Investigation of and Tracking Down
Perpetrators
for Fraud Protection - Skip Trace Tips
Determining whether an offer or opportunity is real, honest, valid,
legal and beneficial to you in advance of losing money is difficult
if not impossible. Determining who stole your money and where it
went, even more so.
Going to the police and saying someone stole your money but you
don't know who they were or where they were from is really asking
for trouble, or at least a lot of head nodding and sympathetic
grunts. Certainly little, if any, action though.
Only numerous fully completed complaint forms will ever warrant
any attention from the authorities.
Private investigation can be fun and therapeutic for victims and
also give you a sense of self-worth and satisfaction. It also saves
on expenses if you decide to sue privately.
While I am a researcher, I am not a private investigator, so I
beg the forgiveness of that profession as I display my total ignorance
of their methods. Perhaps a few will take pity and provide further
useful tips or point out any glaring errors of judgment.
Sometimes information about a case is only readily available long
after the dust settles and it is too late to recover anything,
but using a few examples of both famous and current cases I hope
this will be a starting point to learning about the process.
The first famous case that I know has a wealth of info available
for is regarding Martin Frankel, while the second is the current
investigation of Triple Gold Benefits. We shall follow through
an investigation of each assuming you are a victim and you want
to see both justice and the return of your money.
Search and Investigative Tools
How to Do a Free Background Check on Anyone:
In the USA, court records, inmate records, sex offender records, vital records (and a lot more) are all in the public domain and free to access - if you know where to search!
Most sites will charge you for access to a database of public records sources - but you can get the goods on anyone for free by using SnoopStation.com's Free Background Check Wizard
Sex
Offender Registry
Most Wanted Criminals List and Directory
Probably the first place you should have looked, before even doing
business with a company, is the Better
Business Bureau's online search function of company practices.
This allows you to find out if the company has any prior complaints
against them.
In Canada you can also use Canadian
Council BBB keeping in mind that the three Canadian BBB's
that are part of the US database system are: Kitchener, Calgary,
and Vancouver. See also Ottawa
BBB.
RipOffReport - Complaint
driven site allows name searches. Great current scam resource.
Also see BadBusinessBureau.and WebBox.
Track down an individual or company by name or phone number using AnyWho, Teldir or Infospace.
They have a reverse search feature where you key in the phone number
and out pops a listing. This is handy for verifying shipping addresses
for business sales as well as determining who you are talking to
and where they are calling from. The nice mapping features also
indicate the neighborhood so you see if they are operating out
of their basement.
For international searches try Thomweb.
You can also determine who the registered owner of a website is
and where they are located using a Whois / WHOIS function.U.K.
Internet Domain Info (don't add www in search). Although they
may lie on their application you can always do a phonebook search
above to see if they even exist where they say they are.
Determine who the organizations' directors and affiliated companies
are through the Competition
Bureau of Industry Canada
SEC Search -
Securities related scams.
www.pinksheets.com - SEC
filings in easy read format
www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm -
SEC filings database
FTC Search - Consumer scams,
business opportunity scams, franchise fraud.
FCC Search -
For info on phone related scams.
StockPatrol - Stock scam
forum is very revealing.
StockWatch - Fantastic
research articles on penny stocks.
FDbase - Company and individual
search of prime bank and high yield investment offerings due diligence
bulletin boards.
Straightshooter - fugitive database search function
Factfind
StockMarketYellowPages Allows
you to search for public companies based upon descriptions.
Over
the Counter Stock Info - links
Pages of Various Info Databases.
PublicData
U.S. Zip Code Database Canadian
Postal Code Database
Florida Dept of Corporations Database
Idaho
Corporations Database
Court Cases
Search U. S. Bureau of Prisons Federal
Prisoners Database
Securities Commissions and Financial institutions
Australian
Securities Search - determine if company or person is registered.
U.K. Financial
Services Authority - determine if company or person is registered.
BankersAlmanac -
check all registered banks.
Web CRD - public data
on members from the National Association of Securities Dealers
NASDR - Enforcement
actions against securities dealers association members.
National
Futures Association - futures and options scams, foreign
currency fraud.
Denmark Securities Search -
determine if company or person is registered.
Office
of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions - Canadian
warning list of fake banks.
U.K. Info
Postcode
FinderMultimapU.K.
Internet Domain Info (don't add www in search)
Self-help investigation advice
for UK ( DIY Spy )
Note: This page will expand as my time permits and contributions
are sent in.
http://www.offshorepress.com/DueDiligence.htm
www.sec.gov/complaint/selectconduct.shtml
www.ispa.org.uk ( Internet
Services Providers Association) admin@ispa.org.uk
http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/ (
U.K. company registrations ).
www.iccwbo.org/index_ccs.asp(ICC Commercial Crime Service in the U.K.)
www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases.shtml
Investigative Service Firms
Buchanan Investigations
67731 Sunnyside Rd
Montrose, CO 81401
Local 970-240-2850
Fax 970-240-0129
Toll Free 877-250-3136
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Asset checks (pers/corp). $40.00 per state.
Officers of corp(s) owned by individual. $25.00 nationwide.
Judgments, liens, bankruptcies, UCC filings (pers/corp). $40.00
per state. Location of individuals. $25.00
Criminal background check. Varies.
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Shelley J. Radmer OR No. 2000506
Radmer Investigations
PO Box 2473
Clackamas, OR 97015
503.558.9422 Fax 503.658.3077 Toll-free 800.314.0364
Sradmer@OregonInvestigators.com
www.OregonInvestigators.com
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Radmer Investigations helps victims of schemes,
scams and frauds and assists in locating perpetrators and assets.
In the case of litigation we can develop witnesses, conduct
interviews and provide support to the victim's attorney. |
Bob L. Lesnick
Gamma Investigative Research, Inc
P.O. Box 10981, Fairfield, NJ 07004
(973) 227-1415 (800) 878-9393
Fax: (973) 882-0960
www.priveye.com
E-Mail: / gamma@priveye.net
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Can provide asset investigation, skip tracing
and consultation for fraud victims related to scams, con games
and Gypsy frauds. Licensed NJ/NY |
ABLE Process Service & Investigative Research
- Shelly Daniel
Kern County, CA
Fax # 760-378-0055
Member: Nat. Assoc. of Investigative Specialists, United States/International
Internet Investigators |
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Mapping Info
Phone Number Searches
Phone Search Central
- Guaranteed Accurate Phone Number Investigations
Phone Search Central can help you find the subscriber name and
subscriber address associated with any given cellular or landline
phone number.
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The
best online search sources. |
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Canada411 -
Canadian listings |
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Skip Trace Sites. |
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Argali
White & Yellow: Free Download of Great Search Capabilities. |
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Yellow.Com provides world-wide Yellow Pages. |
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Bigbook
- Business Yellow Pages, over 16 million U.S. businesses. |
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The
Directory of Directories. |
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555-1212.com: the most powerful web directory. |
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AT&T
Phone Directories: Search by name, business or phone
number. |
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AT&T
AnyWho Information. |
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Telephone
Directories on the Web - worldwide. |
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Internet
800 Directory. |
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WhitePages.com. |
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Switchboard, the people and business directory. |
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WhoWhere? is the way to find people on the web. |
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Infospace.com: Find people, places and things. |
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World
pages, finding anything, anyone, anywhere. |
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Yahoo!
People. |
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PhoneNumbers: International Phone Number Lookup. |
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Company and Telephone Directories. |
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Free
Lookups: Street, phone, ZIP & Much more. |
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JCS
Zip Code / Area Code Lookups. |
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Telephone Prefix Location Directory. |
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Pay
Phone Directory. |
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Reverse Telephone Phone Directories on the Net. |
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Reverse
Lookup by AT&T AnyWho Information. |
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Reverse Phone directory. |
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Reverse Phone & Address Lookup. |
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Reverse
Phone & Address Lookup by FindLaw. |
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Reverse
telephone, email & address lookup from Excite. |
|
Reverse
Email Lookup. |
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Reverse
Email & Phone Number Locator. |
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The
Ultimates: twenty-five net services at your fingertips. |
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Freeality Internet Search: Reverse Lookup, E-Mail & Resources. |
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Net-Trace:
People Search Sites. |
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Zip2
- Business & People Finder. |
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People
Finders & White Pages: by WorldSwitch. |
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AllWhoIs:
Most complete WhoIs service on the net. |
Domain and E-mail Address Searches
Real Estate Searches
Vehicle Info
Various Search Resources
Validators
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