Posted by Joe Cordes on Thu, Jul 21, 2011 @ 03:17 PM
We recently had an unusual inquiry from a person about lifting fingerprints from multiple works of art. This person had bought some expensive pieces of art from a person who was close to the artist, who died over thirty years ago. There was some question as to the authenticity of the items. Since the art was crafted in the late 1980’s, then we would assume that any fingerprints would have been transferred to the art at that time.
First, the person first wanted to know if it was possible to identify the presence of latent fingerprints on various works of art that were over 30 years old. The question was, “how long will latent fingerprint evidence last on an object”?
Fingerprints on paper, cardboard and unfinished wood can last for up to forty years (per actual casework histories) unless exposed to water (and contaminate transfer prints can even then sometimes persist). Fingerprints on non-porous surfaces such as plastic, metal and glass can last for many years if not exposed to water and if left undisturbed.
Estimates about the age of latent prints are unreliable when the experts guessing have no idea what was on the fingers that touched a surface, so you will generally not be able to determine if the fingerprints are fresh versus old. Latent prints that develop "quickly, strongly or dark" are not necessarily consistent with having been "recently" deposited. Unless scientific analysis of latent print residue on evidence was completed before processing with powder or chemicals to visualize latent prints, then the 
nature of the latent print residue deposited by the fingers or palms cannot be known. Circumstantial evidence such as information that an item was cleaned thoroughly with glass cleaner, soap and water, etc., could date latent prints on the item as not being older than the last thorough cleaning.
Any surface that is about as smooth as the miniature corrugated cardboard type ridges on your fingers can potentially bear identifiable latent fingerprints... and the flexibility of the finger skin can often also conform to relatively rough surfaces such as imitation leather dashboards. Fingerprints from crime scenes have been identified on papers, cigarettes, fruit, crumpled aluminum cans, plastic garbage bags, bed sheets, rocks, and thousands of other surfaces
The person also wanted to know if latent fingerprints were found, was it then possible to lift them for comparison to fingerprints that might be available on file for the deceased artist? The person believed that the artist may have been arrested in at some point in his life and therefore law enforcement might have his fingerprints on file. The answer to this question is, that as long as there is a known fingerprint record on file somewhere, it can be used to make a comparison with a “lifted” fingerprint print to make a positive identification.
The state criminal justice agencies are always a good first stop in searching for fingerprint records of any person that would have been required to be fingerprinted due to an arrest (generally Penal Law misdemeanors and felonies). Other places to search would be fingerprint records mandated by certain federal and state laws in order to be licensed or work in certain fields for example, security guards, certain health care workers, bar owners, etc.
If the person is deceased and did not die of natural causes, you might also check with the coroner's office in the place were they died to see if they had conducted an autopsy. In New York City, an autopsy will trigger fingerprinting by an NYPD Detective assigned to the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office. The fingerprint cards will be kept on file at the NYPD Detective Bureau’s DOA desk. In any case, if there are no available fingerprints to compare any “lifted” prints to, it makes no sense to “dust” any items for fingerprints.
Joe Cordes is the VP of Investigations at MSA Investigations
Posted by Joe Cordes on Mon, Jul 11, 2011 @ 10:26 AM
When I was a young Sergeant in the New York City Police Department I dated a girl who lived alone in a small privately owned apartment building in midtown Manhattan (NYC). She was always concerned that the superintendent, that she felt was creepy, was spying on her in her apartment. I could not discount the notion as I agreed that the superintendent was kind of creepy and certainly stranger things have been known to happen in NYC. She was most concerned when she was not home and knew the super had been in the apartment to fix something, let in the exterminator, fix the heat, etc.
Periodically, at her request, I would inspect the apartment to look for signs of hidden video cameras, audio devices and other eavesdropping equipment. At the time, I was a Sergeant in the NYPD’s Narcotics Division and was very familiar with a variety of tiny easy to hide “pinhole” cameras and other eavesdropping equipment that we used in our own investigations. What I also knew was that these miniature eavesdropping devices worked very well, were not very expensive and were very easy to hide.
I will say that the old painted-over electrical box above her bed did look a bit odd and although I never did find anything that doesn't mean she was being paranoid as this kind of thing does happen quite frequently. Just goggle terms like voyeur cam and hidden cam (but not while at work) and you will see that there is a huge market for this type of footage on the Internet. Unfortunately, the target of the spying is usually a young girl who is victimized in her own bathroom or bedroom or sometimes in a gym locker room where she also has an expectation of privacy.
Stephanie’s Law
New York State passed a law in 2003 to protect against unlawful surveillance and named it Stephanie’s Law after Long Island resident Stephanie Fuller, whose landlord, Shultz, had secretly videotaped her bedroom in her rented apartment. In pushing for stricter sentencing in these cases, lawmakers argued that these crimes were similar to sexual assaults. New York State redefined the laws to take into account new types of surveillance technology and classify these types of privacy invasions as sexual assaults. The law defines unlawful surveillance as the use or installation of a recording or imaging device to view, broadcast, or record a person dressing and undressing, or his or her sexual or private parts for the purpose of entertainment or profit without the individual’s permission and where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy (§250 New York Penal Law). A conviction is punishable for up to 4 years for a first time offender and will require the perpetrator to file as a sex offender.
Something to consider
If you are moving into a new apartment, renting a beach house for the summer in Long Island or moving your daughter off campus into a private home or apartment building, you might want to consider having the place checked for bugs. Not the kind of bugs you need an exterminator for, but rather miniature eavesdropping devices that may be hidden and that could be spying on you or a loved one and recording or transmitting footage of your most private moments.
Professionals who can help are called TSCM or Technical Surveillance Counter Measure Technicians and they are experts at finding these devices using a combination of training, experience, sophisticated electronic detection equipment and hard work.
Click here to learn more about TSCM Inspections, aka Bug Sweeps
Click here to learn about the equipment used in a TSCM Inspection
Click here if you are interested in a free TSCM Consultation
Joe Cordes is the VP of Investigations at MSA Investigations
Posted by Joe Cordes on Fri, Jul 01, 2011 @ 03:47 PM
When we are conducting a background investigation on a person, we do not always have a legitimate business reason to run a full credit report on that person as part of that investigation. By law, we cannot obtain a person's credit report without a signed release. One of the great things about a credit report, other than the financial information that it provides, is that it provides information about a person's past addresses and can help us discover identity theft issues.
A Social Se
curity Trace report provides what is called a Credit Header. This is the information that is at the top of your credit card statement or "the header" of the statement as well as at the top of a Credit Report. The information will include any name or address ever associated with the social security number that was ever given to a company providing you credit or for which you applied for credit. This includes credit cards, mortgages, car loans and other lines if credit. It will also include any changes that you submited to companies providing you credit, like a change of address or maiden name. All of this historical information is complied by the big credit bureaus and is sold to companies that provide Social Security Trace reports.
A Social Security Trace report is helpful in an investigation, because it can tell us if the Social Security number provided is actually associated with the subject of the investigation. We can also, in most cases, decipher when the Social Security number was issued and in what state. This information can then be cross checked with other information previously obtained during the investigation.
Why is past address information so important?
Because it tells us where to focus our criminal records checks. Since there is no legitimate National Criminal Records check available for private companies and there are over 10,000 courthouses in the US, we need to narrow down the states and counties where the person lived and check in those areas for a criminal record. The Social Security Trace report can verify some addresses we might already have and also fill in some additional addresses that might otherwise be unknown. Since statistics show that in the US, more than 72% of persons arrested are either arrested in the county in which they live or an adjoining county, identifying past addresses is crucial to an effective background investigation.
Posted by Joe Cordes on Fri, Jun 24, 2011 @ 09:28 AM
We are sometimes asked by clients about the possibility of tracking people with GPS technology without them knowing they are being tracked. The reasons they want to do this vary; from tracking an employee or business partner in a company car, to tracking a teenager who might have just gotten their license or as it is in most of the requests, placing a GPS tracker in the car of a suspected unfaithful spouse.
Our response is that it is possible and in fact it is very straightforward and is being used more and more by private investigators. GPS trackers are small, reliable and very effective in tracking, logging and reporting the historical location of the vehicle to the investigator. The GPS system’s software also works seamlessly with many online map services such as Google Maps.
The question is, “Is it legal to track a car with GPS”?
GPS tracking law is determined at the State level and each State’s laws are typically different. It’s part of the private investigator’s responsibility to know the law and ensure that the device is being used in compliance with the law. Both the client and the private investigator could be liableif the GPS tracker is not used appropriately.
The legality of secretly installing a GPS tracker is a very fact-sensitive issue and needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Just like checking a person’s email, the legality of secretly planting a GPS tracker depends on who owns the vehicle. For example, spouses can legally access their spouse’s email in scenarios where there is a jointly owned computer or a computer that is used by the entire family.
The key issue in the planting of a GPS system is whether the person who was tracked had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Most courts have yet to rule on the use of GPS devices and as such, there is some gray area, as the law is typically five years behind technological developments.
However, the short technical answer to the above question is, that if you own the vehicle or have joint ownership of it, then it is perfectly legal to use a GPS system to monitor it.
Most private investigators will require the client to show proof of ownership and sign an authorization that grants the private eye permission to install the tracking device.
Learn more about GPS Tracking - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Joe Cordes is the VP of Investigations at MSA Investigations
Posted by Joe Cordes on Fri, Jun 17, 2011 @ 10:10 PM
In light of the recent plight of Congressman Anthony Weiner, I once again feel abliged to assist my fellow middle-aged citizens, by providing some sound advise when it comes to technology. Before using any relatively new technology (smartphones, text messaging, Twitter) or not so new technology (like personal computers and email) please understand that errors in judgement, (and otherwise) made using any of these technologies are unforgiving to the uniformed. Please make sure that you really want to send that email, text, tweet, before you press send. Maybe you ought to think about it some more? Maybe sleep on it? Once it's out there, its out there.
Computer Forensic Techs make a good living by recovering a variety of data that people believe that they have deleted, from computers, servers, smart phones and other "memory" devices . Email is one of the easiest items to revover and in most cases deleted emails can be recovered, even if you believe that they no longer exist on your computer. Deleted emails are routinely recovered by computer forensic experts from a variety of email clients (Outlook, Entourage, Thunderbird, etc.).
When emails are deleted from your Inbox there is still a chance that they reside on the server or in other areas of a computer. Computer forensic tools and methods allow for the data extraction and examination of email storage including information that had been previously deleted. In the simplestist of terms, there really isn't a delete button on your keyboard. Yes of course the button is there, but it never really deletes anything and once you send an email, don't expect that you can pull it back.
Same thing for other files that you think you deleted from your computer or server, like Word documents and photographs and audio files, pretty much anything. When a file is deleted using standard methods, the contents of the file are not actually erased from the hard drive; the operating system merely erases a pointer to the file so that the file does not appear in the folders or directories, the file is actually still there, you just can't see it. Contrary to popular belief, digital files are not vaporized when the delete button is pushed, and therefore, such files are usually recoverable and usable by a properly trained and skilled Computer Forensic Tech.
Senate hearings into the 2008 financial crisis disclosed that LLoyd Blankfein and some other top level executives at Goldman Sachs, sometimes used the acronym LDL in their internal emails. LDL stands for “Let’s Discuss Live" and was used as a kind of shorthand for “Let’s not put this in an e-mail.”
I think there is something valuable for us all to learn from Mr. Blankfein and his associates. Not everything needs to be memorialized in an email, or posted on facebook, or tweeted, or texted. Sometimes you just need to speak with people face to face.
Learn more - Computer Forensics Frequently Asked Questions.
Joe Cordes is the VP of Investigations at MSA Investigations.
Posted by Joe Cordes on Tue, May 31, 2011 @ 03:15 PM
It always pays to do things right the first time. The same is true for any safe hiring program. MSA Investigations suggests you consider the following whenever considering hiring a new employee:
1. Save Time
Hire the right person the first time and save time recruiting, interviewing, negotiating, etc.
2. Save Money
Employing the wrong individual can cost you. Hire the best person for the job and you could save on hiring bonuses, paid salaries, recruiter fees, severance packages, legal fees, etc.
3. Avoid Lawsuits
If a recent hire poses a threat to your company, your partners and/or your employees, you may be exposed to a negligent hiring lawsuit.
4. Know the Truth
Many job applicants do not provide the truth on their resumes or in their interviews. The level of deception ranges from false degrees to feigned work history to nondisclosure of a criminal record. Be sure you can trust the individual with proprietary company information and financial data.
5. Hire the Best
Maintain your reputation and company culture by hiring the best candidate possible. Have a few members of your team interview the individual to get different perspectives, ask behavioral questions, and check references. Most importantly, once you’ve narrowed down the list of candidates, have an expert complete a Pre-Employment Screening investigation to ensure your company’s future.
MSAI offers Basic and Custom Pre-Employment Screening investigations to help you confirm the identity and background of a potential new hire.
Posted by Dana Rossi on Fri, Mar 25, 2011 @ 02:29 PM
The other day while working on a fairly standard Background Investigation for a long standing client, I began making the reference calls necessary to complete the investigation. I was baffled when one of the references said he’d never heard of the subject of the investigation, and the other reference said, “Yeah. I know him. But between you and me? He’s bad news.”
What?
I was floored. It’s not like I picked these references to call. Like any references, they were provided by the subject himself, and it completely knocked me over that he would list references who would a) speak ill of him, or b) not know him at all. Who does that?
More people than you think.
There is, in fact, a method to the madness of providing excellent references, and it involves more than just listing buddies or the first person that comes to mind at your last job. Below are three quick tips to picking your professional references, and ways to avoid being caught in an embarrassing situation.
Take your time, do it right
You know how it is. You’re nervous and a little crunched for time as you sit in the reception area filling out a preliminary employment application. You reach the section that asks you for references, but this is the last minute, so you hastily decide on your references and possibly even just list your friends. Bad idea. Instead, sit down ahead of time and really consider who you will use as your professional references—across the board. Think about your former jobs, and the work you liked doing most. Now, who are the people who saw or benefitted from this work the most? Big plus if they were a supervisor. Bigger plus if they were a repeatedly satisfied outside client. Big minus if they didn’t actually ever work with you in any capacity, and are just ready and willing friends looking to help you out.
So, are we cool?
Simple enough. Whenever you are thinking of listing a professional reference, send an email to that person and make sure it’s okay with them and that they will provide a good reference. Not only does this ensure that this person remembers working with you, but it alerts this person that a reference check call will be coming their way. When they know it’s coming, they are more likely to be prepared to give a clear and concise reference, rather than be responding from a place of surprise, which can read to a person checking references as hesitation to speak well of you, rather than just being caught off guard. So avoid it altogether. Email ahead of time.
The best of friends, the worst of references
I get it. It does make some sense. You want someone to provide the best possible reference for you, so you’re going to pick the person you were best buddies with at your last job, right? Wrong. When people try to list their best work pals to act as references, any seasoned reference checker (whether it’s a private investigator or HR professional) can smell something rotten in the State of Denmark almost immediately. These references will usually GUSH about you, and ramble on and on about how you are the most innovative and important thing to hit American business since electricity. Instead, select people who were supervisors, regular clients, or people in other departments who you dealt with on a regular basis that can vouch for your credibility and proficiency without getting all verklempt.
Dana Rossi is an Investigative Analyst at MSA Investigations
Posted by Dana Rossi on Thu, Mar 24, 2011 @ 03:11 PM
The other day I was clicking through the comment sections on various subjects throughout the Internet, letting one bizarre topic lead me to the next. But as I was clicking, reading, and laughing away, I landed on the comment section below this piece about lying on a resume. One commenter actually gave tips on how to lie to get a job, and I have to admit, some of them are pretty slick and very creative. But they are also easy to catch though a basic Pre-Employment Screening. Below are some of the suggestions this commenter made--plus the ways a background investigation would easily be able to foil these tricks. In the end the choice is yours, but it’s wise to know the loopholes before you weave a web of white lies.
Part of a year of employment can count as one year.
That is, until someone picks up a phone and calls a company you listed on your resume to verify the specific dates of your employment. Then it will be clear to all involved that “I worked for Lumber International for two years—from 2006 to 2008” actually means “December of 2006 to January of 2008.” Which is technically closer to one year, wouldn’t you say?
List a school “.edu” email address as your email.
A person’s degree is easily verified by calling a school’s registrar, or through education verification databases. Chances are, if a company is looking to hire you and has “pre-employment screening” as part of their policy, you will need to sign a release so that your background can be investigated. That release enables us to verify your degree through these databases. Even in Canada. So don’t try to go all “University of Alberta” on your future employer if you didn’t actually go there. You’ll get caught.
Register with professional organizations and imply that you are an active member.
Very crafty. There’s just one thing. Many professional organizations require that members pass certain certification exams, and also require that these certifications are kept current. An organization can easily be contacted, and a false claim of active membership can quickly be uncovered.
Google famous companies that have gone out of business (like Lehman Brothers or Wachovia) and list them as past employers. Then get your friends to act as references.
This one is so involved it could reasonably be called a “caper.” Let’s start at the beginning. Many companies, especially big corporations, verify employment through a service called The Work Number. And according to the good folks at The Work Number, as long as a company was registered with them, (and as I’ve said, many of the big corporations are) they can still verify employment whether the company has folded or not. Now, part two. There is more to questioning a listed reference than “So did Jack work with you at Lentils, Inc.? He did? Great! We’re done here.” A couple of carefully worded questions dealing with specifics will easily expose a fake reference for who he or she is, and raise all kinds of red flags about your credibility.
Dana Rossi is an Investigative Analyst at MSA Investigations
Posted by Dana Rossi on Mon, Mar 14, 2011 @ 02:10 PM
Fifty year old John Acerra was the principal of Nitschmann Middle School in Bethlehem, PA—that is, up until 2007. In 2007, Acerra’s 28 year career with the Bethlehem School District came to an end when an informant tipped off police that Acerra was a crystal methamphetamine dealer, and had been consistently dealing for several months. After doing surveillance on Acerra’s dealings, police soon orchestrated successful transactions with Acerra, one in a CVS parking lot, and one in Acerra’s office at the middle school. Once the middle school transaction was complete, police immediately entered Acerra’s office and arrested him, finding his stash of crystal meth and other paraphernalia in Acerra’s school office. There is no evidence that Acerra ever sold to students, but this didn’t leave parents, teachers, and the rest of the community less rocked or unnerved by the news. When asked for a statement, Bethlehem superintendent Joseph Lewis said he is "saddened and troubled by these events. I offer no explanation. There is none."
In the aftermath of this incident, the school district, teachers, parents, and community on the whole were likely embarrassed, scared, or at a loss for what to feel about a school so blind or careless that its principal was able to deal meth out his office. The only way this incident could have been entirely avoided was for the district to not have hired him, or for Acerra to not have been a meth dealer in the first place. So the likelihood of this having been completely avoidable is pretty slim. But a story like this does shine a harsh light on the importance of checking in on teachers and other educators who work in the same school or district for an extended period of time.
Educators who interact with your children on a daily basis may have gotten hired 20 years ago, had a background investigation done upon their hiring, and not had their criminal history looked into since. In an industry where an educator is likely to keep his or her job without question up until the end of his or her career, the need for periodic checks is just as pressing as it is for industries with high turnover. Don’t assume that just because a teacher or other education professional had a clear history at the beginning of his career, that his record remains clear. It’s always better to cover your bases, and enjoy the peace of mind.
Dana Rossi is an Investigative Analyst at MSAI.
Posted by Rebecca Shaw on Fri, Mar 04, 2011 @ 10:10 AM
It’s indescribable really. That feeling when your baby is placed in your arms after carrying it around inside of you all safe and well protected for nine months. That feeling of looking down into its eyes and watching them open and shut with curiosity and wonder. That feeling of caressing its teeny tiny little hands and feeling its fingers grasp with all its little might onto one of yours. That feeling that you will be responsible for caring for it. Loving it. Guiding it. Protecting it. Forever really.
I remember those first moments well. Awe. Amazement. Warmth. Completeness. I couldn’t get enough of her. She couldn’t get enough of me. For the most part, as long as I was near, she seemed happy and content. But as I hit the three month mark with her, anxiety started to set in as I realized that it couldn’t always be Just Me.
I was heading back to work. Something I had pushed far in the back of my mind as I dealt with nights without sleep, days of diaper changes, constant feeding and newborn cuddles. But the day was approaching where I’d have to walk out the door and leave my baby behind. With someone else. A someone who wasn’t me. I had wrestled with the decision of day care vs nanny. Talked to dozens of new moms who had gone through this same decision making process. But in the end, the decision was up to me. Clueless, overwhelmed Me.
After weeks of agonizing, and too much back and forth, I finally decided on day care. But there was a four month window before there was a spot for her and I needed to get back to work. Which left me with four months with a nanny.
I was obsessed with the process. Finding the right agency. Asking the right questions. Getting the best references. Watching nannies play with my daughter as I hovered in the background. And finally I tentatively made a decision. And that night I cried. Cried because I was terrified. Terrified that this nanny was not who she said she was. That the references were good friends she had asked to say fabulous things about her. That the agency wasn’t the most reputable. That Something would happen when I wasn’t there and I would only have myself to blame. That I hadn’t taken the right steps.
The weekend before I left the house for work I told my husband the only way I’d be ok with this was if I got a nanny cam. So I could see with my own eyes. Hear with my own ears what was going on in my house while I was out. He agreed. Without any research or even thinking long enough to change our minds, we bought a camera disguised as a digital clock and placed it in full view in our family room. I felt nauseous not telling the nanny. Feeling like I was invading her privacy. I was no private investigator, but I felt comfortable knowing that first night I’d come home and see. See either a smiling, interactive loving nanny playing with my four month old baby. Or not. I didn’t even want to imagine what that “not” could be.
I watched the video that night grasping tightly to my husband’s arm. Watched it through worried tear filled, blurry eyes while my little girl slept soundly in the next room. And sighed with relief when I saw only what I hoped to see. A child loved. Maybe not the same love I gave her. But loved and cared for all the same.
I know I’m not alone. Moms EVERY DAY go through this worry. This fear that their child is left in the hands of questionable care givers. This fear that they didn’t ask the right questions, do diligent enough background checks or look for the right things as they made their care giver decisions. But moms need to know there are resources to help. People and businesses that serve as investigators to not only help with the questions to ask but who will actually ask the questions for them. To dig deeper than any mom would feel comfortable digging to ensure a safe, trusted, honest, reputable person is caring for their baby. So that the mom can actually go back to work to WORK, not dwell on what is going on at home.
Rebecca Shaw is a Marketing Consultant for MSA Investigations and the founder of Hummingbird Marketing located in Stamford, Ct.