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In the midst of all national crime trends, certain threats can be localized. For example, murders may be decreasing in one city as robberies are increasing in another. To identify the locations where crimes were the most or least common, the team at PeopleFinders turned to crime data from the FBI. These crime numbers are only an indication of the true level of criminal activity.

Most private investigators, at one time or another, have investigated fraudulent workers compensation claims and in fact, many train on that type of work, as these claims always seem to be in good supply. Much of my earlier experience involved insurance claims and my biggest client in my early days was a large insurance defense firm. Many people, even the seemingly honest ones, will at least exaggerate a claim and the less than honest will fabricate one all together. 

In a previous column, I wrote about fake and fraudulent claims that people make against insurance carriers; those that we usually uncover during an investigation. A red flag usually pops up sometime during the adjuster’s examination and then we get the call. In this case, where the claim amount is in the millions of dollars, we’re likely to get that same call.

Working undercover is my favorite part of the job; it can bear much fruit. When you need information about someone, there’s no better source than that person himself. The trick is to get that person to trust you enough to share the information that is vital to your case.

S. Brian Mathews of LA Intelligence was recently interviewed on Between Takes where he provides some very interesting and informative information regarding private investigation services. Brian recounts some of his most interesting cases and discusses the extreme amount of fraud that is taken place in our society.

At some point my client and his wife realized that the money given to the decorator was not being used for its intended purpose — furniture, accessories, etc. They attempted to contact the decorator but to no avail, so he sued him and won a money judgment for more than $550,000 by default. Clearly, he had no defense — so why show up!

A fellow P.I. recently referred an interesting client to me. This new client had a judgment in favor of a previously well-respected designer decorator for more than a half million dollars. The client knew there was little chance of collecting, not only because the decorator didn’t have the client’s money anymore, but because the laws that govern “post judgment recovery” are complicated and expensive.

Most private investigators, at one time or another, have investigated fraudulent workers compensation claims and in fact, many train on that type of work, as these claims always seem to be in good supply. Much of my earlier experience involved insurance claims and my biggest client in my early days was a large insurance defense firm.

The most gratifying kinds of private investigator cases are the ones where I feel I made a profound difference in the end. Catching a cheating spouse can be far from the end. It’s actually just the beginning in some cases, even here in California, a “no fault” state where assets are divided evenly, and here’s why…

Over the years, I have had my fair share of cases where the circumstances were far from routine and in order to satisfy my client, a great deal of thinking, planning and research was necessary in order to deliver results. Let’s face it – people choose to hire a private detective when there’s nowhere else to turn and the assignments can be very demanding. I always pride myself on delivering what I was hired for and have developed a reputation for just that.