PITTSBURGH, PA – High-profile cases of spousal infidelity in the news, notably the Tiger Woods case, have combined with the usual increase in PI business brought out by Valentine’s Day, many PIs are reporting. Some PI firms, such as Empire Investigations in Pittsburgh, are reporting a 15% jump in business. PI firms are using newer surveillance technology on infidelity cases, which decreases the chances of getting caught by a client’s spouse.

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CONCORD, NH – While many customers pay extra for Caller ID, ID Spoofing – once the stuff of PI companies only — may make this technology outdated. Anyone can spoof IDs today with simple gadgets that are available to anyone and are quite legal. While PIs and other businesses use ID Spoofing for legitimate purposes – such as to keep private numbers private – authorities are worried fraudsters will use the technology to target seniors and other groups with scams.

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BOCA RATON, FL – A data mining project run by Hank Asher has set up offices in South Florida. Here, the former drug smuggler has a space filled with computers and technology that help investigators track down pedophiles, felons and more. Ashner’s project includes Accurint, one of his most successful database projects. Accurint allows investigators to find addresses, licenses and close relatives of just about anyone. Asher has amassed a huge collection of public records and has combined them in database products that make it easy for investigators to track down information. While investigators are excited about Asher’s projects, privacy advocates are worried that Asher’s close work with government investigators gives him access to personal records — such as health records — which could eventually fall into the hands of private businesses, thanks to Asher’s enterprise.

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BRASILIA, BRAZIL – A Brazilian company named Lindelucy has created GPS lingerie, which keeps track of the location of the lingerie wearer at all times. Although the item may prove popular with suspicious spouses and partners, it might be more effective to hire a PI or attorney rather than rely on underwear to keep track of a straying spouse.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – IT has shaped the PI industry in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. In the 1990s, some unscrupulous PIs were buying information from people who were using computer technology to legally access the information. By the early 2000s, some experts claim PIs were using Trojan horses to glean information from computers. Experts note that due diligence investigations and investigations for assurance have become more important over the past two decades as high-profile cases of fraud (such as the case involving Bernard Madoff) have come to light. Security cases have also become more important, especially after September 11, 2001. This has meant that PIs have had to hone a whole new set of skills. While in the early 1990s computer technology skills were a nice asset for a PI to have, They are now a mainstay of the business.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – A recent article available through Scripps News points out that consumers are increasingly paying cash to have tests conducted themselves and are thus bypassing the need for a doctor. Patients are using online services and storefront testing centers to check everything from glucose levels to paternity results. These services allow patients to enjoy a level of discretion usually not available and allows patients to also control who sees test results. The facilities offering testing for private consumers are also the facilities that do testing and forensic analysis for PIs. This poses the question as to whether or not consumers will want to bypass more than just the doctor with these lab services. Will consumers prefer to turn to labs rather than PIs to find out about paternity or cheating spouses?

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ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – Last week, PInow.com staff reported about news from Australia suggesting that parents there are hiring PIs to keep tabs on their children. Recently, a new technology, Bully Stop, was released in Australia to help parents do just that. Bully Stop allows parents to use a computer program to control a child’s incoming information. Parents using the system can create a “block list” and approved list of contacts, check their children’s text messages, and more. Bully Stop is created by Virtual Mobile Application Development.

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TORONTO, CANADA – A recent column in the Globe and Mail newspaper considers whether we have really become a surveillance society – or whether it only seems that way because in living an online life we willingly give up our privacy. The column points out that it’s not surveillance cameras we necessarily need to worry about – it’s our desire to share online, which allows just about anyone to access pictures of us as well as our personal information. Writer Hal Niedzviecki has described ours as a culture of “mass voyeurism,” a culture where we enjoy peering into other lives while allowing others to look in on ours.

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VANCOUVER, CANADA – Today, cheating has become simpler in a world of cell phones and instant messages – trysts can easily be arranged through a mobile device in seconds. However, PIs and infidelity experts warn that mobile devices which enable cheating also make it much easier to catch cheaters. Cell phones can be hacked by suspicious spouses and tracking devices on cars can easily lead investigators or a spouse to a hotel room or other secret location. Even deleted phone records and computer records can easily be retrieved by a PI or computer experts. PI John Sullivan notes that most affairs leave an electronic trail – including emails, text messages, cell phone entries, Internet records, images on surveillance cameras, social networking photos and more – that make the discovery of an infidelity inevitable.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – For PIs, social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are playing an increasing role in investigations. One of the largest PI companies in Australia now hires staff specifically to search for missing persons and other fraudsters online using social networking sites. The company reports finding 30-40 debtors and felons a week through social networking sites. While the sites are useful for PIs, however, investigators have found that they need to track and find social networking criminals, many who use sites such as MySpace and FaceBook to find and lure underage children.

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