Desnoes Investigations Tricks to the Trade

We are introducing the first blog to a new series we’re starting here at Desnoes Investigations. Every now and then we will be providing you with new investigation tricks to the trade, that we believe will assist you in becoming a better investigator. Enjoy!

There are many ways to help utilizing search engines and social media sites to your advantage. Once you’re better accustomed to how to properly search the web your life as a Private Investigator will become a million times easier. To begin with, when practicing a simple search of your targets name on the internet, just typing in the name will not suffice, however, by adding quotations to the individual you’re searching for information on, makes all of the difference. Especially when searching very common names, if you simply type in Ashley Jones the number of names and people that the search would generate would be insanity but searching “Ashley Jones” would limit the names/individuals that would appear in your search.

Search engines are vital to investigators, and when I say search engines, I mean the regular, everyday search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing among others. You can find anything from a persons address to their place of employment, to the alma mater of their high school, you just have to search them correctly, and take the time to look through the listings. If you’re only willing to look through the first few listings, you may not find any real information, this takes time and patience.

Social Media is another great way to find out information on a target, as most people use social media sites like Facebook to display their life. You can very easily gain information regarding what a target likes to do, where he/she works or goes to school, or where they like to hang out among other things. Should you need to obtain more business information on a target, you may want to see if they have LinkedIn and attempt at “connecting” with them on there. Once you’ve “connected,” which is basically the same as becoming “friends” with someone on Facebook, you can see all of their uploaded information which will usually include all past and present employers.

Always remember that social media and search engines are among your greatest tools in investigations always use them to their potential and don’t give up after one measly search.