Here are a few examples of work. Since all of my clients wish to remain anonymous, I will not give any names or details of clients or victims. Specific examples are sub-headed under "Examples of Work" on the menu bar above.
Anti-Social Behaviour
I was contacted by a chap who was having trouble with gangs of youths who were making his life miserable. They were, on a regular basis, targeting his house with missiles (small stones, eggs, vegetables, etc.). This might seem trivial to some, but this was causing this chap immense distress and leading to serious medical problems for both him and his wife. When he had reached the end of his tether he had tried confronting them, but as soon as he had left the house, they began directing the missiles towards him! This made him even more of a target for the youths and the problems subsequently escalated. This chap felt like a prisoner in his own home and it was causing so much stress and anxiety that my client and his wife were both prescribed anti-depressants - and they were not in the best of health to begin with! He had called the police and the street wardens on numerous occasions, but as soon as the youths saw them coming they would run off, only to return later to continue their malicious torment! The police and local authority cited lack of evidence as an unwillingness to act and suggested that he keep a diary!
The chap called me as a last resort to see if there was anything which I could do.
I parked up some distance away from my client's house and waited for the youths to arrive. I had given my client instructions not to intervene in any way (the safety of my client is always paramount). I monitored the situation and recorded the youths anti-social behaviour.
Having gathered the necessary evidence, I next discovered the address of the ring-leader, who it turned out lived with his parents in a very respectable part of the town.
The next day, when the lad in question was at school, I called at his address to speak to his father. I explained the situation and showed him the video evidence. His father was very shocked to witness his son's victimisation and anti-social behaviour. I informed him that my client didn't want to go to the police, but would if this didn't stop.
The father was very apologetic and gave assurances that this would not happen again. The father asked for my client's address so that he could apologise personally to him. I, of course, checked with my client before giving the father my client's telephone number (though the son knew where my client lived anyway).
I received a telephone call that evening from my client who told me that as soon as the youth had returned from school he was duly frog-marched around to my client's house (probably receiving a severe reprimand first from his father) and they had both apologised unreservedly to my client. The son was especially apologetic and had said that he hadn't realised, at the time, the harm he had been causing to my client: he had done it without thinking to show off to his friends, thinking it was funny at the time. He did promise though that this would never happen again.
The anti-social behaviour towards my client stopped and the two families are now apparently quite good friends.
Some time later I was passing my client's house and called in to see him and his wife.
My client and his wife have stopped taking anti-depressants and their health has dramatically improved. They told me that it was like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.
The cost to my client for his life back?
Would it surprise you to learn that it was less than £200?
It may have been only a few hours 'work' for me, but it meant the world to my client.
Cheating Partner
I was approached by a man who suspected his wife was having an affair. Here is a copy of the report given to him following my investigation. This is my report upon work undertaken on behalf of Mr XXXXXX in relation to the alleged extra-marital relationship of his wife, Mrs XXXXXX.
REF: XXXXXXXXXXXX (1) Mr XXXXXXXXXX (2) Instructions: Mr. XXXXXXXXXXX (3) Our Ref: XXXXXXXXXXXX (4) Re: To determine if Mrs XXXXXX has been actively engaged in an extra- marital relationship; To gather evidence of extra-marital relationship; To determine the identity of the 3rdparty involved; Obtain photographic or video evidence of them together.
Mr XXXXXX has had suspicions for some time, that his wife Mrs XXXXXX, has been actively engaged in an extra-marital relationship with an unknown 3rd party. I agreed to investigate the matter and was provided, by Mr XXXXXX, with information deemed necessary to conduct an investigation. The information included a physical description of Mrs XXXXXXX, details of her motor vehicle, along with her place of work and working hours. Over several days I monitored the movements of Mrs XXXXXX, though did not note any suspicious or untoward activity with regards to an alleged romantic involvement with a third party. Legal & legitimate searches of emails and various websites revealed suggestive messages exchanged between Mrs XXXXXX and the owner of another email address: 'XXXXXXXX.co.uk'. The encrypted messages had been exchanged via a website named 'XXXXXXXX.com'. The messages exchanged between Mrs XXXXXX and the unidentified party, 'XXXXXXX.co.uk', were highly suggestive of a physical relationship (see APPENDIX 1). The owner of the email address (XXXXXXX.co.uk) was identified as Mr XXXXXXX and the exchanged messages further suggested that Mrs XXXXXX and Mr XXXXXXX were co-workers (as my client had initially suspected).
On XXXXXXXXXX, at approximately 09:45 hours, I observed Mrs XXXXXX stepping into the passenger side of a black Vauxhall XXXX, registration number XXXXXXX, which was being driven by an unidentified male. The vehicle then proceeded southbound on the A1(M).. At approximately 15:45 hours the black Vauxhall carrying Mrs XXXXXX and the male driver arrived at the XXXXXX Hotel, XXXXXXXX, some 250 miles away. The next day, XXXXXXXXXX, at precisely 12:00 hours, Mrs XXXXXX and the unidentifed male were filmed walking out of the XXXXXXXX Hotel, having spent the night together inside of a hotel room. They walked romantically together to the black Vauxhall, registration number XXXXXXXX: Mrs XXXXXX sat in the passenger seat. The black Vauxhall XXXXXX then drove out of the hotel car-park and made the 250 mile journey to XXXXXX.
Next, it was then necessary to determine if the unknown driver of the black Vauxhall XXXXX - who had driven Mrs XXXXXX to the XXXXXXXX Hotel and had stayed the night with her at the hotel was the same “XXXXXXX” who Mrs XXXXXX had been exchanging messages which had been highly suggestive of an intimate and physical relationship.
A professional tracing system eventually revealed the likely match of the unidentified male as Mr XXXX XXXX, Date of birth XXXXXXXX, address XXXXXXXXX. Though this needed further confirmation.
On XXXXXX I called at the identified address XXXXXXX to confirm the identity of the male. At approximately 18:45, a black Vauxhall XXXXX, registration number XXXXXXX, pulled onto the driveway (next to another car already parked on the driveway: a XXXXXXXX, registration number XXXXXX). The male who got out of the black Vauxhall XXXXXX and entered the address matched the description of the man who spent the night at the XXXXXX hotel with my client’s wife, Mrs XXXXXX on XXXXXXX. To be absolutely certain that they were one and the same I knocked on the door of XXXXXXXXX. The door was answered by a male who I now know to be Mr XXXX XXXX, age XX, date of birth XXXXXXXXX and was, beyond any reasonable doubt, the same man seen filmed and photographed at the XXXXXXX Hotel with Mrs XXXXXX. I had a conversation with Mr XXXX XXXX (though he did not know who I was or that he was under investigation) along with his female partner, who I later learned was his wife. His wife informed me that they had lived together at that address for 7 years.
I informed my client of my findings and submitted to him the evidence gathered, along with my positive identification of the male at his home address. I also promised him that, should it be required, that I would present such testimony verbally, under oath. I am suitably qualified and experienced to present such testimony. I am qualified to master's degree level in investigation (MSc., Criminal Investigation) and have ran my own investigation company since 2013. Previous to this I worked as an investigator with Special Investigation Team. I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office for Data Protection and Privacy (ICO) and my name appears on the Data Protection Register (ZA661224). I am also a member of several related professional bodies. Should any further information be required, or should verbal testimony be required, then I will gladly accommodate.
*********END OF REPORT*********
Following this I asked my client what he would like to do. He told me that he just wanted the affair to stop. I tracked the identified male to a quiet location and told him that if he did not end this affair then his wife would get a copy of the photographs and DVD taken at the hotel, along with intercepted exchanged messages, etc. He assured me that it would end.
A few days later I noticed that intimate encrypted electronic communications between Mr XXXX XXXX and my client’s wife had started again. With permission from my client, I pulled over the car being driven by the wife of Mr XXXX XXXX as she neared her address. I explained to her who I was, gave her a DVD, and told her what I had found out. I gave her my client’s telephone number to verify what I had said (he had asked me to do this once she had been informed about her husband). When she got home, the fireworks started. She threw the cheating rat out onto the street along with his belongings. It was quite a show for the neighbours.
Unfortunately in most cases of this nature there are no happy endings. Sometimes I hope that my clients initial suspicions were wrong, but 9 times out of 10 they’re usually correct.
Remote Monitoring
It's easy enough to install a program on a computer, phone, tablet or pad that will allow others to monitor you remotely. They will be able to see all of your passwords to all of your accounts; access your social media; see every website you have visited - and what you did while you were on that site; access your gps location and your location history; see your emails and text messages (even deleted ones) and all of your telephone calls; they can even open your camera and microphone on your device and start recording without you knowing anything about it. It's invisible, it's untraceable, and it can't be traced back to whoever put it there, whether it be a physical installation or a remote one. It sounds scary. It is. It sounds illegal. It isn't. Though certain rules and laws must be strictly followed, ie: DPA Section 55 - Unlawful obtaining etc. of personal data; Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA); Data Protection Act 1988 (DPA); Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA); Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (WTA); Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000. Breaking any of these could land you in prison.
It is very easy to install monitoring on a device, though sometimes things aren't as straightforward as you want them to be.
A client approached me wanting me to install remote monitoring on her son's computer as she was sure that he was up to no good. Legally she's allowed to do that. Her son was under 16 and she'd bought the computer. It's a simple enough procedure to install monitoring: open the computer; install the monitoring; give client remote access. It takes a couple of minutes. On this occasion it turned out to be far more complicated than that.
It turned out that my client's son was a bit of a computer geek and had installed a secure, coded partition in which he held a virtual machine. Although the computer was used by both the mother and son, his 'side' of the was extremely secure, could not be accessed by the other side, and was protected with a complex password.
I have a USB stick which contains a program that automatically bypasses login screens and passwords. On this occasion though the partitioned side was so secure it wouldn't let me in. I gave myself admin access and went into the computer settings. He'd overwritten the USB drives! I couldn't gain access through the cmd (command prompt) either. I inserted a program I'd written into the .bat files - that didn't work! I went to my hacking tools and tried several password-cracking programs - none of them could crack it (not even with a 10 million word dictionary)! I delved into the part of the dark web where harvested passwords are dumped (if any of your accounts have ever been hacked, you should find your passwords in there). His wasn't there. I cloned his login page to present itself before his own login identical login screen and installed a keylogger behind it. He'd already protected himself against such an attack. I searched for any username he'd used on social media in an attempt to access his accounts through them (usually if you have somebody's username on social media you can find out pretty much anything about them) - no other usernames were associated with this person.
Eventually, through guile, cunning, and the use of hidden, tiny video cameras, I got his passwords and installed the monitoring on the computer. Even then, I had to extract some hidden data manually - but I've got a USB for that too.
Rogue Workmen
A chap contacted me suspecting that his mother was being duped and asked me to check it out for him (he was at work and couldn’t get away). The mother had apparently agreed for some ‘workmen’ who were ‘in the area’ to lay a new driveway for her. The son suspected that she was being scammed. I left immediately to visit the diligent workforce.
On the way I picked up a friend. I needed his help for two reasons: firstly, he’s a qualified builder and could tell me if the work was being done properly (and at the right price); and secondly, he’s a big bloke who knows how to look after himself in case things turned nasty. I had heard about some rogue Irish Travellers in the area who had been charging extortionate amounts for shoddy work that wouldn’t last beyond the next rain-fall.
We arrived there to find the workmen had already layed the foundation. I pretended to be the son of the mother I had been called out there to check on (something which you are legally allowed to do, by the way). The builder asked the workmen where the hard-core was. The foreman pointed to some fine black gravel and told the builder (though they didn’t know my friend was a reputable builder) that this was a special type of hardcore which all of the best building firms were now using, “it was a good job we had some left over from the last job.” Apart from trying not to laugh, I had heard enough and politely asked them to leave.
We waited around for a while to see if the ‘workmen’ would return for their ‘special hardcore’ they had left behind – they didn't. I informed the police that there were some scammers in the area and about what we had done.
I later found out that the same ‘workmen’ were arrested a week or so later after scamming and over-charging several other people. Some people are just too greedy.
It turns out that this job would have cost my client’s mother a few thousand pounds – nearly all of her life-savings.
The moral of the story is: if somebody comes knocking on your door and they happen to be in the area and they happen to notice that you have some work which needs doing (even though you probably don’t), don’t let them loose on your property. My advice would be not to speak to them at all (they can be quite manipulative). If you feel that you must speak with them, ask to see ID cards, credentials, what other jobs have they done in the area, which professional organisations are they a member of (ask for proof)?
The bottom line is if you want some work doing, get a quote from several reputable companies who have a string of local satisfied customers.
If it’s too late for that, call me.
Even if they have finished the job and left the property, if the work is not up to the standard that they had guaranteed it would be, I could still help you to claim your money back.
Serving Legal Papers
I was instructed to serve urgent legal papers on behalf of a client. A simple enough job which I have done many times before. This one was a little more complicated than most, as the person who I was instructed to serve the papers to was not at the address supplied - and indeed proved to be highly elusive.
I knocked at the door of the address provided to me by my client and stated clearly by the court on the legal papers. When the door was answered I asked, in a friendly fashion (as I always do), for xxxx. I was informed that the address was a student accommodation and that nobody of that name lived there. I questioned all of the students living there and nobody seemed to know xxxx, even a student who had lived at that address for more than a year did not have any knowledge of xxxx, nor any forwarding address. I noticed a large pile of unopened post addressed to xxxx by the door waiting for collection. I knocked on the door of neighbours - nobody had heard of xxxx.
Next I found out the name of the lardlord of the property and interviewed them. The landlord confirmed that xxxx had moved out some 15 months previously and had not left a forwarding address or telephone number. This was not looking good. The landlord did inform me of the course which xxxx had taken at the university.
I spoke with the registrar at the university to uncover a forwarding address. The registrar informed me that they could provide such information, but only after authorisation from xxxx.
Specialist databases proved fruitless and revealed that xxxx was not registered on the electoral register and all of the other databases came back with the previous address.
I also managed to get hold of xxxx's email address and did a reverse-email check to determine the address which the account was registered to - which was the address I already had!
Xxxx's facebook account (which hadn't been used for several months) and twitter account (which was up-to-date). both had photographs of xxxx and the twitter account revealed that xxxx was still resident locally. A break at last!
I made an appointment to see the boss at the offices of the Local Borough Council. After some to-ing & fro-ing the councillor revealed that they did not have an address different from the previous one (which xxxx had vacated 15 months previously).
I did manage to eventually locate the new address for xxxx using other means. Xxxx was very suprised when I knocked on the door. I recognised xxxx immediately from the twitter and facebook photographs. I double-checked to make sure it was xxxx I was speaking to, introduced myself, then presented the legal papers (unopened) into xxxx's hand. I explained what the papers were and pointed out the court date, emphasising how serious it would be if xxxx did not turn up to the court at the date and time specified. I enquired how xxxx was going to get to the court and offered some money to make sure xxxx turned up (not a bribe - it's known as 'conduct money'). I thanked the bemused xxxx and left whilst xxxx was still reading through the paperwork.