Confirming what you know and finding what you don't
As researchers and investigators, using credible sources and verifying our findings has always been a big part of the job. What’s changed, though, is that it’s getting harder to differentiate between what’s true and what’s not. Thanks to AI tools and other technology, the scammers and manipulators have reached a new level of sophistication. We […]
This post was originally posted in Sept. 2023, and it’s as important today as it was then. When you’re conducting research and investigations, it’s easy to get sidetracked by opinions, expectations, and wishful thinking. Sometimes we hope for or have too much invested in a particular outcome. Other times, we rely on our usual tools […]
Whether you’re conducting pre-investment due diligence, vetting an expert witness, or tracing assets, online court records can be a powerful investigative tool—if you understand their limitations and know how to navigate the maze. Between jurisdictional differences, missing records, lack of identifiers, and complex court structures, it’s easy to become lost and overwhelmed. Here’s a breakdown […]
It’s vital that you learn all you can about a company when making business decisions, whether you’re considering a partnership, making an investment, or checking out a competitor. Business registration records offer a wealth of information, and–before getting started–it’s important to understand how what they are and how they work. What are Business Registration Records? […]
This post was originally published on March 28, 2022. Investigations involve working with clients from a variety of industries, and that means learning about the environment in which they operate. It’s the only way to get to the heart of client concerns. For example, when I started working with my hedge fund clients years ago, […]
Fraud examiners, private investigators, risk managers, researchers, and others use public records all the time, and most of us will say they’re challenging, far from perfect, and indispensable. They’re a mainstay of our work, in spite of their difficulties. Recorded documents, a certain type of public record, are no different. Recorded documents are documents that […]
Where to start? That’s one of the first questions investigators and researchers ask when faced with a research question. Sometimes we’re researching the same topics as usual, and sometimes we’re researching something new, but we always need some starting points. In the first case, when faced with a known topic, we have our standard sources, […]
In investigations and research, we often need information about companies and their owners, and one of the best places to look is in business registration records. Required by law, private and public companies register and file periodic reports that include names, addresses, dates, partnerships, and more. Registering a business adds legitimacy, protects the business name, […]
When you’re conducting research and investigations, it’s easy to get sidetracked by opinions, expectations, and wishful thinking. Sometimes we hope for or have too much invested in a particular outcome. Other times, we rely on our usual tools and techniques and don’t consider their limitations. The technical term is cognitive bias, and it means that […]
Once you’ve sent the client report, finished the strategic plan, learned what you didn’t know before, it’s tempting to stop there. After all, you completed the tasks you took on when you started, and now you have some answers. You’re not quite done, though. In previous posts, I’ve talked about the first five steps of […]