Here’s to the Entrepreneurs. You’ve Worked Hard to Build Your Business...
Editor’s Note by Kendra Budd, Editor
Contributors
A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Jay Marin on Growing a PI Firm by Isaac Peck, Publisher
Liability 101: Two Things You Must Do When Hiring Subcontractors by Isaac Peck, Senior Broker at OREP.org
The Evolution of Technology in Investigations: From Clipboards to AI by Duaine Labno
Through the Lens of Trauma: My Role in Vehicular Homicide Defense by Richard J Stride, PsyD, LPC, LMHC
COVER STORY: Sports Scandal Entangles Investigator: Legal Blitz Ensues by Isaac Peck, Publisher Why Bad Actors Win by Carlos R. Salazar, MSCJ, CFE
Investigating Nursing Home Abuse by Kelly E. Riddle, Kelmar Global
Working With the Police: How a Phone Call Possibly Saved My Life by Jim Nanos
Romance Scams: A Global Epidemic With Deep Roots in the United States by John M. Gaspar and Anthony Luizzo
Mission
Working PI is published to help readers build their businesses, reduce their risk of liability and stay informed on important technology and industry issues.
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Comments and letters are welcome. All stories without attribution are written by the Editor.
Working PI is published by OREP Insurance Services, LLC (Calif. Lic. #0K99465) and mailed to 25,000+ private investigators nationwide. The ads and specific mention of any proprietary product contained within are a service to readers and do not imply endorsement by Working PI. No claims, representations or guarantees are made or implied by their publication. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without written consent.
Field Notes for Private Investigators
If there is one thing private investigators know all too well, it’s the simple fact that the job is often riddled with scandalous activity begging to be uncovered. This copy of Working PI magazine that you now hold in your hands is chock-full of eye-opening stories and practical guidance to help you steer clear of becoming entangled in controversy.
Usually, the PI only investigates the scandal, but there are a few times when they become embroiled in the drama themselves. For example, a private investigator found himself in hot water with a local football community after his client went rogue. A man named John Quinnelly Jr. began to question a local high school athlete’s eligibility to play football in the school district he was in and hired PI Eric Winberg to dig further into the allegations. After Winberg shared his findings, Quinnelly would go public with the information without consulting the PI. This led the family of the football player to sue not only Quinnelly but Winberg as well—who states he had no knowledge of Quinnelly’s plan. This story serves as a great reminder to PIs that you can sometimes do everything by the book, and still face repercussions. You can read the full story on pg. 20.
Private investigators want to do everything in their power to make sure that they don’t end up on the receiving end of a lawsuit. However, one common mistake investigators make is not taking the proper steps when hiring subcontractors for their work. Oftentimes, when a mistake happens in the field it can be attributed to the subcontractor hired—however, the blame almost always gets pinned on the investigator when they don’t ask their subcontractors for these two things beforehand: 1) Proof of insurance and 2) indemnification agreements. These will help you avoid litigation in the long run, especially when the mistakes aren’t your own. You can learn more and see examples on pg. 10.
This issue of Working PI also provides helpful insight into various subsects of investigation that many might find informative. On pg. 18, investigators can read about a Forensic Mental Health Professional’s firsthand account of investigating human behavior in a vehicular manslaughter case—learning that not all crimes are black and white, especially when it comes to emotions. Additionally, you can read on pg. 38 about romance scammers and their continuing growth in the United States. More specifically, investigators can learn what to look out for when investigating these scams and about who is most vulnerable.
Although some of these topics may sound like the stuff of fiction, they are very real and provide a great learning opportunity for investigators who wish to expand their business (especially safely).
Stay safe out there!
Kendra Budd
Kendra Budd Editor of Working PI
CONTRIBUTORS
Kelly E. Riddle
Kelly E. Riddle is the President of Kelmar Global Investigations and has more than 41 years of investigative experience. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of North Alabama. He was chosen as the “PI of the Year” by the National Association of Investigative Specialists, while PI Magazine named Mr. Riddle the #1 PI in the U.S. Kelly is the past President of the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators and is on the Florida Association of Private Investigators Advisory Board. He founded the PI Institute of Education in 1989, which provides online learning. Kelly has published 16 books, over 40 articles, and spoken at over 650 events.
Anthony Luizzo
Anthony has a longdistinguished career in law enforcement with the NYPD, as a senior security executive with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and the NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation, and is President of his PI firm.
Carlos R. Salazar
Carlos is an Executive Corporate Intelligence Leader, Certified Fraud Examiner, multi-industry contributor, and public speaker with 35 years of combined experience in law enforcement major crimes and private-sector corporate consulting. He is well known for leading high-stakes engagements across multiple industries domestically and internationally. He is also a Multi-Sector Entrepreneur and Founder / Advisory Board Chair of C. R. Salazar Intelligence Group. Connect with Carlos on LinkedIn at: Linkedin.com/in/ carlos-r-s-a2a75b117
Isaac Peck
Isaac Peck is the Publisher of Working PI magazine and the President and Senior Broker of OREP.org , a leading provider of liability insurance for PI professionals. Working PI is the most widely read print magazine for investigators nationwide, reaching over 25,000 PIs. Investigators who become OREP Members enjoy two CE courses (15 hours) at no charge (Visit OREP.org/PI-Members for details). Isaac brings over 10 years of experience leading teams in Professional Liability insurance underwriting, operations, technology, and marketing—with a focus on E&O and general liability insurance for professionals. He holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting. Reach Isaac by phone at (888) 347-5273 or email at isaac@orep.org. CA License #4116465.
Richard J. Stride
Dr. Stride is a licensed Private Investigator and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State. He frequently works with other PIs and Attorneys on cases. He is licensed in WA and TX. To reach him, email docrs59@drstrideforensic.org or visit his website www.drstrideforensic.org.
Kendra Budd
Kendra Budd is the Editor of Working PI magazine and the Marketing Coordinator for OREP Insurance. In her fourth year with OREP Insurance, Kendra also assists the Education Division at OREP as Education Coordinator. She graduated with a BA in Theatre and English from Western Washington University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University.
Jim Nanos
Jim Nanos is a licensed private investigator in New Jersey and Senior Contributor to Working PI magazine. He offers training on ChatGPT and AI assistance in 2-, 4-, and 8-hour classes, including live use of the tool. Nanos can be contacted for conferences and speaking engagements by visiting The PI Coach website, www.ThePICoach.com, or through his private investigations firm, Apple Investigations, www.Apple Investigations.com.
John M. Gaspar
John Gaspar, B.S, M.S, CFE BAI CSI is the Immediate Past President of the Florida Association of Private Investigators (FAPI), Former President of the Society of Professional Investigators, Past Chairperson of the Board Accredited Investigators (BAI), Retired NYP Major Case Squad Detective, and Retired FCSO Detective Supervisor of the Economic Crime Division.
Duaine J. Labno
Duaine Labno is the Senior Director of Risk & Threat Intelligence at CROSStrax, bringing over two decades of public safety experience. His career began in 1999 and he was a police officer and firefighter in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he served in a variety of specialized roles. Duaine now leads strategic threat intelligence efforts, combining his deep field expertise with a passion for protecting people and organizations.
A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Jay Marin on Growing a PI Firm
by Isaac Peck, Publisher
“
Giving and taking, holding on and letting go, and openness to intellectual growth all cluster around Jay Marin’s business philosophy.”
“
Ju st because you’re doing it fast, doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. You could be running in place and not making progress.”
That’s just one of many insights offered by Jay Marin, whose private investigation firm, Specialized Investigations Consultants (SIC), has taken the greater Miami area by storm. Marin might be a private investigator thoroughly cut from the mold of law enforcement, but he is also very much his own person—analytic, exacting, and deliberative—with an eye towards growth. He has meticulously built the credibility of his firm, thoughtfully honed his own skills and practices, and is careful not to over-claim himself or to say yes to everyone.
“I don’t want to take on too many clients and not be able to give them the service that they want,” Marin told me when I asked him how large he wanted his business to eventually grow. Jay Marin is in business, but he is not of business. He’s a go-getter who sets lim-
its. “Accepting and/or turning down work is very important because my reputation is very important,” he said. “My reputation and our company philosophy is ‘always to run smoothly’, not just say ‘hey I’m going to take all this work.’ A marathon, not a sprint.”
But what a marathon it has been. The firm has grown from three people in 2016 to 17 full-time employees plus subcontractors 10 years later. The scope of their work is impressive: the firm’s website lists and offers details on asset searches, business litigation investigation, child custody/family law, corporate investigations, cruise ship and hotel cases, finding missing people, surveillance, and more.
One specialty the firm centers on is executive protection, tailored to “the unique requirements of individuals holding positions of power or high net worth status.”
Not bad for a PI who doesn’t want to “do too much.”
Setting Limits is Good
We hear a lot about ignoring limits as a prerequisite to success: “don’t let anything hold you back,” the advice says. “Don’t let anyone tell you no, remember you can do anything you want, anything you put your mind to do,” and so on. Transcending limits, breaking rules, doubling down; these are the mantras of business growth advice.
Jay Marin begs to differ. Determining that there were things he couldn’t or wouldn’t do was part of the reason he became a private investigator. Not setting limits in his prior work life had been a mistake. Marin had been injured on the job multiple times while serving as a police officer. He’d taken risks and repeatedly put himself in danger— a prospect that became true. As a law enforcement officer (LEO), he investigated robberies, homicides, and gang violence in a high-crime region in South Florida. He’d been in shootouts and been
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injured on the job. He’d received death threats and had to repeatedly move.
In the years prior to his retirement as a LEO, Marin had started to attend PI conferences during his time off. He thought that with his talents in investigation, research, documentation, and his understanding of criminality (he has a degree in Criminal Justice Management), he might be able to do well as a private investigator.
The hazards of policing in an unpredictable metropolitan area like Miami would have been enough by themselves to drive many people away from policing, but to top it off, in the 2010s, Marin had started a family. He had come to realize that his family needed him to do something safer and less intense. He incorporated SIC in 2013 but continued to serve as a police detective. In 2014, Marin’s third police-involved shooting was his personal last straw. And he’d begun to develop some heart problems. Still, he continued to set up the business. He earned a degree in Criminal Justice Management in 2013 and was officially certified as a Criminal Defense Investigator by The Criminal Defense Investigation Council in 2016.
Ten years later, the SIC team has served as security detail to a U.S. President, provided private security to high-end jewelry distributors, protected foreign embassies, served as the security detail to political figures as well as ultra-high net-worth individuals. For the past two years, the firm has been honored as the “Best of Florida” Winner in the Private Investigation Firms category by The Guide to Florida .
Starting a new career, even when it’s in a crossover field from your old one, is challenging and requires humility and determination. While others at a similar career stage might opt for shortcuts, Marin chose to attend PI trainings and conferences, establishing valuable contacts in the process. The goal, he told me, was to surround himself “with certain skill set and talent in the profession.
I was trying to learn from them. Why would I reinvent the wheel when these professionals have already done it?”
Marin’s firm ran with three employees at first and landed some larger corporate clients in 2017 and 2018. He began getting law firms as clients and they gave the firm consistent business. As those clients and relationships grew, “I grew with them,” Marin explains.
Giving and taking, holding on and letting go, and openness to intellectual growth all cluster around Jay Marin’s business philosophy. He’s not afraid to say we should do some things the oldfashioned way—like reading. Marin says he loves to read about marketing, finance, team building, and more. His favorite books include Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins, David Schwartz’s The Magic of Thinking Big, and The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone.
A Set of Values
Marin’s grounding goes deeper than business self-help books, though. As a practicing Christian, Marin believes “the only reason I’m here is God.” But he also believes that “Nothing is out of reach or out of control.” Between that humility and that optimism, you find a career like Marin’s.
“Being genuine, being yourself” is a state of mind that has earned Marin hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts. This is a gutsy position in the private sector, where he acknowledges that constant business development and a willingness to push oneself to the limit are at a premium. “Sometimes you need to meet someone five times. You can assist somebody in that specific moment. That can lead you to another thing.” The real key to growth is to be “mentally prepared. Reading these books, associating myself with other people in this industry, other business owners, all of these things helped me develop into a solid individual that can grow a company.”
Credibility also enhances the investigator’s reputation, leading to more referrals
and repeat business. To maintain credibility, private investigators must adhere to ethical standards, provide accurate and timely reports, and demonstrate professionalism in all interactions. Building and maintaining credibility ensures that private investigators can effectively serve their clients and achieve successful outcomes in their investigations.
Taking the growth mindset a step further—and a step outside of the box of traditions—leads to another of Marin’s action items. “If you want to grow your business,” Marin said, “you’ve got to treat your staff right. You’ve got to do extraordinary things for your staff so they can appreciate you.” Marin means performance, generosity to staff, all of it. Like so many successful founders, he’s emphasizing the critical importance of a synergistic team.
“Reward your staff when they do great work. If you develop a sense of appreciation for your staff, your staff will appreciate you. There’s always time for work; there’s always time to play. But when it’s time to work, all hands are on deck. I appreciate what they do for me, if it wasn’t for them, I couldn’t be at the level we’re at now.” Marin advised taking the staff for an occasional night out or encouraging people to take a paid day off. And because he is willing to do these things, he said, he knows that “as soon as something happens at my office, I make a phone call and say ‘hey, we’ve got to address this now,’ everybody comes in and puts the effort in.” That mutual appreciation pays off when it matters most.
It hadn’t always been this flush for a big staff. “In 2017 and 2018, when I landed large clients, I had to hire people. I hired in-house staff, some part-time staff. But clients came and went, and I had to keep that number real tight for a while,” Marin said. But over the past three years, he’s hired administrative support, more investigators, and other specialists. And just this last year, the firm added eight people. “Because I’ve been able to have the reputation I have, have the network
I have, have the clients I have that I’ve grown with, all this has given me an opportunity to step back from being so involved in the day-to-day stuff.” This has given Marin the opportunity to work on business development, growth, and quality control. He’s still dealing with clients, but he’s also taking a step back and looking at the big picture; being careful and deliberate again.
Even superstars need the team, Marin pointed out. “Michael Jordan can be the Face of The Bulls, but he still needs the team. Everybody’s goal is to replicate themselves. But that’s never going to happen. Other people will need to do a part of that.”
The Adventure Continues
SIC is a rising firm in the greater Miami area, and that’s an adventure unlike any other. The city’s beauty, energy, and diverse array of industries and activities make it a hotspot for unique cases—the kind of cases that SIC works, from tracking down missing people to uncovering fraud, from providing security detail to
elected officials and celebrities to cruise ship and hotel investigations. Every day brings new challenges. SIC is a force and personality in the Miami community.
Marin and colleagues attended the National Association of Legal Investigators’ Mid-Winter Conference in January, where they heard speakers discuss document investigations, building rapport with clients, taking statements, and advice on specific investigative techniques as well as running a PI firm.
This year, the firm will open offices in Indiana and Las Vegas, NV, in addition to the Lakeland, FL office they opened in 2023. Candidates for new hires include an ex-military cybersecurity specialist, and the field of cybersecurity might open a whole new world for the firm. “The industry itself is leaning heavily into OSINT (open-source intelligence) and cybersecurity,” Marin points out. This past year, Marin received an OSINT Certification through OSMOSIS, and he will pay for others on staff to obtain training.
OSINT involves collecting and analyzing publicly available information from various sources, such as social media, websites, forums, and news outlets. PIs can use that data to uncover information about potential threats, vulnerabilities, and individuals involved in cyber incidents. This means that a great deal of investigative work remains unambiguously legal and ethical while using processing tools that maximize the value of that publicly available information.
Finally, Marin told me that Specialized Investigation Consultants will be “bringing on a full-time business development specialist to go to the bigger law firms. Miami is built for it: it’s a financial hub which is going to take over New York in large law firms over the next 3 years. Our plan is to lock in a lot of these large law firms. My goal is to be at least 45-50 employees full-time.” Watching Marin and studying his careful-but-meteoric rise, it’s hard not to root for him.
“Short steps, long vision,” Jay Marin says, smiling.
Liability 101: Two Things You Must Do When Hiring Subcontractors
by Isaac Peck, Senior Broker at OREP.org
“W hile some private investigators do take the step of verifying current liability insurance, very few go the extra mile and get a signed agreement with their subcontractors.”
Private investigators are no strangers to hiring other professionals, including other investigators, so they can better meet their clients’ needs. Whether you are in a larger firm with a dozen fulltime employees or a solo-operator, if you’ve been doing this for any reasonable length of time, you’ve probably hired an “independent contractor” to assist you in an investigation.
In many cases, PIs hire other licensed investigators to assist in some part of an investigation—be it surveillance, research, interviewing, geographic proximity, or perhaps they specialize in a particular area that is key to the investigation (asset searches, for example). This is a good idea. It makes your work easier, makes the clients happy, and keeps you in good working relationships with other professionals who can help you when you need them.
Subcontracting is risky, though, and to manage those risks, indemnification is a common and effective legal tool.
Whether you hire an unlicensed “birddog,” another licensed investigator, or even another type of specialist or licensee on an independent contractor basis, there are two very important things you need to do with each subcontractor:
1. Get a copy of each subcontractor’s liability insurance
2. Use a written subcontractor agreement with an indemnification clause where the subcontractor agrees to indemnify you.
While some private investigators do take the step of verifying current liability insurance, very few go the extra mile and get a signed agreement with their subcon-
tractors. And even fewer include an indemnification clause in that agreement.
Here is what it means and why it matters.
Why Show Proof of Insurance?
In our work here at OREP, we’ve heard of private investigators balking at the idea of showing another PI proof of liability insurance. “That request is private and over the line!” the argument goes. However, showing proof of insurance is incredibly commonplace across the business landscape—in both professional services circles as well as the trades.
Depending on the venue or the situation, there are plenty of scenarios where you can’t even step onto a property as a vendor without first showing your proof of insurance. As a professional, show-
ing proof of your liability insurance is normal and commonplace, as is requiring that your subcontractors provide you with proof of their insurance.
What is Indemnification?
Let’s start with what it means to “indemnify” someone. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “indemnify” as:
• To secure against hurt, loss, or damage;
• To make compensation for incurred hurt, loss, or damage.
In other words, with an indemnification clause, the subcontractor is agreeing to defend the PI and make them “whole” in the event the PI is sued or held liable for mistakes that the subcontractor makes.
These types of clauses are now incredibly common amongst the construction trades, professional service providers, financial services, and more. For example, if you are a general contractor hired by a wealthy patron to build a house— you are likely to hire a framing company to frame the house, an electrical company to run the electrical, and so on.
In each case, a smart risk management practice would be to have these subcontractors sign indemnification clauses where they agree to take responsibility for any property damage, mistakes, or errors that they make. After all, even though you are the general contractor, if your subcontractors make mistakes, you want them to take responsibility and pay for it, not you. It’s just good risk management. (OREP provides its Members with an attorney-prepared subcontractor agreement they can use with their subcontractors—free of charge.)
Example
Let’s talk through an example of how an indemnification clause works. Imagine that your firm hires an investigator to conduct surveillance, and that investigator trespasses on the target’s property (trespassing) and kicks over the target’s expensive motorcycle in the process, putting a huge dent in the gas tank (property damage). The target fig-
ures out that it was your firm that hired the investigator, and so the target files a lawsuit against the firm, even though it was a third-party, the subcontractor, who committed the tort.
Let’s further posit that you know the subcontractor carries insurance (or at least that’s what he told you!), but you never asked for a copy of his liability insurance, and you never signed an agreement with him. You learn that he did not, in fact, have a current liability insurance policy. And now your firm is the one facing a lawsuit because of his actions!
What about the subcontractor? He’s the one who did the trespassing and damaged the target’s motorcycle. Do you think that he, his company, or better yet, his insurance carrier is going to voluntarily step up and take responsibility for this claim? It would be highly unlikely. The subcontractor and his insurance carrier are breathing a sigh of relief that they were not named in the lawsuit and that they are, so far, completely unencumbered by the entire ordeal. Whew!
Now you are left to defend this claim all by yourself. The only recourse a company has against a subcontractor like this would be to file a claim against the subcontractor and potentially sue them. In other words, you would need to sue the subcontractor yourself, while defending a lawsuit against the target. Many insurance companies and professionals are very uncomfortable with this approach (unless the dollar amounts are very high), and in many cases, the subcontractor will get off scot-free if there is no written agreement between the two parties outlining responsibilities and liabilities.
If you, the private investigator, have (1) a copy of the subcontractor’s professional’s insurance, and (2) a written agreement with an indemnification clause, it makes it much easier for you to tender the claim to the subcontractor’s insurance carrier and seek retribution and defense in the lawsuit.
Practical Example: Mortgage Professionals
Here’s another example from a different industry to demonstrate the importance of indemnification agreements. OREP also serves mortgage field professionals with insurance and risk management. These professionals help banks and other large property managers manage their inventory of bank-owned properties (REOs). Their services include boarding up windows, mowing lawns, property maintenance and even property clean-outs—where a firm will go into a home and empty it of all furniture, belong ings, and trash.
The relationship between these professionals is structured like this: typically, there are larger vendors that service big contracts with a lender. They then subcontract out the jobs to smaller firms across the country. Just like with appraisals, lenders try to avoid administering their own panel of thousands of vendors across the country.
In one claim OREP has seen, a local mortgage field firm was hired by a larger vendor to perform a “clean out” on a particular property that had been foreclosed on. But the smaller firm made a serious error: they didn’t verify the address and ended up getting it wrong. So, they drove up to the wrong house, kicked in the front door, and cleaned it all out, putting all of the legitimate homeowner’s current belongings out on the front lawn.
As you can imagine, this resulted in a very big claim. But because the larger vendor didn’t have an indemnification clause in their service agreement, they couldn’t transfer the liability onto the smaller firm that had made the mistake! As a result, the larger vendor ended up defending, and finally settling, a serious claim.
You’d hope they could recover from that one disaster, but it’s more complicated than that. This big vendor was doing big business, and their faulty contracts created more problems for them, and
eventually the company faced six-figure insurance premiums, with few carriers willing to even quote their business. In fact, the only insurance carrier that was willing to quote their business demanded that they start including— you guessed it—indemnification clauses in all their service agreements as a condition of coverage.
Be Smart When Hiring Subcontractors
I tell these stories to private investigators when they ask me about proof of insurance and indemnification clauses. Common law indemnification theory dictates that the party responsible for the mistake should pay for it. From a practical standpoint (especially when it comes to insurance), indemnification clauses make all the difference.
In other words, from a risk management perspective, any business that is
working with subcontractors, or even businesses that allow subcontractors on their properties (like builders or wedding venues, for example), should be asking those subcontractors to (1) show proof of insurance, and (2) sign an agreement with an indemnification clause. This is true for private investigators as well.
When You’re the Subcontractor
If you’re the one doing subcontracting —maybe you’re working for another PI, or a law firm with a small team of PIs—you shouldn’t be surprised to see indemnification provisions in your engagement letters and service agreements. But there’s one important difference you should keep an eye out for.
Specifically, you never want to sign any agreement where you agree to indemnify any third-party for their mistakes or errors. You should only indemnify a
third-party for your own errors or omissions. From an insurance standpoint, if you agree to indemnify a third-party for their own mistakes and errors, that is not something your insurance will cover—watch out for that!
How Can I Help?
If you ever have any questions about liability or risk management in your private investigation business, please reach out to me via email at isaac@ orep.org or give OREP’s office a call toll-free at (888) 347-5273.
OREP Insurance is now open 12 hours a day to better serve Private Investigators across the United States! (8 a.m. ET – 8 p.m. ET.) Did you also know at OREP, we offer our Members an attorney-prepared subcontractor agreement for use in their businesses?
Stay safe out there!
The Evolution of Technology in Investigations: From Clipboards to AI
by Duaine Labno
“Now, we can proactively track active shooter incidents, police activity, fires, natural disasters, and other risk events that could impact business operations and employee safety.”
The private investigative industry has undergone a seismic shift over the past few decades, driven largely by advancements in technology. My career began in law enforcement in 1999 in a rural area, a time when technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. Back then, our department computers ran on Windows 95, and our patrol cars lacked built-in computers. Instead, we relied on clipboards, radios, light controllers, and physical maps, such as the “Thomas Guide,” to navigate to locations. Every call detail was manually written down, and running a person’s information was done over the radio. Despite the limitations, this era instilled a deep respect for meticulous attention to detail and the fundamental skills of investigative work.
As I progressed in my career, technology evolved alongside me. We were frequently introduced to new tools, of-
ten marketed as game-changers that would increase efficiency and safety. While some advancements genuinely enhanced our capabilities—such as electronic call information, real-time vehicle navigation, and automated background checks—many others fell short. I witnessed numerous police departments invest in expensive, ineffective software due to flawed procurement processes. Officers often reverted to traditional methods that were more reliable and efficient than the technological solutions provided.
When I transitioned to the private sector in 2021, joining TIG Risk Services, I gained a newfound appreciation for the resourcefulness required in private investigations. Unlike law enforcement, where proprietary databases provide instant access to information, private investigators must rely on methodical research and traditional investigative
techniques. This challenge, however, is what makes the PI profession exciting—developing leads away from minimal information and constructing cases through diligence and perseverance.
Technology’s Role in Modern Investigations
At TIG Risk Services, we have leveraged technology to enhance our operations. Our company owns a software firm, which developed CROSStrax, a case management system designed by investigators for investigators. This software streamlines workflows and enhances efficiency, mirroring the functionality of law enforcement systems while catering to the private investigative industry.
Looking ahead to 2025, our organization is poised to take another leap forward by integrating artificial intelligence (AI)
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Take Your Business to the Next Level Toolkit for Professional Investigators
Hone New Skills Expand Your Business Increase Your Income 1 2 3
OREP is more than just another Insurance Agency. As an OREP Member, you get access to an unrivaled training suite of products to help you build your skills and grow your business (at no additional cost).
Learn from the Best Training, eBooks, and Contracts from experienced attorneys and industry-leading private investigators (Kelly Riddle and Mark and Wendy Murnan).
The Art of Surveillance
Conducting surveillance correctly is truly an art. This eBook shows you how to avoid common mistakes, use proper equipment and different concealment techniques; includes a section on international investigations.
Secrets of a PI Agency:
Marketing and Management
Good investigation techniques will only get you so far. Learn from one of the leading investigators in the nation how to grow your agency like any other business by utilizing savvy marketing techniques and business skills.
Marketing to Plaintiff Attorneys
Learn valuable strategies and techniques for marketing your agency to plaintiff attorneys! Many PIs ignore this high-value niche that pays higher hourly rates.
Subcontractor Manual
Step up your game when it comes to dealing with subcontractors. Set clear expectations on how subcontractors should handle confidential information, interact with clients, and navigate insurance requirements.
Things They Didn’t Tell You (About Starting a PI Business)
Why struggle to get your business up and running when you can rely on the experience of someone who has been in business for more than 40 years? This book is a road map for anyone serious about starting a PI business.
Investigator Procedures Manual
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Business Plan Template
Use this as a template for the growth of your PI business. Kelly E. Riddle shows you how to set your services apart from others, define what market you serve, the types of services you provide, how you will market the business, its financial history, business expansion, and more.
8 Hour CE Class: “Surveillance Strategies for Success”
Learn key strategies and tips to successfully execute surveillance operations as a private investigator.
Engagement Letter
Enjoy a templated Engagement Contract prepared by an attorney and former FBI agent.
Subcontractor Agreement
Prepared by an attorney and former FBI agent.
into our investigative processes. AI is transforming how we handle file management, report writing, and data analysis. Some of our investigators have already cut their report-writing time in half, allowing them to take on more work while improving the quality of their deliverables. AI-assisted report writ ing has significantly reduced grammar and spelling errors, ensuring a polished final product. However, human oversight remains critical to maintaining accuracy and contextual integrity.
Beyond report writing, AI has revolutionized fraud detection and pattern recognition. Traditionally, private investigators would manually sift through vast amounts of data, potentially overlooking critical details. AI, however, can process financial records, communication logs, and behavioral patterns in seconds, identifying trends that may otherwise be missed. This innovation saves time
and ensures a higher level of accuracy, though human verification remains essential to validating AI-generated insights.
Advancing Workplace Safety Through Technology
In my current role, I oversee a workplace violence team responsible for threat assessments and special investigations for a global organization. Risk mitigation in corporate environments requires a proactive approach, which led us to develop Risk Shield, a software platform that enables real-time monitoring of security threats.
Prior to its implementation, workplace violence prevention was largely reactive. Now, we can proactively track active shooter incidents, police activity, fires, natural disasters, and other risk events that could impact business operations and employee safety. Additionally, we introduced a mobile app that allows users
to report suspicious activity and monitor security threats in their vicinity. This innovation provides an extra layer of protection for businesses and individuals, enhancing situational awareness and crisis response capabilities.
The Future of Investigations
Reflecting on my early days in law enforcement, it’s remarkable to see how far technology has come. As we move forward, the investigative industry will continue to harness new tools to increase productivity, uncover deeper insights, and enhance security. AI, data analytics, and advanced case management systems are not replacing investigators; they are empowering us to work smarter and more effectively. The future of investigations is bright, and those who embrace technology will find themselves at the forefront of an ever-evolving industry.
Through the Lens of Trauma: My Role in a Vehicular Homicide Defense
by Richard J Stride, PsyD, LPC, LMHC
“Dissociation, shock, and emotional suppression are real clinical phenomena. However, when a person acts with total disregard for others, especially family members, it’s shocking.”
Some cases stay with you—not because of the headlines, but because of the silence. The unanswered questions. The moments that unravel slowly, long after the courtroom grows quiet.
This is the story of one of those cases.
As a forensic mental health professional, I’ve worked on many difficult cases where human tragedy, legal responsibility, and emotional complexity collide. But few tested my understanding of trauma, truth, and perception, like the case of 18-year-old John Jacobs*, charged with vehicular homicide after a collision that left a woman and her teenage son dead. John, in my opinion, wasn’t the one who made the turn that led to the crash. He was driving straight on a two-
lane road, in the clear light of late afternoon, when another car turned left across his lane. John had less than two seconds to react. The impact was unavoidable.
The driver of the turning vehicle, Timothy Smith*, survived with only minor injuries. But in the passenger seat beside him, his wife was fatally injured. In the back seat, their 15-year-old son was mortally wounded.
Both died later at the hospital. John was speeding. He was driving about 80 mph in a 50 mph zone—a detail that would become the entire focus of the initial investigation. It was as if, in the chaos of grief and loss, the system needed someone to blame. And John, young and fast-moving, was easy to fixate on.
When the defense attorney contacted me, I wasn’t asked to determine guilt or innocence. I was asked to understand. To look at the raw underlying emotional material—dashcam footage, law enforcement interviews, and the behavior of both John and Timothy—and try to see what was happening beneath the surface.
What I saw in John was pain. Not performance. His reactions weren’t calculated or guarded; they were raw, immediate, and deeply human. This wasn’t a person who didn’t care. This was someone who looked like he had just lost a piece of himself. His trauma was not abstract, it was visible in the way he moved, in the way his voice cracked, in the way he instinctively tried to help the very people whose lives were end-
ing before him. He wasn’t running from responsibility—he was collapsing under the weight of it. He didn’t just witness a tragedy; he absorbed it.
In contrast, Timothy Smith’s reactions raised difficult and deeply human questions. In both the footage at the scene and interviews at the hospital, he appeared strikingly flat—his tone neutral, his facial expression unreadable.
His wife had just been fatally injured. Her side of the vehicle absorbed the full impact of the crash. His son had also been fatally injured in the rear seat. His son wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. Most people would be overwhelmed with emotion at what just happened.
Yet Timothy made no attempt to see if his wife and son were ok. The officer’s dashcam footage later recorded him being asked if he would like to ride in the ambulance with his wife or son. His response was shocking; he simply said, “No.”
As a mental health professional, I understand that trauma can manifest in unpredictable ways. Emotional bluntness can be a form of psychological protection—a way the mind shields itself from overwhelming pain.
Dissociation, shock, and emotional suppression are real clinical phenomena. However, when a person acts with total disregard for others, especially family members, it’s shocking.
I had never seen anyone react to a horrifically gruesome scene involving their spouse and child in such a way. I was taken aback by his reaction to his family’s welfare. My mind was reeling to find answers. I struggled to put the pieces of this complicated puzzle together.
I would later learn from my teammate’s incredible PI work that history existed. A history of risky behavior, disregard for consequences, and an absence of consequential concern. A more complete picture of both Timothy and John
began to emerge, looking at history and family social media accounts. Private Investigator Dean Alvarez uncovered and exposed Timothy’s checkered past.
What he found was Timothy Smith’s disregard for law enforcement, judicial rulings, and judicial oversight.
Timothy had a lengthy history of driving infractions, including drug-related charges, multiple speeding tickets, no insurance and driving under a suspended license.
PI Alvarez also accessed social media posts that painted a man whose attitude toward responsibility was not to take any, for anything.
Together, Alvarez and I built two sides of a truth the legal system hadn’t fully considered. Alvarez brought the mechanical clarity—braking data, lane positioning, legal failures of the original investigation. I brought the emotional and behavioral depth—who these people were, how they reacted, and what that might reveal about their roles in what happened.
We held many team meetings with the prosecution to coordinate every step. These weren’t just strategy sessions, they were acts of care. We wanted to make sure that John’s story didn’t get lost in the noise of public judgment. That the truth— messy, nuanced, human—was heard.
The case went to trial. After reviewing our findings, the jury found John guilty of a reduced charge. He received the minimum sentence allowed by law, which included a prison term.
Though the sentence was far less than what he initially faced, it still meant time behind bars, something he accepted with quiet resolve—truly unheard of by such a young person of just eighteen.
I never met John face-to-face. But I watched him in moments of raw exposure—moments you can’t fake. His tears.
His voice cracked as he asked if the people in the other car were okay. The way he kept apologizing, not to escape punishment, but because he couldn’t stop hurting. It was all there.
Timothy Smith’s reaction was there, too. But it was harder to read. Harder to trust. And ultimately, part of a much larger pattern of behavior that the investigation had initially ignored.
Justice isn’t about perfection. It’s about pursuing understanding—even when that understanding challenges our instincts. In this case, we weren’t just defending John’s legal rights. We were defending his humanity.
What I took away from this case is simple, yet enduring: people are complicated. Trauma reshapes us. And sometimes the truest thing we can do in a courtroom is hold space for the story that isn’t being told.
In the end the jury could not just ignore the fact that two people died in an awful tragedy, nor should they have ignored this reality. As a team we all knew the inevitable outcome. But what we wanted the jury to see was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. A young man who was doing what a lot of young people do—speed, with minimal thought of consequences.
I knew and I wanted the jury to be aware of brain development. The brain doesn’t fully mature until the mid-20s— the frontal cortex (the decision-making section) is not in control, the emotional center is. Therefore, the thrill overrides the logic.
In John’s case, I saw remorse, not recklessness. I saw grief, not guilt. And I saw a young man who didn’t need to be punished. He needed to be seen.
*Names in this story have been changed for privacy.
Take a star high school football player, then add your typical small-town devotion to football, a private investigator, and a client’s long-held grudge—it can only spell disaster.
These unlikely forces converged in an Alabama school district. The result was bitter litigation against a meddling individual and the local PI he hired to conduct a residency-and-eligibility investigation.
High school football, often celebrated as a cornerstone of community spirit, can sometimes foster strong feelings, but also a confrontational environment (at times). Confrontations aren’t just limited to coaches, parents and officials, but can include people who live in the community, people who might bear long-time grudges, or strongly identify with the home team.
An investigation started with such a grudge and ended with a nightmare sce-
“Before long, reporters were calling Winberg asking for statements. Denials were issued by the family and the school district, and attorneys were readying injunctions, cease-and-desist letters, and full-on lawsuits.” page 22
nario for a PI, who eventually found himself in an adversarial relationship not only with the student’s family, but also with his client. There were many lessons learned on the way, each of them painful. Here’s what happened.
Background
This story begins with a football player named KJ Lacey. In his sophomore year in 2022, Lacey and his family moved to Saraland, Alabama, where KJ burst onto the scene as a national quarterback prospect at Saraland High School.
In the years that followed, he would go on to be named “Alabama’s Best High School Football Player,” win the state’s “Mr. Football” award, and sign to play for the University of Texas Longhorns football team. Insiders say he’s a strong professional prospect. But before any of that happened a man named John Quinnelly Jr. began a campaign to question the student’s eligibility to play football.
Quinnelly asserted that the Lacey family had not actually made a “bona-fide” move to the area, and that consequently, K J was playing football for Saraland illegitimately. The family had previously lived in the Daphne school district. Quinnelly claimed that the family still lived part-time in their home in their previous district.
Quinnelly hired private investigator Eric Winberg to investigate the family. Winberg’s investigation included extensive surveillance of the family with particular emphasis on Karle Lacey (the father), including his social media accounts, utilities, and more.
It is unclear whether Winberg knew that Quinelly’s campaign against the Lacey family hadn’t begun with the hiring of the PI but that Quinnelly had already been spreading rumors that painted an
unflattering picture of the Laceys. The Lacey family would later say that Quinnelly had been publicly and loudly attacking KJ’s ineligibility as far back as May 2022, before Winberg had been hired.
It’s also unclear whether Winberg knew that Quinnelly (his client) had a personal motive beyond his concern for his local high school football team: A few years prior, the client’s own son had played for Daphne High School and had been “ruled ineligible due to a violation of the bona fide move rule,” according to a local news source. Daphne High School had to for feit several games because of that rule, which the Laceys’ attorney would later argue motivated Quinnelly’s crusade, calling him a “father on a rampage” of revenge in relation to their case.
Bona Fide Move
Winberg began his surveillance in August and concluded it in October. During that time, Winberg, in his own words, “conducted video, photo, and in-person surveillance” of the Lacey’s old home in Daphne where, Quinnelly alleged, part of the family was still residing.
Using methods that the family would call illegal and intrusive, Winberg allegedly performed this surveillance by entering the property itself, both surreptitiously and “disguised” as a city worker. As a result of these methods, Winberg reported that he had “regularly” observed Mr. Lacey at the residence during the day, sometimes with the younger children.
But that wasn’t all. In his initial report to Quinnelly, Winberg alleged that “Mr. Lacey was documented overnighting at the residence on the evening of August 14, 2022”—an allegation Lacey’s wife would forcefully dispute in a professional licensing board meeting for Winberg much later (after Winberg’s own client filed a board complaint against him).
The Bona Fide Move rule, as outlined by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), ensures that studentathletes who transfer schools do so legit imately and not for athletic advantage.
Under this rule, families must completely vacate their previous residence for at least nine months and establish a new, permanent home. The former residence should be sold, rented, or closed and not used by the family. Any ongoing use—such as staying overnight or maintaining voter registration—could raise eligibility concerns. Proponents of the rule say that it is designed to prevent teams from recruiting players improperly and to maintain fair competition across high school athletics.
If the Lacey family hadn’t met the requirements of a Bona Fide Move, then Saraland was fielding an ineligible player, risking its reputation and rankings, and violating the spirit of fair competition across Alabama high school athletics. Quinnelly had been saying as much in his allegations, but with data from Winberg, he now believed his claims would be vindicated.
Going Public
From this point, the stories between client Quinnelly and investigator Winberg diverge. As Winberg recollected during his licensure hearing, he was under the impression that Quinnelly would use the information Winberg had gathered solely to show the proper authorities— the school districts and the state high school athletic association. But Quinnelly went well beyond that.
“I took Eric’s report, his book, his findings, his writeup—I took everything that he gave me, turned it into the Alabama High School Athletic Association,” said Quinnelly. But because the AHSAA would only hear eligibility complaints if raised by coaches or principals, one might assume that the natural next step would be to go to the coaches and principals. Yet, as he told the Private Investigators Board, “none of the coaches wanted to submit it. None of the prin-
“ The former residence should be sold, rented, or closed and not used by the family. Any ongoing use—such as staying overnight or maintaining voter registration—could raise eligibility concerns.” page 24
cipals wanted to submit it because they didn’t want blowback from the Alabama High School Athletic Association.”
Quinnelly elaborated: “I went through every one of Saraland’s opponents. None of those coaches wanted to turn it in. I found that shocking St. Paul’s, if they would have turned it in, they would have gone to the playoffs instead of Saraland.” However, according to Quinnelly, St. Paul didn’t want to get involved. “So, I just said: Look, if I can’t get a principal to turn it in and I can’t get a coach to turn it in—I mean, you’ve got the wolves looking after the wolves.”
So, Quinnelly went to the media. “I forwarded it to every news agency, every one,” he said in his testimony. He further testified that Winberg had known his client was going to do this, which Winberg vehemently denied.
Quinnelly’s media campaign was aggressive and, arguably, obsessive, striking many in the community as rageful rather than mere concern. In long and often repetitive mass texts, Quinnelly accused Mr. Lacey of lying about spending the night in Daphne, and used strong, demanding language such as, “I expect a full investigation from the AHSAA of these findings to determine the following,” naming the 15-year-old student, and inviting people to contact either himself or Winberg with questions. The texts repeatedly misspelled Winberg’s name but do include his contact information—which Winberg said he had not consented to.
Before long, reporters were calling Winberg asking for statements. Denials were issued by the family and the school district, and attorneys were readying injunctions, cease-and-desist letters, and full-on lawsuits.
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Lawsuit Filed
The Lacey family had discovered a surveillance device Winberg allegedly installed on their property, a skillfully hidden camera inside what appeared to be an “official” utility box. Whitney Sheldon, KJ’s mother, described when the family discovered the surveillance device. “I went to … Daphne Utilities, and I asked the lady was it normal for them to install—and I showed her a picture of the box at … and she said, ‘No, this is not something that we would do’ ” Sheldon reflected at the hearing.
Next came a cease-and-desist letter, sent by the Lacey family’s attorney to Quinnelly and copied to Winberg. “You are terrifying this young man, his siblings, and his family, causing them undo [sic] stress and mental anguish, and you are forcing them to live in fear. You are putting this young man’s future in jeopardy,” the letter read. The letter demanded that Quinnelly and Winberg stay away from the family and their property, stop slandering and harassing them, and not send anyone to enter and record on the Lacey property. The letter also made it clear that the family was planning on suing the two men.
While the cease-and-desist came from the Lacey family’s attorney, Saraland City Schools was the first to file a suit against Quinnelly and Winberg for defamation and sought a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit alleged that Quinnelly spread false claims about Saraland’s football program and a player’s eligibility.
Soon after, the Lacey family joined the suit. The counts in the family’s complaint included defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and trespass. The complaint requested a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining Quinnelly and Winberg “from continuing to defame Plaintiffs, including their minor children.”
In response to the allegations that they still resided in the Daphne residence, the Lacey family argued that they ran a
“Next came a cease-and-desist letter, sent by the Lacey family’s attorney to Quinnelly and copied to Winberg.”
business, and only ran a business, out of that building. “There was not one night that we were spending in Daphne because our principal and our head football coach broke down the Bona Fide rule and let us know what we would be risking if we did, in fact, sleep in our home,” Whitney Sheldon later told the PI Board at Winberg’s professional hearing in Montgomery.
At this point, Winberg was stuck between a rock and a hard place. No doubt taken aback by the blowback of having his client send his investigative report to numerous news outlets, and facing pending litigation from two separate parties, Winberg signed an affidavit at the end of October 2022 in which he rejected any conclusions that the Laceys still lived at their old residence and attempted to qualify his earlier report.
“Recently, I became aware [the father] operated a dog kennel and breeding business at the Daphne residence,” Winberg said in the court document. “Based on my understanding of (the father’s) business operation, I cannot conclude he lived or resided at the Daphne residence during my company’s investigation.” He added that he could not, in fact “conclude [Mr. Lacey] was ever at the Daphne residence during the surveillance period for anything other than legitimate business purposes.”
Winberg also provided Saraland’s and the Lacey family’s attorneys with written proof that he had advised Quinnelly to abide by the cease-and-desist order. And apparently the AHSAA did end up looking at the allegations when rival Spanish Fort High School had asked the association to do so. The AHSAA Central Board of Control upheld executive director Alvin Briggs’ decision to clear the Saraland football team of any wrongdoing.
Litigation Continues
Winberg’s cooperation with the family’s and school district’s lawyers was not
enough for the family, who continued to pursue their lawsuit against Winberg and Quinnelly. That cooperation also did not sit well with Quinnelly. After learning that Winberg had changed course and was cooperating with the plaintiffs, Quinnelly filed his own lawsuit, as well as a professional complaint, against his private investigator.
At the hearing on that complaint, Quinnelly insisted that Winberg knew they would be going to the media and that he had kept Winberg in the loop about it. Winberg replied at his hearing. “[I]t was my understanding that I would provide my investigative report to Mr. Quinnelly and then Mr. Quinnelly would then furnish the report to the Alabama High School Athletics Association … it would have to go through somebody like Coach King at Daphne High School or a principal or some board member. I knew that much.”
Quinnelly’s response was to call Winberg a liar. In the end, that wasn’t enough to convince Alabama’s professional licensing board to put Winberg out of business, but that offered scant relief to the PI, who remains a defendant in the family’s lawsuit. The case remains ongoing.
Lessons Learned
This case got messier at every turn, especially for the investigator, who found himself first under attack from the subjects of his investigation, and then under attack from his client. Entangled in a case driven by Quinnelly’s personal grievances, he had made his professional position precarious. Whether his findings held weight or not, the way they were gathered put him under scrutiny. To complicate matters further, he’d been compelled to correct his report, and seemingly acknowledge the innocence of the Lacey family early in the litigation. It’s the kind of scenario where the validity of the investigation became sec-
ondary to the controversy surrounding how it was pursued.
What are key takeaways from this tale?
First, the importance of indemnification. It’s essential, which is why we have talked about it in Working PI before. OREP’s Senior Underwriter Bryan Crosco, says: “You need a client indemnification clause in your client engagement letter where your client agrees to indemnify you and hold you harmless for litigation that you get pulled into because of the client’s use of your information and/or the dispute that the client is in. It is not uncommon for PIs to get pulled into litigation between two conflicting parties and if you weren’t deliberately negligent, a client indemnification clause offers you some protection.”
Next, you can “do everything right” and still get in trouble. Even if you only re-
port on what you can see, you can still wind up getting sued. For instance, a subject could claim defamation or invasion of privacy, despite the investigator acting within the bounds of the law.
Another takeaway is to be careful about trespassing. Trespassing laws prohibit entry onto private property without permission, and investigators must conduct their work from public areas or locations where they have legal access.
Respecting private property (and trespassing laws) is critical for private investigators to comply with legal requirements, avoid criminal penalties, and maintain the integrity of their evidence-gathering process.
That’s why insurance is necessary. Most PIs can get $1M of coverage for $700 or less. Cases like this remind us that un-
certainty is everywhere, and investigations are no exception. Private investigators should carry full liability insurance because even the most routine cases can take unexpected turns and unpredictable worst-case-scenarios can become reality.
Finally, and this can’t be stated strongly enough: You can choose your clients. Be careful how you do that. Ask them what they really want, and why they want it, and then ask yourself whether you’re okay with helping them get it. In some cases, it might be worthwhile to put that into your client engagement agreement.
Discernment, self-interest, and good protection can all go a long way toward smooth operation and the satisfaction of finishing up a good investigation for clients who are worth the effort.
Stay safe out there!
Why Bad Actors Win
by Carlos R. Salazar, MSCJ, CFE
“The fight against bad actors must be waged with the same relentless adaptability, strategic foresight, and unyielding commitment that they employ. No single institution can combat these threats alone.”
Why do bad actors win? Let us save the suspense and get straight to the answer of the question.
The Big Reveal Upfront
Bad actors win because they are more committed and prepared to perpetrate the bad act than the targeted stakeholder is committed to prevent it. In other words, we allow them to win.
Let that sink in.
This is not merely an uncomfortable truth, it is the fundamental operational reality across every sector tasked with safeguarding people, institutions, and assets. Whether in corporate intelligence, financial crime mitigation, law enforcement, cybersecurity, or child protection, bad actors thrive because they approach their objectives with relentless focus, strategic adaptability, patience, and an unwavering commitment to success—while their opposition is often reactive, fragmented, and bureaucratically constrained.
This is not due to a lack of intelligence or resources. It is due to a failure of mindset, strategy, and execution.
For too long, governments, corporations, and regulatory bodies have clung to outdated models of security and risk mitigation, operating under the illusion that compliance equates to protection, that deterrence is enough, or that bad actors will eventually be stopped through conventional means. They will not.
Simple questions, such as “Why do bad actors succeed?” have profound implications. Yet, suppose we refuse to acknowledge the true answer. In that case, we will continue down the wellworn path of reactive protocols, regulatory catch-up games, and passive defenses—all while bad actors innovate, pivot, and exploit vulnerabilities faster than we can close them.
The uncomfortable truth is that society has been playing defense in a game where bad actors are always on offense.
If we seek to change the outcome, we must change the approach. We must outmatch their commitment, surpass their adaptability, and dismantle the very conditions that allow them to thrive. This is not just about strengthening laws, tightening controls, or deploying better technology, it is about fundamentally shifting the way we think, act, and fight back.
The question is no longer why bad actors win. The real question is: When will we finally stop letting them?
The Psychology of Bad Actors Commitment to Success
—Bad actors often exhibit a steadfast commitment to their deceptive behaviors and bad acts. Unlike their victims, who often underestimate potential threats, bad actors approach their craft with purpose, focus, and adherence to lessons learned and best practices.
• Intrinsic Motivation: Bad actors are driven by an intense internal determination, that is not merely rooted in the desire for monetary gain, but also
from the exhilaration of outsmarting others. Their commitment is exponentially amplified by lacking ethical constraints, allowing them to easily bypass all social norms of morality and decency.
• The Dark Triad Traits: Psychological traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—collectively known as the Dark Triad—enable bad actors to operate with impunity, confidence, and cunning. Narcissism provides them with a sense of superiority, Machiavellianism refines their manipulative abilities, and psychopathy suppresses any feelings of remorse, allowing them to exploit their victims without reservation. (The Dark Triad—comprising narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy— was first identified by psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams (2002) as a framework for understanding the three manipulative and exploitative personality traits.)
Adaptability and Innovation: Bad actors are nothing if not adaptable. Their ability to pivot, innovate, learn from failures, and capitalize on “best practices” keeps them ahead of the victims they target.
• Flexibility in Tactics: Bad actors continually learn from their mistakes and evolve, whether by exploiting complacency, regulatory loopholes, adjusting to new technologies, or pouncing on evolving market conditions and prevailing sentiments. Their ability to pivot without hesitation allows them to stay ahead of defenses.
Consistency in Efforts: Bad actors are not dissuaded when their efforts are temporarily thwarted or initially unsuccessful. They will find a way to carry out the bad act and their commitment will often far outlast the commitment of their target to protect itself.
• Persistent Targeting and Exploiting Vulnerabilities: Bad actors systematically probe for weaknesses, whether in systems, processes, or human be-
havior. Their persistence often pays off—they are willing to invest their patience to exploit vulnerabilities.
• Learning From Failure: Bad actors approach failure not as an end, rather as a learning oppor tunity. They analyze unsuccessful attempts to refine their techniques, increasing their success rate over time.
Victim Vulnerabilities
Bad actors not only thrive due to their strengths, but also due to the weaknesses of their victims or the weaknesses of the stakeholders charged with protecting the intended victim. Complacency, ignorance, and overconfidence in prevailing defensive measures create fertile ground for the exploitation of those they target.
• Overconfidence: Many individuals and organizations believe they are immune to bad acts based on their belief that they are impervious to victimization. Moreover, many organizations also fall into a false sense of security, believing that they are protected against bad actors by merely having codified operational protocols in place.
• Complacency and Reactive Thinking: Instead of anticipating threats, many organizations only respond after an incident occurs. This reactive model ensures that bad actors remain ahead, consistently identifying new gaps prior to the implementation of preventive measures.
• Bureaucratic Inefficiencies and Resistance to Change: In many sectors, outdated protocols, slow-moving bureaucracy, and resistance to innovation create vulnerable environments where bad actors thrive. As post-incident organizational reactive debate commonly ensues, bad actors continue to move forward with speed, precision, and commitment.
Applicability Across Sectors and Ignoring the Red Flags
The psychological composition of bad actors—combined with the corresponding vulnerabilities of their targets, is
not confined to any single domain. This dynamic is pervasive across the socio-economic landscape, affecting industries, institutions, and societal structures. Whether in corporate intelligence, fraud risk mitigation, criminal justice, or child abuse and exploitation, the patterns remain the same: bad actors persist, adapt, and exploit weaknesses, while those responsible for prevention often react too late or relegate red flags to innocuous occurrences.
1. Corporate Intelligence: In the realm of corporate intelligence and competitive business strategy, bad actors thrive by leveraging deception, human behavioral vulnerabilities, data manipulation, and insider threats. Organizations that fail to prioritize proactive intelligence gathering and risk assessments become susceptible to corporate espionage, intellectual property theft, and fraudulent financial schemes.
Ignoring the Red Flags:
• Overlooking suspicious insider behavior and assuming loyalty from longterm employees.
• Failing to conduct human intelligence-based comprehensive due diligence before mergers, acquisitions, or partnerships.
• Relying solely on compliance-based security, rather than dynamic, intelligence-driven countermeasures.
2. Fraud Risk Mitigation and Financial Crimes: Bad actors capitalize on gaps in oversight, trust-based systems, and regulatory loopholes. From investment fraud and identity theft to large-scale financial crimes, their success hinges on victims being either unaware or unwilling to acknowledge their vulnerabilities.
Ignoring the Red Flags:
• Underestimating the sophistication of fraud schemes, assuming bad actors only use unsophisticated tactics.
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• Failing to continuously update fraud detection protocols, leaving outdated security measures in place.
• Overreliance on automated fraud prevention without human intelligence to identify evolving threats.
3. Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement: In criminal justice, bad actors— whether violent offenders, organized crime figures, or cybercriminals—exploit procedural inefficiencies, legal loopholes, and systemic blind spots to avoid detection and prosecution.
Ignoring the Red Flags:
• Law enforcement agencies often prioritize reactive responses over intelligenceled policing.
• Judicial systems may fail to recognize repeat patterns of behavior among criminals who exploit procedural delays.
• Lack of interagency cooperation often allows bad actors to move freely across jurisdictions, exploiting fragmented intelligence-sharing.
4. Child Abuse and Exploitation: Few areas illustrate the commitment, adaptability, and persistence of bad actors more than child exploitation and abuse networks. Predators operate with methodical patience, leveraging digital platforms, exploiting lax oneto-one interaction policies in youth sports, legal technicalities, and the reluctance of organizations to confront uncomfortable truths.
Ignoring the Red Flags:
• Underestimating the lengths predators will go to groom/exploit children.
• Failing to enforce strict oversight in adult/coach-to-minor interactions where exploitation often takes root.
• Institutional inaction, where organizations prioritize their reputation instead of confronting blatant grooming and abuse allegations head-on.
A Universal Lesson: Vigilance and Proactive Strategies
The common thread across these sectors is that bad actors do not succeed in isolation—they thrive as their victims under-
estimate them, the stakeholders charged with protecting others ignore warning signs or resist necessary changes, and the fallacy of “That will not happen to my business, organization, or child.” Breaking this cycle requires:
• Proactive Vigilance: The process whereby red flags are acknowledged and investigated immediately.
• A Shift From Passive Compliance to Proactive Intelligence: Understanding that prevention is not a static process but a constantly evolving effort.
• A Cultural Change: In risk management, where commitment to countering bad actors matches (or exceeds) their commitment to exploitation.
• Education and Awareness: Where public, private, and non-profit sectors, pursue educational campaigns that are empowered to go beyond the basics, to make an impact on potential victims, corporate and individuals alike.
• Insular Knowledge Sharing: For internal collaboration between sectors, law enforcement, and other stakeholders is key to limiting the opensource intelligence available to bad actors. By sharing closed-circuit intelligence, insights, and best practices, organizations reduce vulnerabilities and empower those they protect.
The Takeaway: Our Turn to Win
Until stakeholders embrace these principles across industries, bad actors will continue to win—not because they are inherently superior, but because they are simply more prepared, more persistent, and more committed than those tasked with stopping them.
That ends now.
We have the power, intelligence, and the capability to shift the tide. What has allowed bad actors to thrive is not their brilliance but our collective hesitation— our tendency to stay within the safety of outdated protocols, our reliance on reactive measures, and our failure to antici-
pate and adapt at the same relentless pace as those who seek to exploit us.
It is time to change the mindset. Prevention is no longer a passive function— it must be a proactive, ongoing pursuit that mirrors the same commitment, persistence, patience, and adaptability that bad actors have leveraged. From corporate boardrooms to courtrooms, from regulatory agencies to local communities, from youth sports to criminal investigations, we must forge a culture that refuses to be complacent, unprepared, or outmaneuvered.
The key to winning is not just acknowledging vulnerabilities, it is owning the responsibility to counter them with an unwavering commitment to vigilance, intelligence, and action. The battlefield is not theirs to dominate. It is ours to reclaim.
Winning requires more than acknowledging the problem—it demands action. The fight against bad actors must be waged with the same relentless adaptability, strategic foresight, and unyielding commitment that they employ. No single institution can combat these threats alone. This is a collective mission, requiring a unified front from intelligence and investigative professionals, national governing bodies, the private sector, law enforcement, and beyond.
Marching Orders for Those on the Front Lines
For the Intelligence Community and Investigative Professionals:
• Be Proactive, Not Reactive: Intelligence gathering must move beyond responding to past incidents and shift toward predictive analysis and preemptive action.
• Disrupt the Playbook: Study how bad actors innovate and get ahead of their adaptation cycles before they exploit new gaps.
• Cross-Industry Collaboration: Intelligence-based strategic alliances between the public and private sectors can expose vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Leverage Human Intelligence (HUMINT): While digital forensics and
OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) are powerful tools, the human factor—source networks, behavioral analysis, and proactive insider threat mitigation remains a critical yet underutilized asset.
For National Governing Bodies and Regulatory Agencies:
• Close the Gaps Before They Are Exploited: Regulations must evolve at the same pace as threats. This means real-time intelligence sharing and a commitment to reducing bureaucratic inertia that slows policy changes.
• Legislation That Empowers, Not Hinders: Laws should not simply penalize crime after the fact—they should incentivize proactive risk mitigation and enhance private sector collaboration in intelligence sharing efforts.
• International Cooperation is NonNegotiable: The fight against financial crime, cybercrime, and transnational threats cannot be won in isolation. Geopolitical intelligence alliances must be fortified to disrupt cross-border criminal enterprises.
For the Private Sector:
• Security is a Business Imperative: Too many companies treat risk mitigation as an afterthought until they become victims. Risk intelligence and fraud mitigation must be built into corporate DNA.
• Combat Complacency at the Leadership Level: Executives must stop assuming “it won’t happen to us” and invest in forensic due diligence, internal threat assessments, and real-time intelligence feeds.
• Zero Trust Beyond Cybersecurity: The principles of Zero Trust—assuming that every access point, insider, and external vendor could be compromised—should be applied to all levels of business operations.
For Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Systems:
• Break the Cycle of Reactive Policing: Intelligence-led policing must take precedence over traditional, case-bycase response models.
• Dismantle Criminal Networks, Not Just Isolate Incidents: Criminals operate in ecosystems. Addressing only
A
the immediate crime without dismantling the infrastructure that enables it, is a losing strategy.
• Enhanced Interagency Communication: Fragmented intelligence is a gift to bad actors. Federal, state, and local agencies must share actionable intelligence seamlessly and in real time.
Unified
Call to Action
The solution to winning is not in isolated efforts, but in a collective, innovative, proactive, and committed approach across all sectors.
• Cease Underestimating Bad Actors: They are more organized, more persistent, and often more innovative than we give them credit for.
• Challenge Institutional Complacency: The illusion of security is more dangerous than the acknowledgment of vulnerability.
• Committing Adaptability: Risk landscapes evolve daily—our response must be just as dynamic.
The battlefield is not theirs to dominate, but ours to reclaim. The time for passive defense is over. It is our turn to win.
Insurance for Security Professionals
Investigating Nursing Home Abuse
by Kelly E. Riddle, Kelmar Global
“If the charts reflect that the subject’s weight changed dramatically, it may mean the staff was guessing at the weight and not actually weighing them, or it may indicate a major health problem that was not being addressed.”
Thelma was 89, but in good health despite her Alzheimer’s disease and a bad hip that made walking difficult. When she was transferred from her nursing home to the hospital emergency room, she passed away shortly after admission. The attending physician immediately called family services because she was extremely dehydrated. In fact, renal failure was listed as the cause of her death. She was also found to have decubitus (pressure sores) on her buttocks from sitting hour after hour in the same position. The right side of her face and right arm had second-degree burns in a pattern that suggested she had been
wheeled into the sunlight in her wheelchair and left unattended to cook in the sun. Thelma’s family lived two states away and could only visit a few times a year. If they hired you as an investigator, would you know where to start?
Unfortunately, elder abuse is a common scenario and as the “baby boomers” continue to age, the stage is set for more abuse. Some families try to safeguard their loved ones by putting covert cameras into nursing homes. However, in states like Texas, this can be illegal. Section 555.025 of the Health and Safety Code makes it a criminal offense
to install a camera unless the facility is notified in writing, and the facility authorizes the installation of a camera. Abuse is therefore perpetuated and often not discovered until the person is deceased.
There is a fine line between abuse and neglect. Sometimes neglect can become excessive enough to become abuse. When we think of abuse, we think of someone hitting or physically abusing a person. Abuse is commonly an intentional act that causes harm and
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“You may find during your inquiries that the cord to the call light button was cut to trick the notification system. The plug is still in the outlet, but the patient can’t use it to call or bother the nurses.” empowers another. Neglect may be an intentional or an unintentional act and may be based on several factors such as the number of employees on duty or the laziness of the employee.
Nursing home abuse investigations are similar to other types of investigations, however there are specific differences as well. Regardless of whether you are hired by the family or the attorney, you will have to start by identifying possible witnesses. The initial investigation should concentrate on the following information:
• Police department records
• Court records
• State licensing records
• Doctor’s records
• Hospital records
• Medical Examiner’s records
A thorough background investigation into the facility, administrators and nursing staff should be conducted. The website of the state agency that regulates the nursing home industry in your state should be reviewed for any disciplinary records accessible on the internet.
A written request may be required, and you should recite the “Open Records Act” in your request. All records pertaining to any disciplinary action taken against the nursing home or any of the staff members during the timeframe in question should be obtained. The state’s inspection records for the facility, as well as a copy of the facility’s licensing records including the application, ownership and corporate records need to be obtained. Through this research you may locate a former employee that is willing to risk telling the truth.
If you are working for an attorney, they should have already obtained copies of the patient’s medical files and charts. However, if you are working for the family ask them to request the information from the facility and include a request for the patient’s daily charts which reflect their input, output, eating habits, medicines, etc. You should also ask for a list of employees as well
as their work schedules during the time frame in question.
Once you have these, you can begin to investigate the charts. There are daily charts, intake/output charts, drug/med charts and similar charts that should be reviewed. It is common to see administrators fill in items before inspections or once the family is alerted. Often the person listed as completing the charts was not even on duty on that day. The drug chart should confirm that the prescribed medication was being given.
Verify that the person giving the medicine was licensed to do so and if they were actually on duty. The daily charts are examined to see if there is an unusual change in the patient’s weight and eating habits. If the charts reflect that the subject’s weight changed dramatically, it may mean the staff was guessing at the weight and not actually weighing them, or it may indicate a major health problem that was not being addressed. If the charts indicate an erratic change in eating habits, it probably means that the employee is guessing at their intake or has not been properly trained to identify the quantity of intake.
During the investigation, police department records should be reviewed as well. Each jurisdiction has different restrictions on their records and their accessibility as well as the ways in which they can access the records. When possible, ask them to check the facility by address for a period of at least one year prior to the time the subject was in the facility through at least six months afterwards. Request they search by pulling every police call made regarding the facility’s physical address. You will be able to check for those calls regarding abuse, disturbances, thefts and similar circumstances. These may assist in
identifying potential witnesses as well as further documenting that the facility has a problematic history of abuse.
A review of the District Court Clerk civil records should be conducted as they will reflect any lawsuits filed against the nursing home facility or the owners of the home. If any are found, the actual file should be reviewed to better determine the facts and parties involved. The records may also list employees’ names and other witnesses who may be helpful to your case.
The State’s Secretary of State’s records should also be researched. The Secretary of State will have records reflecting the corporation that owns the nursing home, the officers, addresses, date it was filed, charter number and whether they are currently in good standing.
The hospital records should be obtained and reviewed to determine the course and reasons for treatment. These should be checked and correspond with the facility and doctor’s records. If the person died in the hospital, it should reflect the actual cause. The records should be reviewed for any information reflecting abuse such as broken bones, bruises, lacerations and similar identifiers.
If an autopsy was conducted, the medical examiner’s office records should be obtained and reviewed as well. The reports need to be cross-checked to determine the medications found in the person’s body (or lack of medicine), the bruises, broken bones, or similar signs of abuse. The ultimate reason for death will be noted and should be double-checked against the facility’s notes.
In all the nursing home abuse cases I have encountered, each facility is understaffed, and the employees are often
poorly trained. Even when a person has a good attitude about their job and they have a genuine desire to complete the tasks in the described manner, it may be impossible for them to do so if they are short-staffed and have too many patients to care for. Many times, one aide will be responsible for six to 60 patients by themselves. Unless the patients are strictly bedridden, six to 10 patients per aid is an acceptable ratio in the industry. However, when one aide is called upon to provide care for more than this, it is obvious that even the best efforts can simply not fulfill the needs of this many patients. When a patient is forced to lay in his or her own urine for extended periods of time because the aide is off helping someone else, this is neglect.
There are those facilities that do not have the physical capabilities to take care of the number of patients that they are handling. In some cases, the home was built to accommodate one person to a room, and it has changed to two people per room. This takes a toll on all things because the kitchen was designed to feed fewer people, the nurse’s desk was designed for fewer nurses, the bathrooms were made for fewer people and these things all attribute to the neglect of the patients.
Older nursing home facilities also tend to have older pieces of equipment, which break down or have not been replaced as needed. The failure of equipment to monitor a patient or to operate properly poses another type of neglect situation. Although the staff may not intentionally try to neglect the patient, if the equipment isn’t working when the patient needs it, then the resident is neglected.
Another form of neglect is simple verbal communication. Every person needs interaction with other humans, especially when they are scared and insecure about their life. Because the staff at nursing homes are always understaffed and are rushing around trying to complete the tasks that must be done, they often fail to take time to engage in simple conversation with the patients.
Most of the elderly patients just want to hear another person’s voice and to have someone act like they care about them. Unfortunately, this lack of verbal contact is another source of neglect that the patients must endure. In addition, some family members live out of town and are unable to visit relatives on a regular basis. In a lot of nursing homes, the patient does not have a telephone in their room and family members are even less available to contact the residents. Once again, the lack of contact further complicates the neglect factor in the life of the person.
Many patients are placed in a wheelchair in the morning at the beginning of a shift and are pushed to an area near a door or window where they congregate with other patients so they can look outside. In too many instances, the patients are left in the wheelchair until time for bed. This causes pressure sores to occur on the buttock area, which is certainly physical abuse. In addition, the person endures neglect when they are parked like a potted plant without being checked or repositioned.
Another type of neglect may occur when the aides put out the food trays for the patients. Due to the patient’s physical condition, many require hand feeding by the nursing home staff. When there is a lack of staff to fulfill this duty, the person is neglected and may not get to eat, or the food becomes cold and spoiled.
Neglect often occurs in a facility when a person needs assistance in getting out of bed or walking to the bathroom. Everyone wants to maintain their selfsufficiency and dignity by handling these tasks for themselves. However, many of the elderly reach the point where they know that they need assistance to do this and will ring the call button to get an aide to assist them in this endeavor. Because staff members are often busy helping others, or they may simply be lazy, the call button goes unanswered for a period. When this occurs, the patient either lays in bed in their own waste, or they are forced to
try to make it to the bathroom by themselves and risk a crippling fall. You may find during your inquiries that the cord to the call light button was cut to trick the notification system. The plug is still in the outlet, but the patient can’t use it to call or bother the nurses.
The basic premise of neglect is that a person in the care of the nursing home fails to receive the necessary treatment or care that they need. A single act of neglect by itself may not be extremely bad. However, it is common for most of these types of neglect to occur at the same time and over an extended period of time. The cumulation is debilitating and may cause physical and emotional scarring to the residents. This is a wretched way to spend the last years of a life. As you can see from the preceding, neglect can wear a variety of disguises.
Proper investigation of nursing home abuse can result in hefty settlements and jury awards. These monetary punishments may be the only means at society’s disposal to remedy a cruel and far too common situation.
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Working With the Police: How a Phone Call Possibly Saved My Life
by Jim Nanos
NOTE: The account in this story is true and is used during my training class on deconfliction at conferences and during my online training course.
Deconfliction in Private Investigations is the process by which a private investigator notifies local police when conducting surveillance in a fixed location. The investigator provides details such as the vehicle description and license plate to prevent being mistaken for suspicious activity. This helps ensure safety, avoids unnecessary police contact, and maintains professional cooperation with law enforcement.
As a licensed private investigator, I’ve come to appreciate that some of the most critical parts of an investigation happen before I even hit record on a camera. Among these is a practice known in our field as deconfliction—a proactive step in which a private investigator contacts the local police department to advise them of a surveillance operation, providing a description of the vehicle being used and the investigator’s personal and licensing information. Most private investigators, like myself, are former law enforcement officers and often
armed and know full well how situations can quickly escalate when information isn’t shared and mistakes are made.
The purpose of a deconfliction call is straightforward: if a suspicious vehicle is reported in the area—often a quiet residential neighborhood—the responding officers will know it’s a licensed PI conducting surveillance and not a criminal casing the neighborhood.
Without that context, things can—and do—occasionally go wrong. This story illustrates exactly how close I came to one of those dangerous misunderstandings—and how a simple phone call may very well have saved my life.
It was a chilly Thursday morning in late October. I was assigned to conduct a matrimonial surveillance in a suburban neighborhood in South Jersey. The subject’s suspected partner lived in a modest single-family home on a quiet culde-sac. I planned to arrive early—before
7:00 a.m.—and remain in place through mid-morning to observe any interaction or overnight stays that could be relevant to the cohabitation investigation.
At about 6:30 a.m. I arrived just short of the location as is my practice, and made the deconfliction call, as I always do, to the local police department. I spoke to a polite communications operator and advised her that I was a licensed PI and would be conducting surveillance in the neighborhood. I gave the general area I would be operating in, the make, model, and license plate of my vehicle, and a physical description of myself, including that I was a retired officer and licensed PI and was armed. I told her I’d be in a dark-colored SUV with tinted windows and might be parked for an extended period. She thanked me, confirmed the information, and told me she would enter it into their shift log, adding the neighborhood had recently
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had some criminal activity and I should “be careful”. I thanked her and hung up, not thinking twice about it.
I began driving slowly past the target residence to confirm the presence of vehicles and to find a suitable surveillance spot. I backed into a shaded area near a line of shrubs about five houses down from the subject’s home. With the sun not yet fully risen, my vehicle blend-
ed into the early morning shadows. I adjusted my seat to a reclined position, pulled a jacket over my chest to obscure my profile, and set up my camera gear for what seemed like the one-millionth time—same old surveillance.
What I didn’t know—what I couldn’t have known—was that this peaceful-looking neighborhood had been living in fear for months. I lived nearly an hour away and had no direct knowledge of this area.
Over the past year, a string of violent home invasions had rocked the community. In three separate incidents, a masked man had broken into occupied homes at about 5:00 a.m., sexually assaulting female occupants before ransacking their homes. All the victims had been home alone, suggesting some level of pre-offense surveillance by the perpetrator. Police had confirmed that the suspect was armed with a handgun and had repeatedly threatened to use it during the assaults. Understandably, the neighborhood was on high alert. Residents had been instructed to report any unfamiliar people or vehicles immediately to the local police.
I later learned around 6:55 a.m., a woman who lived across the street from where I had parked awoke and looked out her window. From her vantage point, she could just make out my SUV, engine off, lights out. She saw the silhouette of a man—me— seated low in the front seat, motionless, appearing to hide. The description, from her perspective, was chillingly consistent with what police had reported in the past during neighborhood meetings. Worse, she believed she’d seen the same vehicle parked on the street weeks earlier—on the morning of the second reported assault.
Panic set in. She called 911 and reported what she believed was a suspicious person staking out her street. She described my vehicle in detail, noted the tinted windows, and told the dispatcher that she believed the man inside was trying to avoid detection. Her voice shook as she said she thought this may be the same man who had attacked her friend last spring. Fortunately, the same dispatcher who received her call was the one I had spoken with less than 30 minutes earlier.
The dispatcher calmly reassured the caller that the police were already aware of the vehicle and that it belonged to a licensed PI who was conducting unrelated surveillance. However, to maintain public confidence and ease the caller’s concerns, a patrol officer would still be dispatched to verify the report. The dispatcher then did something that changed the trajectory of the day: she called me. My phone rang, displaying the number of the police department. I answered the call immediately.
“Mr. Nanos, this is Communications Jeffries. We received a call from a resident who noticed your vehicle and was concerned. We just wanted to let you know that an officer is on the way to make contact. It’s just a quick check to ease the neighborhood’s nerves. Nothing to worry about. Just identify yourself to the officer when he arrives, please.”
I thanked her and advised I would remain parked and cooperative. Five minutes later, a single marked patrol car slowly and inconspicuously pulled alongside me. I already had my window down and ID in my hand. The officer stayed in his vehicle, rolled down his window, and greeted me with a nod. “You Jim Nanos?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” I replied, keeping both my hands visible on the top of my steering wheel, palms open. He asked if I could hold up my ID, which I did. He gave them a quick glance. “All good, brother—thanks for making the call this morning. You’d be surprised how often guys don’t offer the courtesy.” “I wouldn’t be surprised at all,”
I said. “That’s why I always call—be safe.” He chuckled, gave a short wave, and drove off slowly, his presence likely noticed only by the caller from the window.
Within minutes, I was back in surveillance mode, and a short while later, I captured the exact footage I needed—clean, uninterrupted, and professionally documented and most importantly—safely. But the story could have ended very differently.
Had I not made that deconfliction call, the dispatcher wouldn’t have known who I was or what I was doing. The 911 call would have triggered a high-priority response. Based on the recent violent criminal history in the area and the caller’s mistaken belief that I matched the suspect, the responding officers would have been operating under a “worst-case scenario” mindset. It’s not far-fetched to believe they would have approached my vehicle with weapons drawn, ordered me out of the car at gunpoint, and physically detained me until they sorted it out.
Remember, I was armed that day, as I often am, legally carrying my off-duty handgun as a retired law enforcement officer. Had that situation turned volatile—had I misunderstood their commands or reached for my identification too quickly—there’s no telling what might have happened. The story could have ended with a mistake no one could take back.
I often hear other PIs say they refuse to notify local police of their presence, fearing it might compromise their investigation. Personally, I believe the risk of creating a potentially dangerous situation far outweighs that concern. To other private investigators reading this: never underestimate the value of a simple phone call. Deconfliction isn’t just about professionalism—it’s about safety. Yours, the community’s, and the responding officers’.
A 60-second call may not seem like much. But on that morning, for me, it possibly saved my life. That’s why we make the call and I ask you always “make the call”.
Romance Scams: A Global Epidemic With Deep Roots in the United States
by John M. Gaspar and Anthony Luizzo
“AI and deepfakes are now creating a new wave of untraceable deception. This is noteworthy since this international element makes tracking and prosecution extremely difficult...”
In today’s digital world, where love is often a swipe or message away, scams disguised as romantic interludes have become one of the most emotionally and financially devastating crimes.
Introduction: Love, Deception, and Devastation
What starts as a friendly conversation can oftentimes spiral into a web of lies, manipulation, and, more often than not, financial ruin for the victim. Romance scams are not new, but the scale, sophistication, and emotional cost have increased exponentially.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported losses ex-
ceeding $1.3 billion in 2023 alone. And yet, these figures barely scratch the surface, as many victims are too ashamed, devastated and embarrassingly humiliated to report what happened.
As private investigative sleuths, understanding the anatomy of these scams isn’t just vital, it’s essential. For the general citizenry however, knowing how to steer clear of fraudulent romantic interludes can mean the difference between emotional heartbreak and financial ruin.
A Global View of Scamming in the United States
The U.S. is ground zero for romancerelated scam losses, with victims span-
ning all ages, professions, and economic backgrounds. The internet, while offering a connection, has also created a perfect hunting ground for scammers.
Most scams originate via:
• Dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Match)
• Facebook and Instagram
• LinkedIn and Niche Forums
• Online games and chat groups
The majority of victims usually fall into two key demographics: older adults and recently widowed individuals. These are people looking for companionship and who often lack familiarity with the deceptive tactics employed online.
Romance Fraud is a Global Phenomenon
Romance scams often originate outside the United States. Criminal syndicates use advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, cultural manipulation, and social engineering tactics to reach vulnerable targets in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Some global examples include:
• West Africa (Nigeria & Ghana): Home to the infamous “Yahoo Boys,” these organized scam networks target Westerners using playbooks filled with fake military personas, doctored photos, and heart-tugging tales.
• Eastern Europe (Ukraine & Romania): These regions are known for running highly structured scam farms, where dozens of “operators” communicate simultaneously with multiple victims using scripts and AIgenerated imagery.
• Asia (Philippines, Malaysia, Japan): In Asia, romance scams are increasingly tied to cyber extortion. Victims may be tricked into sharing explicit content, which is then used for black-
mail. AI and deepfakes are now creating a new wave of untraceable deception. This is noteworthy since this international element makes tracking and prosecution extremely difficult—another reason why PIs are critical assets in these cases.
Who is Vulnerable to Romance Scams?
Contrary to popular belief, victims are not foolish. Most are intelligent, educated, and emotionally stable individuals who are unfortunately caught in the spider’s deadly web of romantic trickery.
Common Risk Factors:
• Recent divorce or loss of a spouse
• Social isolation
• Victims are new to online dating or social platforms
• Victims are emotionally dependent or eager for companionship
• Financial independence (perceived as “good targets”)
Scammers tend to capitalize on emotional need. Empathy becomes a weapon against the victim.
Romantic Scam-Related Red Flags Include:
• Scammers often avoid video chats or make excuses such as the camera is broken or there is a bad connection
• Scammers often claim to be working overseas, in the military, or in restricted zones
• Scammers often profess affection much too quickly
• Scammers often devise heartbreaking storylines and ask the victim for money for emergencies, tickets, or “temporary loans”
• Scammer “profile photos” are often purloined fake portraits
• Scammers isolate their victims to keep the interlude private
Checklist: How to Protect Yourself and Others
Whether advising a client or protecting your own family, use this vital checklist:
☐ Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person
☐ Always perform a reverse image search of profile photos
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☐ Consider scheduling a video call to verify the romantic partner’s identity
☐ Always be on the lookout for assertion inconsistencies with a scammer
☐ Refrain from divulging personal information to scammers
☐ Consult with forensics experts when feeling puzzled
☐ Always report scams to the FBI IC3, FTC, or local law enforcement
☐ Always consult a trusted advisor
☐ Always trust your instincts
☐ Sometimes “too good to be true” is “not good at all”
The Role of Private Investigators in Romance Fraud
IP tracing and digital footprint analysis:
• Open-source intelligence (OSINT) gathers and analyzes publicly available information that can identify threats & see if the person is who they say they are
• Confirming or disproving identities and alias threats & see if the person is who they say they are
• Confirming or disproving identities and aliases
• PIs can conduct asset checks and financial paper-trails
• If they have a physical presence, surveillance and background checks
• PIs may offer assistance with civil or criminal complaints
Private Investigators, including my agency at ALL FLORIDA INVESTIGATIONS
PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS & FOREN-
SIC SERVICE INC., combine forensics, law enforcement experience, and compassion to handle these delicate matters. Many of our clients arrive embarrassed, hurt, and confused. Our job is not just to expose fraud, but to help them heal. Watch our video “exposés and investigative breakdowns” at AFIPI.com/videos
Education and Awareness Are All Part of The Solution
As PIs and community leaders, we have a responsibility to educate the public.
At AFI PI, we offer:
• Educational seminars for senior centers and churches
• Workshops for attorneys and financial advisors
• Consultations with families of potential victims
• Media interviews to raise national public awareness
Featured on Montel Williams, 48 Hours, and national podcasts, our mission is to reach as many people as possible before they become victims ( https://allfloridainvestigations.com/media).
Conclusion:
When Love Is a Lie
Before turning a flicker into a flame, remember that romance scams are not just about money, they’re about trust, hope, and identity. For victims, recovery is difficult. For PIs, the mission is clear: protect, expose, educate, and support.
Staying one step ahead of romance thieves begins and ends with engaging your mind before your heart. Let’s be the voice of reason, the shield of justice, and the resource that victims trust and need.
One of the co-authors of this article has appeared on Montel Williams, 48 Hours, Sally Jesse Raphael, and podcasts nationwide. His firm investigates high-stakes fraud, death cases, and criminal matters across Florida and the U.S.
Visit: AFIPI.com
Media & Videos: AFIPI.com/videos
Email us for training, consultations, or investigations at info@afipi.com.
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