Be Your Own Detective

SCAM ALERT: Falsified Phone Calls About Past Due Utility Bills

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Fri, 24 May 2013 02:30:00 +0000

I was sent this scam alert y my electric company. By the way, I love Champion Energy.

SCAM ALERT: Falsified Phone Calls About Past Due Utility Bills

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is reporting that scammers are calling people and claiming to work for local electric, water or gas companies. The callers tell people that they are late on a utility bill and that their service will be cut off if they don't pay immediately. Then they instruct people to purchase a prepaid debit card to pay their bill and call them back with the card number.

For help in spotting a scam, please be informed of the following tips:

It is a red flag if you are asked to pay by a prepaid debit card. Champion Energy will not suggest that you purchase a prepaid debit card to make payments.
High pressure tactics, such as threats to cut off your service unless you make an immediate payment are questionable.

In the event you receive a call like this, DO NOT give out any personal information. Hang up immediately and report that number to the FTC.

Clueless Anonymous Spammers

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 04:08:00 +0000

I have had a lot of spamming in the comments of this blog lately. The good news for me is that Blogger automatically treats these as the spam they are.

So Anonymous guy or gal spamming my comments - you are wasting your time. Did you think to ever check back on the articles you spammed? I get a good laugh out of this!

Stay safe!

Be Your Own Detective - but Never Use a "Bug"

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:20:00 +0000

I have showed several ways that you can use a "bug" on this site. However, without written permission from at least one of the people being "bugged" or from a judge, you just cannot do that. OK< really you SHOULD not do that. You CAN do it - it just may get you thrown in jail in most states and you will lose any law suit against you for doing it.

The bottom line is don't use a bug to spy on someone. Don't "accidentally" leave a recorder behind when you leave a room that is still recording.

In most states you can bug yourself and others around you. Just avoid doing that in a 2 party state.

Whatever you do, stay safe!

When Should You Call a Locksmith?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:21:00 +0000

If you have locked your keys in your car (and it isn't one of those On Star - what-have-you cars), (and who hasn't?) and you have towing on your insurance policy, - everyone should call.

The "towing" part of insurance also covers locksmiths. My insurance agent did not tell me this - but the locksmith did.

So don't damage your car trying to break in (if you have this coverage). Just call the locksmith and it is paid for - or at least mostly paid for.

Cell Phone Recon - a Review

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:05:00 +0000

I tried out the cell phone recon. I found it to work as advertised. You can see what text messages, calls, and emails are made to and from a smart phone.

It works really well and I was satisfied with the service. Another use of cell phone recon is for your own phone's security. You can track and find your phone at any time if it is lost or stolen.

Why not try it out. You can get it from Brickhouse Security

Whatever you do - stay safe!

Easy to Use Computer Monitoring

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:48:00 +0000

If you have a need to monitor activity on a computer - there is a an easy solution. All you need is one of these:

It is the Stealth iBot Deluxe. It can pretty much tell you everything that has gone on the computer. It works like a memory stick. Plug it in to install the software. Unplug it and wait. You get notified of activity on the computer by email. You can also go back and get every bit of information and activity that goes on.

This is what they say about it:

The Stealth iBot Deluxe logs every keystroke typed from chats, Instant Messages, search engines, emails and control fields exchanged with your child, teen, spouse or employee. The software will also capture screenshots that you can set to meet your own monitoring preferences, like keyword/keyphrase triggers, which will send alerts to your email every time the keylogging software detects a word you've selected to monitor.

Whatever you do - Stay Safe!!

Domino's Tracker and Mobile Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Somewhere you may have come across the story how Domino's tracker saved the life of a customer. Basically a crazy ex girlfriend was confronting her ex who had ordered the pizza and he was awaiting the delivery. The delivery guy named Alejandro (who deserves an award and medal) arrived to an open door - saw the crazy knife wielding ex-girlfriend and called the police. on top of that he still delivered the pizza after the police arrived - That is customer service! I won't recall the whole story - you can got here to read it.

On a side note. In an effort to collect even more private data from people Google is now threatening their users that they may lose their privilege to use their services (in the case of hijacking or lost passwords) if they don't give up their mobile number. I am sure this is a ruse to juts obtain mobile numbers of their customers as there is no reasonable explanation as to how this can be a "security measure." There are thousands of other ways to take care of customers besides requiring them to give up their mobile number so Google can have even more private date to abuse in their databases.

Google has a habit of arbitrarily stopping users from using their services. More often than not they do this without explanation or even a way for their users to correct any issues. Said users have have no recourse to Google using their nearly omnipotent power to shut down accounts, etc.

Whatever you do - stay safe!

Look Out for the Someone is Killed Scam

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:33:00 +0000

He is a new twist on some scams going around lately. These have slipped into Texas, and may have been going around for a while. A lot of people who have been scammed do not like to tell everyone that they were a willing "mark."

The basics of the scam goes like this. Someone will call a good sized Church claiming they are a police officer (or similar official). They tell them that a parishioner has been killed. They claim that there are some emergency expenses that need to be taken care of. The shocked worker at the church tends to not stop and think to check to see if the "police officer" is legitimate. So far, exactly how the scammers get the name of the parishioner is not clear, but many churches have directories of members and such.

If you get a call like this, verify it with the local police. Take a few moments, that and check with the "victim" or their family members to see if it is real.

Whatever you do - stay safe!

When You Should Hire a Real Detective Reason #1

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:30:00 +0000

OK, I have posted a long time about how to be your own detective, and how you can save big bucks doing so. You can be your own detective, but you cannot be someone else's detective, and you cannot hire a non-licensed detective.

OK, so you can hire one, but it can cost you $10,000 in fines. Yep I said 10 Grand. So, you can be your own detective - there is no law against that. But do not do it for someone else, and do not hire a non- licensed person to do it for you. That is just stupid. If you need a real detective go to Real Texas PI.

Whatever you do, stay safe!

When You Have to Be Your Own Detective Reason #1

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:56:00 +0000

This is a first in a series of who knows how many posts with this headline. There are instances that you cannot use a detective to get what you want. Why? Because it would be illegal for a detective to do what you want.

Let's say you suspect your spouse is cheating. The problem is that your spouse is not going anywhere to cheat, but they are doing it in your own bedroom. If you were to say, hire a detective to plant hidden cameras to catch the cheater on video - well - most places that would be illegal. So any legitimate private detective would not take the job. This is because a person has certain expectations of privacy in their own bedroom. There could be serious criminal and civil liabilities for a detective to plant cameras in a bedroom.

However, a spouse does not have an expectation of privacy in their own bedroom from thier own spouse. Therefore, you could plant your own camera in the bedroom to catch a cheater. One of the most simple to set up is the power adapter hidden camera. You can the Hidden Camera in a Power Adapter !

Just set up the camera - check it after you suspect the "activity" has gone on, and you can see video evidence. Unless nothing has happened of course.

Whatever you do - Stay Safe!

Why You Need an Undercover Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:41:00 +0000

It appears the line "Everything is illegal in Massachusetts" is true. This line from the Edge of Darkness is such a true statement that there is a Facebook Fan Page about it.

It seems that police in Massachusetts arrest people for taking pictures in their own front yard. Not just anyone mind you, but a 65 year old lady who was taking photos of a car that crashed into her yard and caught fire. The car had crashed into her Ford Escape. Any homeowner would have done the same to document the damages.

However, police thought that her taking photos of the burned car with two people who had been shot (both men died) was somehow a bad thing - well illegal, since they arrested her and confiscated her camera. You can read more here, though it doesn't paint a real clear picture of what took place.

Maybe if she did it in a stealth was and used HD Spy Hidden Pen Camera: she could have done what was needed without getting arrested on her own property for taking pictures.

Whatever you do - stay safe!

So You Want to Do a Background Check

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:19:00 +0000

I have written several articles on how to conduct a background check. I have given you hundreds of free links to public records in all 50 states. So do you do it? A background check is very important in many situations. There is only one issue with doing it yourself. That issue is liability. For not much more than you would have to pay for a complete online search, you can hire a real licensed private investigator. This may not be a bad idea if you are concerned or do not feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Whatever you choose to do - be safe!

So Your Identity is Stolen - What is the 4th Thing You Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:40:00 +0000

On the fourth of this series, I will wrap up this talk about Identity Theft. This does not mean I will not visit it from time to time, as we all can use reminders of how to minimize the effects of Identity Theft.

The Fourth Step to take in dealing with Identity Theft if to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC does not conduct criminal cases themselves. So why should you file? The FTC can act as a clearinhouse of identity theft cases for police agencies all across the nation, federal, state and local. The information can be accessed by police department to assist them with filing cases against perpetrators. You can file a complaint online at www.ftc.gov/idtheft .

Remember the four steps.

Make a fraud alert
Close fraudulent accounts
Make a Police Report
File a complaint with the FTC.

There are many, many things you may need to do. Each Identity Theft case is unique. There are difference creditors you may need to contact and send them dispute letters. There is a lot of work. Take your time, do not get overwhelmed. Sometimes you may need some help, but only use a trusted source, as there are a lot of scammers that prey on your misfortunes.

Whatever you do be safe.

So Your Identity is Stolen - What is the 3rd Thing You Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:56:00 +0000

For review - I will go over the four things you need to do if you are a victim of identity theft:
1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports.
2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with or have been fraudulently opened
3. Make a police report
4. File a complaint with the FTC

So here we are at number 3. Making a police report. You may wonder why I am even explaining the police report, but how you make the police report is very important. It is not like making a burglary report, yet there are some things in common.

This particular police report has to include enough detail about the ID theft for the credit reporting agencies and other businesses involved to be able to verify that you are a victim. They also need to be able to tell what accounts and fraudulent information came from identity theft. A normal police report often doesn't have enough details to accomplish your goals of correcting your credit.

I recommend that you use the identity theft affidavit form and incorporate this with your police report. This is for two reasons. First, the information in the affidavit must be accepted by the credit reporting agencies when checking for fraudulent information. Second, it helps you think about what all you need to include to the police, the credit reporting agencies and the FTC.

Once this report is done a copy should be forwarded to the credit reporting agencies and the FTC to assist with you resolving your credit issues. Whatever you do, stay safe!

Please Help Find This Missing Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:44:00 +0000

You can find more information at the Indiana Daily Student

Lauren Spierer, age 20. She just finished her sophomore year at IU. She is a white female, 4 feet 11 inches tall, slender build, has blue eyes and long blonde hair.

Spierer was last seen walking south on College Avenue from 11th Street on her way back to her apartment in Smallwood Plaza, located on College Avenue.

Anyone with information about Lauren Spierer should call BPD at 812-339-4477

Whatever you do - stay safe!

So Your Identity is Stolen - What is the Second Thing to Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sat, 28 May 2011 17:57:00 +0000

Close the accounts that have been tampered with or have been fraudulently opened: I will not got into what to do first – you can just read about that here. What you need to do second is close tampered with or fraudulent accounts. This involves careful study of your credit reports. When you place a fraud alert on your credit reports, you get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies.

Check your Credit Report Closely: This brings up the whole notion of checking your own credit from time to time. I suggest doing it three times a year. Why three times a year? You can do that for free. You get a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies once per year just for the asking.

So how do you go about closing these accounts? You need to contact the security department of the company and explain why you are closing the account(s). Some companies require a police report to be able to close the account. The police report is a later step, but if you need it to close the accounts, just send that in after the police report is made available.

You should have pretty much all the information used to open the fake accounts from your credit report. However, be sure to request all information used to open these accounts. Companies must by law give you a copy of the application or other business transaction records relating to your identity theft if you made a request in writing. Make sure you know where to mail the request. If you do not know, ask them. Companies are required to provide such records at no cost to you. They also must do it within 30 days of receipt of your request and any supporting documents. You also can ask that a copy of these records be sent to a particular law enforcement officer or agency. You may not be able to get all of that information without the previously mentioned police report.

The Procedure: The company that opened the fraudulent account(s) should have a standard procedure for handling these cases. It should be fairly straightforward and understandable steps you can take to close these accounts. Be sure to notify credit card companies and banks in writing. You need to include copies of any documentation you have - never send any originals. Send the mail using priority mail or certified mail so you can track and document when it is delivered. Most companies have special forms to dispute fraudulent transactions – be sure to get those and fill them out. If the company already has reported these accounts or debts on your credit report, dispute this fraudulent information. I will cover correcting your credit report later on in another post.

Do not panic: You are not liable and cannot be held liable for fraudulent purchases or fraudulently opened accounts. The Fair Credit Billing Act limits your liability for unauthorized credit card charges to $50 per card. So if you paid for special insurance for this, you may as well have been burning the money. If it makes you feel better to spend money for this kind of “protection” you can send me the money. I will give you a receipt and everything.

Remember, this is only step 2 – you have a ways to go. Identity theft takes a lot of time and effort to correct, but it is not an impossible task. Whatever you do – Stay Safe!

So Your Identity is Stolen - What Do You Do First?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:46:00 +0000

The first thing to do when you suspect your identity has been stolen:
I have talked about identity theft before. Below I have talked about various ways to help protect yourself from identity theft, there is no way to totally protect yourself. Since there is no way to totally protect yourself, what I thought I would do is explain what to do if you become a big can of identity theft.

First, how do you find out if you have been a victim of identity theft? That is a the very important question. The best way to know that you have been a victim of identity theft is to be vigilant. You need to check your bank account statements very closely on a regular basis. You need to run your own credit report. You can do this three times a year for free or in reality you can get one report once a year for free from each of the three credit reporting agencies. You can get these free reports for free only through www.annualcreditreport.com. If you find something on those reports that you should not have credit for or you have not borrowed money for, chances are you are a victim of identity theft. The same goes for expenditures from your bank account you did not make. Here are some other common indicators that you may have been a victim of identity theft:

You get a credit card that you never applied for
You get denied credit when you thought you had a good credit score
You get calls from debt collectors for debts you should not have
You have accounts you did not open and you have some accounts you cannot explain

Okay, so now you know you're a victim of identity theft what do you do? The first thing you need to do is place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports. You are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies.

Here is how you contact them:
TransUnion: www.transunion.com
1-800-680-7289
Fraud Victim Assistance Division
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Equifax: www.equifax.com
1-800-525-6285
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: www.experian.com
1-888-397-3742
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013

After you have received the reports, you can check them to see what accounts and companies you have not done business with and get their information. Make sure all the details are correct on the Credit Report like employer, your SSN, your name and initials. If anything is fraudulent or inaccurate you can have it removed.
Remember that this is only the first step in what to do when you are a victim of identity theft.
I will further explain the next steps in a following post:

2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with or have been fraudulently opened
3. Make a police report
4. File a complaint with the FTC

Whatever you do - stay safe!

People Search - The Biggest Pain on the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Sometimes you just need to dig deep to find people on the internet. I will show you many a free tricks and one that will cost you money.

Now why do you suppose I would say that people searches the biggest pain on the Internet? This is why: If you've ever tried to find someone on the Internet you more often than not find the wrong things.

If you use Google this is what will happen: Google seems to like to send you to secondary search engines or pay for search sites as some of the first responses whenever you put in someone's name. When you click on the responses, what you usually get is a pay site with little or no information. The pay that shows up does not even contain the name for which you searched. This is from the company that wants to give you quality content and send you to quality sites whenever you're looking for something. The problem is, the site doesn't even contain the name.

Why do I even mention the search on Google? Because more than two thirds of us use Google as our primary search engine. So why do I more often not get what I am looking for? It is because of all the super duper tricks Google uses to try to find information. Google attempts to anticipate what you want to find. Unfortunately, it does not recognize people's names very well.

Ok - so you told me the problem - how do I fix it? The following hints should help you in your search-

Put quote marks around the name you want. If you know a middle initial use that too. A search for "James R. Brown" is much more likely to get some usable results than entering the name without quotes. You can check the images page if you know what the person looks like.
Try using Yahoo's people search. This is a specialized search engine designed to find people.
Search Facebook and other social networking sites. You can do this using Google by typing facebook.com: before entering the name.
Two free places I use all the time are whowhere.com andPeekyou.com.Be sure to check if they are dead unless you know for sure otherwise.
One more really good deep digging site is Pipl

This is been a headache of mine for a long time. This is why you should just go to my site by clicking home above and searching there. Or, look to the right and you can search there. Those search places are more likely to give you a reasonable response than any others.

New Cell Phone Notification System - US behind 3rd World Countries

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:18:00 +0000

I started this article with the headline, because it is so true. There are articles out there about a "new" notification system that will notify "high end phones" with emergency notifications. They make it like a special app or chip would be required to do this - that is bunk!

What has been happening in 3rd world countries: In many if not all 3rd world countries the notification of emergency information has been distributed through cell phone texts for quite some time. No special phones, system or app was ever needed. The phone company simply sent the message(s) to all cell phone numbers. Cell phone companies have the same capabilities now.

How we could do it right now to all cell phones today: The FCC could mandate certain emergency messages be sent - much like the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) since cell phones are indeed radios. Cell phone service providers send out free messages all the time - these emergency messages could be done the same way.

Why anyone would install, build, or develop a system to do this is crazy - the system already exists. I smell a boondoggle and a waste of taxpayer money (again). This isn't a big brother thing - it is a community service.

Whatever you do - stay safe!

The Best Detective Tool You can Ever Use

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Sun, 01 May 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Someone asked me a question about the best detective gizmos and tools out there. I thought for a second and told him he was. He looked at me with a puzzled look. The explanation is simple. There are tons of great detective tools out there, but in reality, the detective is the most important tool. You are only limited by your own imagination as to how to use what you already have.

If you have a cell phone, a voice recorder, and a camera you have all the basic investigative tools you need. Sure it is nice to have that super-stealth hidden camera - but if you do not know when and where to put it - then it doesn't matter. I remember working undercover or directing undercover operations and we had a very limited amount of tools. We would have to borrow a "wire" from other agencies to use. Now - for about a 10th of the price anyone can buy a good wireless mic and even camera system.

My point is that you can use almost any technology - even an old cassette recorder to conduct investigations. Just think of what you need to find out and from whom and you are most of the way there. I cannot emphasiz this enough with spy equipment - try it, test it and practice with it before you put it where you need it. You will learn a lot about where it can and cannot work.

Remember - whatever you do - be safe

iPhone Logging of Locations a Bug? -Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Error!, Error! Error!

On Wednesday a couple of clever guys released that iPhones were logging the locations of the phones of everywhere someone takes the phone. In an article by Neil Huges at Appleinsider.com he tells us that John Gruber of Daring Fireball says he has been told it is in fact an error. "My little-birdie-informed understanding is that consolidated.db acts as a cache for location data, and that historical data should be getting culled but isn't, either due to a bug or, more likely, an oversight," Gruber wrote. Riiiight. An error?

What happens with this error is: "Ever since iOS 4 arrived, your device has been storing a long list of locations and time stamps. We're not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional, as the database is being restored across backups, and even device migrations. "

The only error is that the information leaked out. "What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synched with your iOS device. It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands. Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released." Read more where I got both quote from at O'Reilly Radar.

This is already trying to be played off as an error. It is obvious that this information is used for advertisers or certain apps that try to get information on people's habits to try to sell them more stuff. The downside is the huge security issue.

Cell phone companies have always had access to this information since the emergence of the e911 system. However, it is only available to those with a court order to get it.

Remeber - whatever you do - Stay Safe!

What's In Your Wallet?

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:08:00 +0000

NO, this isn't a Capital One Commercial. What is in your wallet is a two pronged question for today's post.

First prong: There is often a lot of information in a wallet that will identify a person. If you need to know who someone is, and you get a chance to rifle through their wallet - you can confirm a lot of stuff. Most people carry too much information in their wallet.

Second prong: Do you know what all you carry in your wallet? Does it include stuff you should not carry around like a Social Security card? Do you have other information that not only identifies you, but other people as well? Check your wallet. I know there are things you need like some credit cards and driver's license. Depending on your profession, you may need other ID's also. Just do not give away any more than you absolutely have to if you lose your wallet - for your own sake.

Whatever you do - Stay Safe!

Snooping - While Not Illegal, Can Still Be Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Snooping is not necessarily illegal, but it is something that is considered bad. If you invite me over to your place for coffee and I am rifling through you mail and checking out all of your magazines - what would you think?

There are apps on smartphones that snoop on people and they may or may not tell you they are snooping on you. They use your own phone to listen to what you are listening to or watching. Three of these apps are Color, IntoNow and Shopkick, all of which activate the microphones in users' iPhone or Android in order to gather information that provides "some benefit to the user."

Color is a free app that can detect your location and will share your photos with other Color users within 100 feet of you. It will also show you all of their photos. Not only that, but with Color, every photo and video is public. There is no way to determine who to follow or only your family and friends. The app shares your images with any nearby stranger who is also using Color. If you value privacy - I recommend you do not use Color.

IntoNow listens with your iPhone or iPad to identify what shows you are watching.

Shopkick is supposed to reward users for simply walking into participating stores like Target, Best Buy, and many others. Users don't have to do anything because their phone is already listening for particular sounds generated in the stores by a special device. - Very Snoopy!

So many apps do so many things. Do you know what apps are spying on you. Of course if you want real spy stuff that tracks everything look to the ad on the right - it works great.

The question is - what all do they listen to? I bet they don't tell you. Be careful what you install. Value your privacy - whatever you do - Be Safe!

Cool New Stealth Voice Recorder

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:58:00 +0000

I was browsing through Brickhouse Security's Catalog today. I saw a really cool voice recorder. It really is not a surprise, but a great stealth tool for recording conversations without notice. This recorder looks exactly like a memory stick. Oh, and it is a memory stick. Better yet - you do not need any software to use this thing. It lasts about 4 hours on a battery charge and you have a choice of 2 GB or 8GB for $50 bucks more.

I am getting one for sure. I will likely get several before the years end. I can see a real need for these things in my line of work for sure.

Remember all of the laws in your own state about recordings. In Texas, if I use the recorder, I can use the recording - as long as I was there when the conversation took place (1 party state).

Whatever you do - Be safe!

15 Ways to Verify Who Someone Is

noreply@blogger.com (Barry) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:29:00 +0000

I often get asked "Where do I start?" if you want to learn about a first date or someone you have just met. What I am going to tell you is: be nosy. Here is a list of 15 ways you can begin to verify someone is who they say they are:

COMMUNICATION:

1. Cell Phone – You can get a name and address from a cellular number. Right now you can get information for only $1 from Beyourowndetective.net. Remember that Pre-Paid cell phones are almost impossible to trace. In the old days (a couple of years ago) Pre-Paid phones would be a warning sign – not so much now. Lots of smart folks use them.

2. Email Address – Even if all you have is an email address, you can check online sources such as Google to see if the person has posted their name on a Blog, Forum, Newsgroup, or Facebook. This is not the most reliable source – but it can help. You can also trace an email at our home page.

3. Voicemail – Call them when you do not expect an answer. You never know what you can find out from a simple answering message.

4. Land Line – If you get to their house/apt or whatever, call a phone you know has caller ID. This can verify who they are. Better yet – get them to call you from the line.

THEIR PLACE:

5. Address – Once again, if you go to their house, you can check the name with a criss-cross at the library or a white pages site on the internet. You could even contact the neighbors under pretext to verify any names given.

6. Mail – No, don’t open the mail. Just read to whom it is addressed. Do not get mail out of the mailbox - that is a Federal Offense.

7. Bills – Same story as the mail. Bills are a great source of information.

Checks or Credit Cards – Remember, I started this off with a “be nosey” thing. So read the name on the card, name and address on the check if you can see one.

8. Medicine – The Medicine cabinet can be a gold mine. Not only does it say who the person is, but you can have an idea of health issues.

9. Magazines – This can tell you their work or hobbies and the mailing label can help.

10. Trash – I have a whole post or 2 on going through the trash. If you really want to know someone, know their trash.

THEIR VEHICLE:

11. License Plate – Yes, I am talking about being that paranoid. Write down the plate number. Most states will give you a registration return for a small fee. Let’s hope that the name matches the return.

12. Glove Box – This can be helpful, especially with insurance cards and the like. No telling what else you will find in there.

13. Ashtray/Coin Bin: All sorts of stuff gets left here that can tell you about the person you met. Do they smoke? Do they smoke dope? Often stuff from places/restaurants they visit are left there.

OTHER STUFF:

14. Co-Workers – If you know where they work, as fellow co-workers about them.

15. Wallet – Now to me, this is a sign of total distrust. If you are caught going through a wallet, you probably no longer will have a relationship. Yes, there is a lot of information there. Yes, it has the good stuff. Maybe you can make a game out of sharing wallets. Like I said before, it is a sign of total distrust.

Think of all the things around your own place with your name on it. Check the same stuff out. All of this nosiness can pay off, especially if the person is not who they say they are.

WARNING SIGNS - If this person will only give you their cell number, this could be because they are married or living with someone and don't want you calling the house. Or it could be they only have a cell phone. If it seems like they never want you to go to their place and only want to meet at restaurants, clubs, and the like and they only want to go to YOUR place, they may have a "roommate" or spouse they don't want you to know about. That is not necessarily the case with women. In reality, a woman should NEVER let a man she doesn’t know come to her house on the first few dates (call me sexist). If you met online, never meet at homes, but instead public places until you feel comfortable with the other person. If they say they are divorced, be sure to VERIFY the county records. More often than not, I have run across people who say they are divorced when they are only "separated" for a short time. Often times the "separation" only lasts until the spouse gets back home.

These are a few of the ideas you can use. Run a background check. Not just to see if they are a criminal or sex offender. Also see if this person is married. How many times have they been married and are they still married? Are they being sued? Are they in Bankruptcy? Do they really own the business they claim to? Do they really own the nice car the are in or are they just leasing?

Remember, whatever you do - stay safe!