Claude Bookout is President of United Investigations International, a private investigations firm located in Austin, Texas. (www.investigateworldwide.com) Texas license number: C9472

Blog updated monthly.

United International Investigations is an experienced private investigations firm with a reputation for integrity, dependability, and thoroughness. The firm provides its clients with a broad range of investigative assistance. Corporations, law firms, and prominent individuals have relied on its professional team of investigators to obtain power and control over their particular situations.

A reminder: Know the laws, or hire a licensed investigator

Here's an interesting news story recently aired on ABC's Nightline. A Michigan woman has filed charges against her husband, who violated, according to prosecutors, an anti-hacking law. If convicted, the man faces up to five years in prison. The man should have hired a private investigator, who could provide information on legal procedures and discovered whether the woman was having an affair. Is five years in prison worth saving a few hundred dollars? Also, if you think someone may have hacked your account, a professional investigator can help you find out.


There are other ways to find

New Year’s Resolutions a professional investigator can assist you with

  1. Locate a long-lost friend or family member. With the proliferation of social media sites and search services like Intelius available on the internet, it would seem that locating a relative or friend is easier than ever. While using these services can be useful, there are more difficult cases and circumstances that a private investigator is a better investment. With access to proprietary search services and practiced techniques (e.g., pre-texting), a private investigator can track down and locate hard-to-find individuals who may be living off the grid. In these tenuous times, where people are more concerned with personal security and privacy, you can protect yourself by using a state-licensed professional who can verify that the person want to be found, thereby protecting yourself from an uncomfortable situation or an claim of illegality (e.g., stalking).
  2. Update company with mobile apps.  If you are a business with a mobile sales force or mobile servicing, it is probably time to integrate your financial processing with the various iPhone or Droid apps (for example) that are on the market. However, you must also concern yourself with security. A professional investigator can help assure that your mobile technology is being uses properly. Working, for example, as secret shoppers, a professional investigator can assure that your mobile employees are properly safeguarding important customer data. Should a problem arise, it is important that you can prove due diligence, and a having a private security consultant working with you will certainly help advocate your case to insurance companies or courts. Next month our blog post will be about protecting your company in the world of apps.
  3. Solve a cold crime.  If you or your family has been the unfortunate victim of an unsolved crime, you ought to consider hiring a professional investigator with criminal investigation experience to assist you. An experience independent party can help develop new theories, identify new leads, substantiate or refute the sequence of events, interview witnesses to check consistency in statements, conduct forensic analysis using private labs, and so on. Regardless of the severity of crime, a private investigator can provide the focused attention to a crime that policing agencies cannot (usually due to budgetary constraints). Most people do not realize that many high-profile crimes were solved or defended through the efforts of private investigators.
  4. Be proactive. If you’ve been suspecting something in your personal or communal life is not right, perhaps it is time to take proactive measures to find out. If you’ve been suspecting that the person you’ve been dating has a questionable background, it’s time to do a background check. If you suspect that your spouse or partner has been cheating, it’s time to put him or her under surveillance. If you suspect that a local company has been engaged in illegal or unethical behavior that will affect your or your community’s health, well-being, or security, it is time to conduct a civil investigation. If you think that your employees have been stealing from you, it is time to conduct a security assessment of your company. Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care. The cost of hiring a private investigator may seem high, but if you see it as an investment rather than a cost, then the return will likely be worth it.
If you have questions regarding how a private investigator may be able to help you, please contact United International Investigations to see how we may be able help you. Our initial telephone consultations, as always, are free.