Confirming what you know and finding what you don't
Recent news about student journalists investigating their new principal’s credentials – and her subsequent resignation – earns this Kansas school board a place in the Due Diligence Hall of Shame. According to reports, these students started doing some research and quickly found “some things that just didn’t quite add up.” They then published their article, […]
Due diligence background investigations provide competitive advantage and help prevent fraud. Digging into someone’s past reveals a lot of information that can be used today – and here are two reasons it works so well: 1. The past often predicts how someone will act in the future. It’s the rare instance when a con man […]
Using the internet for investigations, including due diligence background checks, is becoming more and more commonplace. Online works great in certain situations, such as when the client needs a quick first pass or you want to fly under the radar and can’t make calls to former co-workers. However, depending on budget, time frame, and level […]
I didn’t need to look long or far for the next entry onto the Due Diligence Hall of Shame. Right there, on the front page of my local newspaper, the Denver Post, I found this article about a $30 million Ponzi-like investment scam. Apparently several clients, including Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez, Rockies pitcher Roy Oswalt, […]
I’ve been collecting articles that illustrate some of the best reasons for conducting due diligence and some of the best examples of due diligence mistakes. It’s time to share these with you, starting with the missteps by Walgreens executives when vetting Theranos, prior to their soon-to-be doomed partnership . As reported by the Wall Street Journal, […]
I just received one of the best phone calls an investigator can get. A client called to say thanks and let me know that our due diligence process worked. A fund manager lied about their MBA and had even supplied a falsified degree. Apparently, he’d gotten away with this for a while – until our […]
A friend and fellow info pro sent this WSJ article to me, because, she said, it illustrated perfectly how “confirmation bias” often gets in the way of critical thinking. As information professionals, it’s something we strive to avoid, and it can rear its ugly head when we least expect it – in our choice of […]
Here at Phelps Research, we use a wide variety of tools for gathering and processing the information our clients crave. Without these tools, I couldn’t run my business, and without the benefits I receive from my membership in the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), I wouldn’t be able to access them without charging much […]