WHEN IS A POTENTIAL CLIENT A…BAD THING?

 Steve Davis: October 29th 2011

As a private investigator we are faced with unknown people calling our office asking for information about people for various reasons. In most cases, these requests are legitimate background requests such as pre-employment, tenant screening or some other similar situation. However in the six years I have owned Davis & associates Professional Background Services, I have had requests that were suspicious in nature. Our company has a good intake processing procedure that in most cases will be able to determine if such a call is a valid call worthy of the risk of giving out personal and private information. I urge any PI to take some time and determine your own procedure of taking such calls. Doing so will certainly limit your exposure to a law suit, but even more so, the safety of potential victims that a caller is searching for.

We are all in this business to make money and help people; however we should never put money over our ethics in giving out information that could potentially harm others.

One example that comes to mind recently was a caller that called our intake division asking how much we charge for finding information on a potential roommate that was going to move in with him. The caller was asked the general questions about why and what he wanted to find on the subject. The questions were simple intake questions that verified not only the use of the information, but the caller himself. When a caller refuses to give you simple intake information, any investigator should never just throw caution to the wind. In this case, the caller said “I just want to know something about her background, such as relatives and where she was from etc.” After talking to the subject for a few minutes he became more agitated when we tried to pin him down as to why he needed such information. The caller then told me “Look man, my girlfriend is acting weird and I wanted to find her relatives to call them and ask them if they could give me any information as to why”.  Well, needless to say our company would not help this person and his motives could have easily been criminal. Running a simple background search with our data would have certainly given him all the relative information and had his motives been illegal, would have placed our company in a very dangerous situation. This was one of at least a dozen calls this year that we did not feel comfortable in assisting the caller with, and although we could be passing some legitimate clients by, we just do not take the risk.

Davis & Associates Professional Background Services is in the business of collecting information and returning that information to the client in the most credible, legal and professional manner possible. Our company policy has always been enter into a contract with all clients, which allows us to get as much information, release forms (if needed) and financial information on the potential client, prior to releasing private and personal information. If a client refuses to give such information, run away! I understand that in our line of work, some people want to remain as anonymous as possible so that the person they are checking on cannot/will not find out they are doing a search. We simply have to let our gut feeling and more importantly our ethics as a PI guide us in the direction that is best suited for our business.  Remember, there are a lot of nuts out there that will simply use you to gain access to commit crimes.

Steve Davis/Owner: Davis & Associates Professional Background Services LLC.

To Shred Or Not To Shred........

No matter if you are a single person living alone, or one of the largest corporations in the world, you have sensitive documents that contain confidential information.  Whether it’s the criminal that goes through Mrs. Jones trash and obtains her personal information off of a doctor’s bill, or trade secrets being shared via dumped trash in a large city alley, you must stay protected. I cannot even imaging throwing out any documents no matter how minor they seem to be in these days of identity theft.

With an estimated $100 billion lost to criminals each year it is no surprise that the rise in identity theft is on the rise. The dumpsters behind your buildings, the trash cans out on the street in front of your house are easy targets to thieves seeking confidential information for various reasons. In most cities in America there are no laws governing “Dumpster Diving” and going through your trash that is not sitting on your private property is perfectly legal. You will often see local television reports of trash being dumped and important papers such as law firms, dentist and even important government document being thrown out that contain employee pay stubs, meeting notes, social security numbers and medical information. These stories are becoming more and more prevalent.

A secured shredder bin is ultimately the best way to protect your business. A security plan for employees will assure that all documents are safety placed into the bin and shredded in a manner that will keep you and your business out of trouble.

Davis & Associates Professional Background Services have several law firms, governmental agencies and small businesses as clients. I can’t think of any of them that do not have a plan of action for shredding documents and keeping their businesses safe. Most often, having an employee sitting next to a shredder takes a lot of time. A locked shredder bin is really economical and you can schedule pickups as often as daily, weekly or monthly. Just the thought of one piece of confidential information being thrown out improperly and being used illegally could potentially save you thousands in law suits.

You can find most document shredding companies online or in any telephone book. Davis & Associates Professional Background Services highly recommend such services. Protect yourself, protect your employees and protect your clients……..Shred it!

Steven Davis/Owner
Davis & Associates Professional Background Services LLC

Halloween Safety for your kids

Halloween is only a couple of weeks away and we all know that its time for that extra bit of safety we always hear about regarding our kids on Halloween night. Even as a child (more years than I care to admit) we heard "don't go into strangers houses, and check your candy" looking for that ever so common razor in the apple. Even growing up in Boulder Colorado, the threat was real and no matter where you were, you always heard of some tragedy somewhere occurring on or near Halloween. From stranger danger to candy safety, we live in a world today where the threat is not only still there, but stronger than ever. You can Google "Kids assaulted on Halloween" and get so many results that it will scare you weather you are a parent or not. Back in the day, Sex Offenders were out there, but rarely did we know who or where they were lurking. With today's access to Sex Offender Registries in every single state, we have the ability to look into your own neighborhood to find potential threats. As a former Chief of Police, I made it a point to have my officers patrol registered sex offenders homes on a regular basis, and on Halloween, we contacted each offender to advise them not to answer their door when children were present trick or treating. In at least two cases, we made arrests when the offender failed to heed our warnings. In large cities, this task is impossible for a police officer to keep an eye on each offender, so it is imperative that as a parent, you take the responsibility to search your neighborhood for offenders. The US Department of Justice Sjodin National Sex Offender Website is a great place to start.http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Portal.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Talk to your children, let them know the dangers. Remember NEVER GO INTO ANYONES HOME, NO MATTER WHAT, eat only candy and items that are securely wrapped from the store, take a flashlight and a whistle and the usual parental warning "Stay out of the street " are good places to start with the kids. Another threat is bullying as the kids go door to door. Go with your younger kids, and if you can't, make sure older kids go with the younger kids. And finally, if your kids do run into a problem, a cell phone is always recommended and if not, there are a lot of people out, go to the nearest house and call for help. Have a great time and a safe holiday!!!

Social Media Mining

What is Social Media Mining? Simple answer, its the process of someone else looking at your face book, twitter or similar social site. Like mining for gold, an investigator can mine for information on your social media site and gain a "mother lode" of information that sometimes can be detrimental to you in several ways. As a private investigator at Davis & Associates Professional Background Services, it is often my job to be hired to seek information on subjects for many reasons and by clients from all walks of life. Weather it is an insurance company looking for a client possibly committing insurance fraud, a law firm seeking more information on a defendant or their own client prior to a court date, or even a job applicant that is curious to know what a potential employer may or may not find on their backgrounds, I am never surprised by how much information people put on social media sites that could harm their cases.

Davis & Associates Professional Background Services have three large law firms and several smaller firms in our Denver area that have a policy of advising their clients to not use their social media sites during their cases. Both personal injury and criminal lawyers come to our office asking for social media investigations and know the value of finding information that will not haunt them later in front of a jury. Imagine how a juror would react when opposing council presents photos of the plaintiff water skiing days after he/she claimed severe injuries from a car accident, or a client accused of sex assault posting inappropriate photos and comments that can later be used against them in civil court.

Even with the stern verbal warnings of top lawyers telling clients to stay off of the social network sites, most realize that the addiction is just too strong and as cases go on form months and even years, people just don't learn, and will more often than not, post information or get "tagged" by others showing inappropriate behavior.

Recently the National News Media did a news report on Social Media Mining at Davis & Associates Professional Background Services. When asked by the reporter the most important advice I would give to anyone as a private investigator, its always the same "If you don't want anyone to see it, don't post it!" The message could not be clearer.

Attorney vs Lying Clients...scary combination!

It's human nature - people who worry about what people will think of them, or worry that they will lose something, are inclined to lie about their current situations. Among lovers, it can be a simple phrase like, "She's just a friend." Social lies, though hurtful, rarely will cost thousands of dollars, and almost never cost a person their career.

People lie, especially when their money is on the line. What happens to those who depend on the honesty of their clients to keep their job?

Attorneys are often the victims of lying clientele. Everyone who has worked in a legal firm has heard of cases where someone insists that they are the victim of a car accident, only for the attorney to find out that they are listed as the defendant and not the prosecutor. In worse cases, people will omit previous injury settlements (along with injuries) during an accident-related lawsuit.

Granted, it's hard to really blame the client. They are worried that no one will accept their case, and they also really do think that they will get a winning verdict if they lie to you. It' s misguided, but it's understandable.

However, the fact that it's understandable doesn't mean it can't seriously damage an attorney's career. If an attorney lies under oath, whether they do it knowingly or not, they can get their license revoked. Moreover, there have been many cases where attorneys have worked tirelessly for hours, spending thousands of dollars in the process, only to find out that their clients omitted information that actually made the entire case completely and totally worthless.

The losses that attorneys endure due to lying clients is staggering. Imagine the following scenarios, and you'll understand why having a client that is dishonest can ruin your career.

·         You give the wrong information to the judge, because a client decided to "forget to mention" a previous injury. Your license is revoked immediately after proof comes out that your client had a previous case for that injury.

·         A client gives you a case that really sounds too good to be true, and you take it. It seems so open and shut! You work tirelessly, and spend over $20,000 to present a good case. When the day comes, you find out that all of the money that you spent was wasted because the client lied about a critical factor.

·         After you have taken the cases of two different clients who have lied to you about major topics, people in the legal circuit in your area no longer take you seriously.

The only way to keep your license, your money, and your reputation intact is to do a background check on both your clients, and the people who you are going to be battling in court. Really, can you risk the consequences of avoiding this step?

Steve Davis