Washington State Investigators P.I. News

Easily Obtained Subpoenas Turn Your Personal Information Against You

Article was written in 2013, but for a majority of readers it will be very interesting reading. For some, revelations that the National Security Agency has been collecting vast amounts of personal information on U.S. citizens might seem as far removed as the city of Moscow. But it’s not just an ultrasecret spy agency that…
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7 Mass Surveillance Tools Your Local Police Might be Using

If you’ve been concerning yourself with the Heartbleed bug and the National Security Agency, you might as well have these seven items on your radar, too. Military-inspired technologies are coming home for use by local law enforcement. Since 2001, federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security have been trickling to local authorities for counterterrorism…
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The Best Low-Tech Spycraft Tricks

The F-21 buttonhole camera - as used by the Soviet Union, Europe, and North America in the early 1970s (International Spy Museum) Despite ubiquitous surveillance and fancy gadgets, there are still simple, old-fashioned ways that spies and criminals can avoid detection, says Frank Swain. In the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations about the US National…
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How Pickpockets Trick Your Mind

Pickpockets use much more than sleight of hand, says Caroline Williams, they hack your brain’s weaknesses. My mother has eyes in the back of her head. She also taught me from an early age to be suspicious of strange men, especially when they give you presents. Which makes it all the more surprising that a…
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The secret to staying safe online

It’s impossible to be 100% secure or safe online, but as Colin Barras explains, there are a few non-obvious tricks that anyone can use to stay safe online. Why should I care about online security? It’s tempting to assume that only big businesses or big celebrities have to worry about their online security. After all,…
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4 Tips for Recognizing a Social Engineering Attack

Generally speaking, we as humans want to help our fellow humans out. Unfortunately, this fact is abused by what are known as social engineers. Think of social engineering as people hacking. Social engineers attempt to manipulate people to get things they want, whether it be passwords, personal information, or access to restricted areas. Social engineering…
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The 8 Types of Identity Theft

There are several types of identity theft. Knowing what to do if you are a victim of identity theft starts by knowing what type of identity theft you are dealing with. Here are 8 types of Identity Theft. Financial Identity Theft When we hear the words "identity theft" we usually think of credit reports and…
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Spyware Prevention

Spyware is a form of malware that can infect your computer and reconfigure your Internet browser settings by changing your home page and modifying your search results. Even if you modify your settings back to how you initially had them configured, spyware will maliciously revert your browser settings each time you restart your computer. Furthermore,…
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How to Protect Yourself From Clickjacking Attacks

They can't be seen, they can't be reasoned with, and they want to jack your clicks. Clickjackers have been around since about 2008 but they are getting a lot more press lately thanks to a new wave of clickjacking attacks perpetrated against Facebook users. What is Clickjacking? It may sound like the latest underground dance…
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How Criminals Trick You Into Installing Malware

Your antivirus scanner just popped up an alert letting you know that your computer has been infected with malware. How did this happen? You've been extra careful about not opening anything that looked suspicious, so how did this virus end up on your system? There are many different avenues of attack that criminals use to…
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Drive By Download

Drive by Download Generally speaking, we as humans want to help our fellow humans out. Unfortunately, this fact is abused by what are known as social engineers. Think of social engineering as people hacking. Social engineers attempt to manipulate people to get things they want, whether it be passwords, personal information, or access to restricted…
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How con artists trick your mind

Washington State investigators presents "How Con Artists Trick Your Mind" None of us likes being scammed, and David Modic is no different. But it’s not the fact that scammers try to trick us into handing over our money that bothers him – it’s the way they can rob people of something far more important: their…
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Confidential Resources and Methods for the Investigator

The Confidential Resource offers sources and methods for Investigators and Researchers. This site contains interesting news articles for private investigators and makes for good reading if you have an interest in learning about investigation tools, techniques, resources and more called "Confidential Resources". Click The Confidential Resource to continue reading. The word research derives from Middle…
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What’s involved in Identity Theft Crimes – Law Enforcement and Victims

What is Identity Crime? Identity crimes are those in which there is a fraudulent use of another person's identifying information with the intent to commit other criminal activities or to obtain credit, goods, or services without the victim's consent. No financial loss is necessary. A person commits an identity crime if he or she: ·…
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Computer tricks and tips everyone should know !

These computer tricks and tips are not directly related to private investigation, but with my Information Technology background and emphasis in Network Security, I thought giving you this information would be beneficial. So, let’s continue. Many hardcore computer users might think themselves above learning new computer tricks and tips, but there's always new things to…
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What you should know about Researching Public and Private Records

About researching public and private records? Researching public and private records is the locating of public and private records. The research is a tool for gathering information to support or oppose a point of view. For more information, read what to expect during a public records investigation. What do private investigators learn from public and…
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Black Book Online-Free Records Search

Black Book Online is a great website when starting to perform an investigation. Black Book Online has so many resources to use and provides easy navigation. You can search by record type or start a search from within your state of preference. What makes this site so nice is that covers a vast list of…
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