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It seems that every day, there’s another news story about an unscrupulous employee committing crimes such as fraud, siphoning money, selling secrets, stealing merchandise or a combination from a company for their own personal gain. So, if you’re in the middle of the hiring process and all of these tales of woe have got you feeling a little bit paranoid, here are the top four private investigator industry tips to help you better screen prospective new hires.

New Employee Screening Tip #1 – Consider pre-screening prospects through an accredited headhunter. While this process can sometimes be a bit on the pricey side, if you’re hiring someone who will be managing your assets or someone who is in the position to handle very sensitive information, isn’t it important to pay for a little extra due diligence? Professional headhunters will be able to verify employment and education details on a person’s resume. They’ll be able to call and verify employment references and perform a criminal background check. They can even pre-interview prospects with a set list of questions that you provide and offer you their professional insights as to whether or not the prospect’s candidacy should be escalated to a second round in person with your in house hiring manager.

New Employee Screening Tip #2 – Google them. It couldn’t be easier to do a quick web search of a candidate’s name and it’s certainly worth doing. Even better: do a web search of their email address and even enter their email address into the search bars of major social networking sites and “friend finders”. You might be able to learn far more about them than they ever intended telling you. The Internet can share vast information on people if used correctly. If you are computer savvy especially with searching the web you may uncover pertinent information that can guide in a decision to hire an individual. It is always batter to have a professional background check conducted as to make sure it was done properly and thoroughly.

New Employee Screening Tip #3 – Perform a credit check. If your new employee is going to be handling money or even taking on some sort of responsibility, it’s important to know if they’re responsible with their own money. Plus, if the prospect has multiple delinquencies, a bankruptcy or charge-offs in their recent past, it’s a telltale sign that they’re dishonest as well. That being said, considering the state of our economy today, there may also be an understandable explanation for credit problems, so, if everything else about the candidate adds up, don’t be shy about asking them what they have to say about their credit score. If they’ve permitted you access to their report and know their financial situation, good and trustworthy candidates are more likely to volunteer details before you even run the credit check in the first place.

New Employee Screening Tip #4 – Hire a professional private detective to conduct a thorough background check. These checks can protect you from potential lawsuits from clients as well as protect you as a possible victim from hiring someone you should not have. In this day and age every business in almost every industry should be prudent and conduct background searches on potential employees. This decision can possibly save you from disastrous situations and costly litigation.

A private investigation into a person’s background for employee screening usually consist of these types of checks although investigations are tailored for each client or industry needs.

1. Identifying and confirming the vital information give to you by the applicant such as name, date of birth, social security number, addresses and citizenship.
2. Criminal record
3. Civil records
4. Motor vehicle records
5. Credit history along with bankruptcy, lies, judgments and tax issues.
6. Verification of education
7. Verification of prior places of employment and accuracy of resume provided
8. Comprehensive internet and media search

There have been some amazing detectives throughout history.  Many have solved some tough cases using their intellect,  observation skills, and smarts.  Below you will find a collection of some of the well know private detectives.  Great detectives included in this infographic The World’s Most Amazing Detectives are Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, Columbo, Adrian Monk, and Batman.  Many of these detectives are fictitious but all have captured our hearts in the ways in which they solved the case and caught the bad guy.  Each one of them uses different methods that they have perfected that make each unique in their own way.  See if your favorite detective made our list!

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In our never-ending search for love, some of us will turn to the internet. Fed up with bars, night clubs and the singles scene, the internet provides an entire world of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in a virtual sea of like-minded folks. Unfortunately for some of us, not everyone is online in search of their one true love.

A sweetheart scammer is someone that lures innocent singles (usually women) with the promise of love, marriage, a family and the life they have always dreamed of. The con artists are professional and often work a number of women at the same time. While you remain glassy-eyed and love struck by the fantasy of finally meeting your perfect mate, you will slowly be conned out of money and your dignity. Here is how a sweetheart scammer operates:

First, the con artist will spend tons of time with you. They will charm you online with all of the right words. Once they have your phone number they will want to talk to you for hours on end – first thing in the morning and right before you close your eyes to go to sleep. They will tell you that they can’t believe they found you, and that you are the woman they have been waiting for and so on. You will be fooled because they will invest so much time in romancing you, and your “blinded by love” mindset won’t be able to comprehend that they want anything but companionship. This is your first mistake.

The scammer will next ask for a loan. They will claim that their mom is in the hospital or they want to come see you or they just lost their job – whatever pulls at your heartstrings. Sometimes they even tell you that they want to invest in a once-in-a-lifetime property (to build your “dream home”). They will convince you of how trustworthy they are. You will send them money. Why not? After all, this man that you have never met face-to-face – he is your soul mate, right?

If you are hesitant in giving them money, they will withdraw emotionally, leaving you hurt and confused. They might accuse you of not trusting them and not really loving them as you have professed over and over. Some scammers offer up a contract that is supposed to protect you, but in reality, does not. They are master manipulators.

The irony of the entire situation is that once you give the con artist money they will disappear. If you don’t give them money, they will also disappear. Either way, you are left heartbroken.

It’s prudent to have a background search done by a Private Investigator on any internet love interest. This is especially true if you are planning to travel to meet him or spend any money on him whatsoever. Failure to do so can leave you bankrupt and with tarnished credit, not to mention so soured by the situation that you have trouble trusting people again.

If you have already been duped by a sweetheart scammer, it might not be too late. Victims often hire Private Investigators to find the con artist so they can seek civil remedies. However, if you have already been drained financially this can be an additional stress that you don’t need. Before falling victim to any internet predator, be sure to do have adequate research done by a private detective. NEVER send the internet love interest any money. Do not travel out of state or out of country before knowing what you are getting yourself into.

Insurance fraud occurs when someone intentionally and knowingly lies to gain a benefit to which they would not otherwise be entitled. Worker’s compensation, fire, automobile, healthcare and property insurers all fall victim to fraudsters. While some people might consider such frauds “victimless crimes”, there are inevitably dire consequences to the various types of insurance fraud.

Insurance fraud means more than just making false claims against your insurance. Lying or providing false information are also types of fraud. So when you sign up for automobile insurance and you tell the agent that you won’t be using the car for work when you fully plan on doing so, you are committing fraud.

The consequence of providing false information won’t be felt immediately. In fact, you can get away with fibbing about the usage of your car until you actually get in an accident. If it is discovered that you were using your vehicle contrary to what it is insured for, your coverage will be cancelled and you won’t receive any compensation for the accident. YES – that means you will pay out of pocket for your hospital stay, vehicle repairs and any damages to third parties. You also risk increased premiums and even being denied coverage for providing false information.

Worker’s compensation fraud is a common type of fraud. This occurs when someone claims they have an injury that they don’t have or pretend that the injury is worse than it is. For the worker, this type of fraud may seem innocent enough – they get an extra week of vacation and nobody else gets hurt. For the Private Investigator, this is a lucrative business, as we are hired every day to watch people who are claiming worker’s compensation when they aren’t entitled.

The consequences are not insignificant. Some frauds will leave you unemployed, with a hefty fine, a criminal record and even jail time. And you do eventually get caught. In February 2012, the Feds caught up with a 36-person $279 million insurance fraud ring. Among the involved were esteemed doctors and lawyers. If found guilty of all charges, they are looking at maximum sentences of up to 70 years[1] in prison! Short-term greed often overshadows sound judgment.

Auto insurance fraud is hitting New Yorkers where it hurts – their pocketbooks.  In 2010, insurance fraud cost New York $241 million. In fact, NYC drivers in Staten Island pay about 67% more and Bronx drivers pay a whopping 272% more than the state’s average for no-fault insurance[2].

Abuse of insurance is not exclusive to automobile insurance. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has reported a 10% increase in suspicious claims from 2008 to 2010[3]. This means all premiums take a hike – making insurance out of reach for many New Yorkers. Your fraudulent activities might make it impossible for your innocent neighbor, friend or child to afford health or automobile insurance.

You can be a participant of insurance fraud and not even know it. Medical insurance often takes a hit from medical providers when they are billed for treatments that were never provided, when patients are given treatments that aren’t necessary and are double-billed for legitimate treatments.

To avoid falling victim to the many repercussion of insurance fraud, there are several precautions that you can take. Never sign a blank insurance form on the promise that it will be filled out accurately. Review your insurance statements thoroughly and cross-check them with your records. Avoid paying for premiums in cash and check with the state insurance department to ensure that the insurer is licensed in your state. Most importantly, protect your mail and identification so you aren’t unknowingly drawn into a scheme by way of identity theft. NAI private investigators have experience in conducting insurance fraud investigation. If you are a victim of insurance fraud it may beneficial to hire a private investigator to gather the evidence that may help you.

If you’ve been caught cheating on a spouse or partner by a private investigator – or by your spouse himself or herself – you likely find yourself surrounded by an air of mistrust and living in a relationship that’s on very rocky ground. In order to try and put an end to the feeling of devastation, the partner who cheated has to be accountable, present and prepared to work hard and for a potentially very long time to build back trust.

There are several levels of cheating – and some are more easily forgiven than others. Of course, there’s no hard and fast rule about how a partner will feel after having found out about any level of cheating. For instance, some partners would feel just as betrayed by their lover pursuing a non-physical liaison over the phone or internet as they might by their lover cheating in a more traditional sense. Others might not be as upset by a fling as they would a longer-term extra-marital liaison. Regardless of what type of cheating has transpired, the cheater must learn to deal with and validate their partner’s feelings of betrayal. North American Investigations has conducted thousands of cases involving infidelity and has experience in advising clients on dealing with being cheated on.

How A Cheater Can Work To Heal A Damaged Relationship

1. Don’t make excuse or try to validate your cheating – If your partner has come to you with verifiable proof that they or a private investigator have gathered on your cheating ways, it’s incumbent upon you to own your actions. Being caught is the worst possible thing that could happen and it already has happened. To compound the lie or to play the blame game with the offended partner or spouse will do nothing for your credibility and only stands to damage the relationship beyond repair. As painful as it is to admit the truth, and as much as it will hurt your lover to hear it, they will likely never be able to trust you again if you lie to their face out of sheer cowardice
2. Make yourself available – By cheating on your partner, you’ve signaled that, at least for a time, you had emotionally checked out of your relationship. What’s more, if you continue to be absent from your partner when you could otherwise be spending time with him or her, you’re only opening yourself up for more suspicion. Your partner will likely feel very paranoid and it’s incumbent upon you to be visible, available and active in your relationship – even if much of the time you do spend together is incredibly uncomfortable. In fact, you will need to be ready to answer some very uncomfortable questions about your cheating – questions you can’t hide from. You should also make sure that your every waking minute is accounted for. From sharing your calendar and your every move with your partner to checking in from time to time via phone, email or even text – you gave up the luxury of coming and going as you please when you cheated. Try to avoid situations that will inevitably make your partner nervous or jealous. For example, having drinks alone with a work colleague you could potentially be attracted to is not a smart idea.
3. Put your partner and your relationship first – Oftentimes, cheating begins when couples put their relationship’s needs on the back burner. Relationships take work and, especially after one has been caught having an affair, will need to be priority #1 – taking precedence above all else, including work and friends – for the foreseeable future. And, it’s not just about spending time together or turning down social or work functions as a show of good faith – making your relationship a priority also means demonstrating as much. Public proclamations to family and friends of just how much your partner means to you is often a great way to make them feel special, for example.
4. Let your partner take the time they need – there isn’t a ticking clock or a statute of limitations on how long your partner should or shouldn’t take to recover after you’ve betrayed them. You can’t expect them to just get over it and you certainly can’t verbalize that desire. The fact of the matter is, your partner may never be fully healed. The most you can hope for is forgiveness and leniency – both of which can take weeks, months, years and possibly even a lifetime to achieve.

Learn and grow from your mistake as a couple – If you can manage to recover from your cheating and learn to better communicate with one another and prioritize your relationship by spending quality time together, there is the possibility you might forge an even stronger relationship with your partner

Private investigators often get calls from parents who want to have their ex-spouse watched while they have custody or visitation of their children. Call it prudent parenting or paranoia, but sometimes you cannot trust one of the parents of your children. It is always better to be safe than sorry as many of North American Investigations cases have proved. Most concerns are warranted according to the chief detective at NAI.

You never want to put your child in an unsafe situation and parents should be preemptive and proactive when it comes to ANY issues involving their children and their wellbeing. Many concerns revolve around unsafe behavior such as drinking especially if there is a chance of driving, drug use, verbal or physical abuse, neglect, brainwashing, turning a child against the other parent, leaving the child in the custody of someone else while you are suppose to be watching the child (babysitter, relative girlfriend/boyfriend). These are all legitimate concerns parents have and why they hire private investigators for child custody investigations.

Case in point: We often uncover why some parents cannot be trusted first hand on many of our stakeouts. A particular case involved a concerned mother who had called the agency after her recent separation from her husband. She wanted to have him followed while he had weekend visitation of their two young children. We watched him for two weekends straight.The father in question spent no time with his kids. Instead, he dropped them off at his mother’s house on the Friday night. He then proceeded to go to meet up with another man and pass off what we could only presume was drugs in exchange for cash. He made a more stops and repeated the same behavior all weekend. After further investigation it was determined that the father was in fact involved in dealing drugs. The kids were too young to explain to their mother how they spent their weekend (locked in apartment with an elderly lady as opposed to hanging out with their father). The evidence proved very helpful for our client’s case and protected the children from being put in harms way.

Another mother phoned to have her ex-boyfriend watched with their young son. The father and mother had joint custody. We trailed him for 3 days and caught him doing a number of unsavory activities on video tape. We watched him at attend a party almost immediately after picking up his son, at which the toddler was running around unsupervised. We saw him hanging out with someone who he was forbidden from associating with pursuant to the conditions of his probation. A former alcoholic, we saw this father stop at a liquor store and leave with a case of beer. Finally, we saw him swearing and cussing at his 3-year-old son in public when his son started crying.

Some factors that parents like to keep an eye on with respect to custodial rights are:
• The ability of the parent to hold down a job
• The bond between parent and child(ren)
• Mental instability, mental illness or substance abuse
• The ability of the parent to provide for the social, educational, medical and safety needs of the child(ren)
• Criminal activity of the parent in question

So what does this mean for the innocent parent? If you are in a custody battle with your ex-spouse such evidence of poor parenting can be presented to the judge to support your claim for sole custody. Courts will consider any evidence in determining who will be the best primary caregiver for the child. If you can present proof that your ex-spouse is a completely unfit parent and poses a threat to your child’s safety, visitation rights may even be revoked.  A private investigator can be key in obtaining evidence that can be utilized in custody cases.

If you have suspicions that your ex is incapable of providing the proper care and supervision of your child or children, having him or her watched is not only helpful if you are hoping to win custody, it ensures that your children are properly cared for. If you have any of theses concerns you should speak to a private detective at North American Investigations for advice.

How to Catch a Cheating Husband

If you are married and suspect that your husband is being unfaithful, hiring a private investigator may be the most difficult decision you will ever make. Make no mistake about it—one of the most common reasons why women stay with cheaters is because they fail to take decisive action.

Perhaps these women know whether consciously or unconsciously that their husbands are cheating. However, they may be too scared to find out the truth. Some women may fear a confrontation, while others may fear their mate leaving. Unfortunately, living in denial never solves the problem. Infidelity hurts a relationship and every moment that you don’t know for sure deteriorates the marriage.

This is why it is imperative to hire a private investigator to find out the truth and gather evidence. Large cities like New York City and Los Angeles are definitely cities of temptation, as there are millions of people within the city constantly making new connections. Unfortunately large cities are not the only places that have vast infidelity problems nowadays because the fact is that much of the world is online and making friends of friends through social media! The temptation will always be there. What matters is how your husband responds. The newest statistics suggest that as many as 50% of all married men cheat and over 80% of those cheaters will lie to your face.

That leaves only one option: hiring a private detective. It’s no use to take on the assignment yourself, since a cheating spouse will sense your distrust and make every effort to convince you that you’re being unreasonable even making you believe you are crazy and paranoid. On the other hand, when a private investigator works for you, you are dealing with incontestable proof. Whether it’s video surveillance, physically following a subject, electronic surveillance or even vehicle tracking, a private detective can present to you conclusive evidence of your spouse’s guilt or innocence.

Protect yourself and the sanctity of your marriage by hiring North American Investigations to get to the truth.

The Most Important Signs of Cheating

Before we discuss the pros and cons of a private investigator, let’s talk about cheating. Are you worried that your spouse or may be cheating? Marital suspicion is not always baseless. It is usually the result of communication breakdown, silent resentment and obsessive observation. Yes, when a person is upset he/she tends to very closely observe a spouse, taking note of where that person goes, how often, and how peculiar the behavior they exhibit

Sometimes this marital suspicion is natural. Unfortunately, suspicion is usually correct. The majority of private detective cases in which you suspect infidelity usually result in your intuition being correct. Cheating is all the more likely if the two of you have had marital problems and are no longer intimate. Sexual desire does not dissipate in an unhappy marriage. It may stay stagnant for a while but eventually will be rechanneled towards another attractive or available person. Suppressed sexual desire can be even more intense than a person’s natural libido.

Therefore, sexual problems and a constantly vanishing mate are always giant red flags that there may be cheating. What are some other signs of cheating our private investigator New York detectives could tell you? A private investigator in New York might tell you to pay close attention to subtle changes in behavior. Is your spouse making unusual changes in his or her appearance? Is there unaccounted for time in their schedule? Does your household car seem different, in terms of seat adjustment? Do you occasionally find unusual hairs in the passenger seat? Is your spouse on the computer more often than before? Are there unaccounted for bills or money shortages? Does your spouse receive frequent cell phone calls or texts? Are they very guarded with their phone? Last but not least, is your spouse defensive and perhaps even angry when discussing his/her whereabouts or new habits?

Our private investigator nyc agency has the experience to help you get conclusive proof of infidelity.

If you have watched the new documentary, Catfish, you might reconsider finding true love over the internet…or would you? The movie involves “a man in the film building a romantic relationship on the social networking website Facebook, with an attractive girl, and the mysterious results when they go visit her.” (Wikipedia)

Of course we are not here to spoil the movie, however, realize there are always precautions to take when a new individual suddenly appears in your life. Let’s face it – Internet dating is quick, easy, and gives us something to do on a Friday night. By meeting people online, you open yourself up to meeting a lot more individuals who you may normally never run into. The down side of this? You don’t actually know the person who you are letting into your life. Along with this, the quick and easy dating sites, usually don’t require background checks.

So how can you protect yourself from getting scammed, getting conned, or even burned from internet dating & meeting new individuals online? Here are some tips our private investigators would like to share with you:

• Ask the person you are meeting to take a quick photo on a webcam, holding a sign up saying your name or something of the works. This could prove to you their photo is real
• See how many of their friends seem real – do they only have 15 friends on facebook? This may be a sign they are a fake individual
• If they give you an address, check google or whitepages.com to see if it is a real existing address
• If they give you a phone number, do a quick free reverse phone check online to see if the number is registered to them
• If they are asking you to give them money before meeting EVER, get a professional background check to see if they are who they say they are

A professional private investigator can tailor a background check to help YOUR individual case. Worried that their phone number is not really registered to the person who you believe you may be talking to? A private investigator can disclose this information. Along with this, a private investigator has the tools necessary to verify if the person you are speaking to is actually who you think. Our investigators use different algorithms depending on how much information our client has, to figure out if the person online is legit and to provide our clients the results they came to us looking for.

Though a private investigator may be pricier than you would like, the information is accurate and up to date unlike websites like Intellius.com, which crawls the internet for FREE data. Next time you are thinking about meeting someone who may be too good to be true or their stories are just not matching up, we suggest ordering a background check.