show that while Ottawa is only an average sized city globally, it is a hub of hi-tech business, and as such has a heavy amount of corporate espionage. That the Nortel campus had been bugged is not so new, but knowing the extent of the penetration is really an interesting story on the capabilities and the devastating effects of corporate espionage, as this was one of the main factors contributing to the downfall of the former tech giant.
The other story is the Communications Security Establishment of Canada getting its hand caught in the Brazilian mining cookie jar after further Snowden leaks revealed the Canadian spy agency was prying into mining and energy sector information from Brazil. Again, this should not (I hope) be news, as many advanced countries take part in healthy spying campaigns, even on their allies. This means that France spies on the US, we spy on the Brazilians and the Americans spy on the Germans. It is normal business. However there exists a belief, particularly in newer companies, that the first world and allied countries are super duper friendly and would never seek to advance their own corporate capabilities and R&D. This is naïve and all corporations should make sure they incorporate at least some thought towards how they manage their info and counter-measures to mitigate the damage which can occur in the face of international corporate espionage.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Wednesday 2 October 2013
Physical Due Diligence
Anytime an organization, business or individual needs to make an acquisition, merger or partnership, the main thing that needs to be conducted is a due diligence check. In plain speak, this is doing what you can to ensure that what you are being told or led to believe is actually what you are getting.
While this is required by law for major corporate moves, it is largely only so in terms of financial due diligence, which involves accountants going over the books to ensure that the financial health of an organization has been accurately disclosed to the interested party.
What is not as well known or enforced, is the physical , or real world side of due diligence which can have major implications when not conducted.
A physical due diligence investigation involves real world checking of facts and holdings, which can exist on paper but not in fact. The on paper disclosures must be checked against reality as financial papers can be simply created, and when done well, can evade the financial due diligence process.
What a Private Investigator can provide in the conduct of a physical due diligence investigation includes the following:
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
While this is required by law for major corporate moves, it is largely only so in terms of financial due diligence, which involves accountants going over the books to ensure that the financial health of an organization has been accurately disclosed to the interested party.
What is not as well known or enforced, is the physical , or real world side of due diligence which can have major implications when not conducted.
A physical due diligence investigation involves real world checking of facts and holdings, which can exist on paper but not in fact. The on paper disclosures must be checked against reality as financial papers can be simply created, and when done well, can evade the financial due diligence process.
What a Private Investigator can provide in the conduct of a physical due diligence investigation includes the following:
- Check labour practices and obligations
- Confirm environmental standards
- Verify the existence and effectiveness of businesses and alliances
- Assess business reputation
- Identify the involvement of criminal elements
- Identify and confirm stockpiles of product and resources, including those moving
- Conduct background checks on important personnel and assess conflicts of interest
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
Wednesday 25 September 2013
Scam Seasons Are A Changin'
With the end of summer coming up and fall and winter rearing their heads, there is the inevitable change in tactics of the door to door and local scammer. The cooling of the season, the return of kids to school (particularly those going away to college) and big family holidays coming up present a different opportunity from those present in the warmer months. Let's look at a few of the anticipated scams we will see getting an uptick in the coming months:
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
- The Grandparent scam - While always present, the return of kids to school away from home adds credibility to this scam where the fraudster will call an elderly person and pretend to be a grandchild who got into trouble while away at college and is too embarrassed to call home. Seeking a fat payout, these scammers will usually look to get a few thousand out of a particular victim before moving on to the next.
- Charity Scams - As seen whenever there is a natural disaster, these cretins seek to take advantage of the giving spirit normally associated to the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. These usually come disguised as real charities and can be door to door or online/telephone enabled. Either way, they target a large number of relatively small hits, but will gladly take a larger donation where available.
- The furnace upgrade scam - While the insufferable hot water heater/water filtration scams start to wane, they return in another form, seeking to gain entry to your home while presenting themselves (or at least heavily alluding to the fact) that they come from a utility or city department out of concern for your home. at one end, the scammer is looking to assess your home for a future break in while at the other end they are trying to peddle some overpriced equipment you don't need and lock you into a punishing contract.
- Lastly are increases in parking lot muggings and assistance scams. While the muggings are straightforward and common during the heavy shopping seasons, there is also a large upswing in "benevolent helpers" who will identify things you dropped to get close to you to swipe your keys or take a more valuable package while you are distracted. This is actually a new style of pickpocketing which requires you to view the individual in a positive light while they distract you to obtain your goods.
Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca
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