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As discusssed earlier in Investigator Course 101, information is maintained on everyone. In years past the vast majority of information was kept in paper form, locked up in file boxes. Today we see a reverse trend, or least an adjunct to the paper files, that is storage and retrieval of info rmation via the computer, and in particuliar the internet. Government agencies are storing and making available to the public large sums of information, sometimes for free, many times for nominal fees. These are public records that must be made available under FOIA which stands for Fre edom of Information Act enacted in 1996. In essence this law requires local,state and federal gover nment agencies to make available for public inspection, information stored on individual's and corporations, with the partial objective of keeping governm ent open and honest, and allowing citizens to view what information is on file about themselves. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a set of documents to help you retreive public records. Go to this link for extensive information on federal government public records retreival , from the FBI,CIA to Department of Defense http://www.eff.org/pub/Activism/foia.kit When you want this information you can obtain it by your own resources, or by hiring an Information Broker or private investigator. You must remember some information is "semi-protected" which means a written consent form may be needed to access a particuliar record. Additionally, if you conduct the search yourself it may consume a bit of your time since you may be unfamiliar with the best resources. Of course, Investigator's Digest will considerably help the novice, as well as the pro with updates and quick links to sites. Like investigators, information brokers and researchers obtain a vast majority of business within these major categories: Asset searches Pre-employment backgrounds Locating missing persons Corporate Intelligence So, we have literally tens of millions of records "out there' how does one access them. By far, the two most widely used methods are by mail and the internet. There are outstanding database companies that have bought, complied and organized these records, and, for a fee sell that information to you. Here's a few companies you may want to look into: CDB Infotek 6 Hutton Centre Drive Santa Ana, CA 92707 (800)427-3747 www.cdb.com Information America 600 W. Peachtree Street Atlanta,GA 30308 (800) 235-4008 www.infoam.com Information Resource Service Company (IRSC ) 3777 N. Harbor Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92835 ( 800) 640-4772 Note: IRSC recently merged with DBT,providers of Autotrack. There has been good reviews with this service www.dbt.com www.irsc.com These types of databases will gain you access to: State public records Federal court,including U.S. District and bankruptcy Local courts County courts Dept. of motor vehicles Credit reporting companies Criminal records Vital statistics ie marriage, death records, divorce. Corporation, profit and non profit financial records Uniform Commerical Code (UCC) Worker's Compensation Aircraft and watercraft information Asset locations ( some people want to keep their assets burried. This may occurr during a divorce or bankruptcy) Keep in mind that there are times a public records specialist will have to go to the courthouse and physically pull the record needed. Easily finding a competent specialist is accomplished by purchasing resource books from the Public Records Research Library. *Tip There is an outstanding publisher of books and resource materials for public record searches. Send for a free catalog at Public Record Research Library, 4653 South Lakeshore Suite 3, Tempe, AZ 85282 Call toll free at 800-9293811 or check out the website at www.brbpub.com There is a site that will allow you to access 275 courthouses for free. *Tip Check at your local city library to determine if they have these publications. CONDUCT YOUR OWN SEARCHES-ONLINE A few helpful links for people searches and telephone lookups: Free Investigative Searches The Investigator's Resource Web Link Directory has a wealth of links from Adoptee Database,the PI Mall to cmputer security related websites: http://www.begin-here.com/infogo.htm  Reccomended by ID: New to ID is a hugh, professional public records database, check it out for free! www.factfind.com/public.htm Low Cost Searches: Here is a very low cost public records search firm. For as little as $10.00 you can search their records for sixty days. The pull down menu seems to show many government sites. Take a look: http://www.freepublicrecords.com USDatalink offers a good array of public record searches at reasonable prices. A comprehensive site, that requires a subscriber application to be completed. There is a trend towards professional information services to require pre completed applications. just hit the "Join" botton to get started. http://www.usdatalink.com/index.htm Going online with the above mentioned database is suitable in "most" cases. ID needs to mention a few of the "heavy weights" in databases,notably LEXIS/NEXIS www.lexis-nexis.com (800)227-4908 and DIALOG(800)334-2564,with the Dow Jones News Rettieval for top of the line business information. These massive databases are very expensive to use, with costs ranging from $35.00/hour up to $350.00/hour. Searches using these services will require the use of a professional or at best, a learning curve if executed by yourself. If your qurry is not properly defined you will receive extensive information, generally in the form of indexes or abstracts. For example, using Nexis' P-TRAK to locate a missing person will start a search through 300 MILLION records. Investigator's Digest does not endorse any one product. The databases we have been talking about are "industrial strength". For those of you who would like to try searches online and do not wish to pay set up and monthly or hourly fees, here's a few sites to check out. Records Bureau - The Records Bureau answers questions! Obtain a nationwide warrant search or criminal record on that prospective partner, employee, nanny or anyone else who enters your life or business. Access criminal records, background checks, and public records PeopleFind.com: The People Portal - The Most Extensive Source of Information on/for People: Find Anyone, Background Checks, Phone Trace, Dating/Personals, Free Directories, DMV Records, Public Records, Chat, and much more coming soon... PeopleSearch Find Anyone Campaign - People Search to find, investigate locate friends, family, missing person and persons, public record, background checks, free, white, yellow page, email, reverse lookup.  Want to trace back the name and address of a pager or cellular number, try www.infoseekers.com Although this service is a little pricey, it offers the benefit of "no hit" free search. That means if the information cannot be found,you don't pay. On the other hand, Investigator's Digest recognizes that some of the database providers that offer no hit,no fee, arrangements pull their information from database CD's, which will not be as current as others that are updated frequently directly from the source. Merlin Information Services has recently gone national, after catering to the California population. You can perform some searches for free, by setting up a temporary account for one week, which can be renewed,for an additional week. For their website go to www.merlindata.com The Corporate Investigator has clean, well organized website that offers online reports at resonable rates. There are even some free electronic searches viewers can use. www.webspy.org/index.htm An Ohio company called OPEN ( Online Professional Electronic Network) puts together a neat package of searches for a low monthly rate of $12.00, plus a nominal per minute fee( typical .49/minute) From their site you can access arrest records;drivers license abstracts, verify SSN's, financial searches for bankruptcies,liens & judgements. For a free information packet call 1 (800) 935-OPEN Online go to them @ www.openonline.com Trying to locate someone? Americafind claims they can do it,or there is no fee. They will even throw in a free software package to check if your lover is "cheating online". The software secretly captures and records all online activity, including downloads,e mail and chats. You can later review the activity. www.americafind.com |
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