The Insider brings you new websites for research, examination and review. It also offers a fresh view into well utilized search tools for new context and content.

Trulia.com
This unique real estate search engine offers nationwide searching, with more advanced search options than you will find elsewhere.  You can specify unique items like “house boat” and “search near an address.” 

Trulia also offers Heat Maps demonstrating the pricing range for a particular area, compared to its neighboring counties.
–

Patent Searching

Uspto.gov/patents
- The ultimate source.  If you can spend some time learning to search correctly within the USPTO, then you will get the best results.  Keep in mind when you are searching for companies, they are “Assignee.”  Search separately the assignee, the town (if small or unique, skip New York and Los Angeles) and search for inventor by last name. 

The following four sites come in close, but are eliminating a good deal of data from their results.  They are easier to search, but you should always go back and check against USPTO.gov for completeness of information.  Also, be sure to look for foreign patents using professional tools like Derwent (http://www.derwent.com/).

Freepatentsonline.com
- Indexing the full page, but not returning full results.

Patentgenius.com
- Excellent search capabilities, unfortunately results were limited

Google.com/patents
- Not indexing the full page

Wikipatents.com
- appears to be connected to Freepatentsonline.com

–

NEWS: ‘Whosarat’ creator on way to jail in DEA case

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=185423

A federal jury yesterday convicted the mastermind behind an online database of alleged informants, whosarat.com, on marijuana and money-laundering charges while clearing his mother’s name in connection with a money-laundering scheme.

Sean Bucci, 34, of North Reading, a former DJ who created the Web rat listing in 2004, faces anywhere from 10 years to life behind bars after he is sentenced on 17 counts of marijuana trafficking and money laundering, prosecutors said. He was ordered to surrender to authorities on March 9.

“We’re pleased with the jury’s decision. Now someone who tried to interfere with justice will face justice,” said Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Anthony Pettigrew.

Earlier in the day, the same jury acquitted Bucci’s mother, Catherine, 55, a Danvers grandmother, on one count of money laundering.  Her attorney said Bucci’s mother wishes her son never started the site.

“I do think that the federal government over-indicted this case in part because of whosarat.com,” attorney Robert Sinsheimer said.

Chris Brown, a project manager for whosarat.com, said Bucci currently acts as an unpaid consultant. He vowed the Web site will stay put.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged Sean Bucci trafficked in at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana through his home. A third man involved in the case, Darren J. Martin, 39, of Everett, pleaded guilty to marijuana charges two week ago, prosecutors said.

March 13, 2007

New Jersey Security Association

BEYOND GOOGLE  
Union, New Jersey

http://njsecurity.org

*** 

March 14, 2007

California District Attorney Association

INVESTIGATIONS USING PUBLIC SOURCES 
Anaheim, California
http://www.cdaa.org

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March 21, 2007

California District Attorney Association

PUBLIC DATABASES
San Francisco, California
http://www.cdaa.org

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March 23, 2007

Diplomatic Security Special Agents Foundation

New York, New York

http://www.dssaf.org

*** 

March 29, 2007

ASIS Central New Jersey

ADVANCED INTERNET INVESTIGATIONS: LIFE AFTER GOOGLE

South Plainfield, New Jersey

http://www.asiscnj.org

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April 11, 2007

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Newark, New Jersey Board of Advisors Annual Meeting

*** 

April 18, 2007

Retail Industry Leader’s Association

ADVANCED INTERNET INVESTIGATIONS FOR LOSS PREVENTION SPECIALISTS

Dallas, Texas

http://www.retail-leaders.org

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April 27, 2007

Society of Investigators of Greater Newark

WIKI, BLOGS AND OTHER ADVANCED INTERNET UPDATES

Paterson, New Jersey

http://www.sign-organization.com

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May 16, 2007

Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association

ADVANCED INTERNET INVESTIGATIONS FOR LOSS PREVENTION SPECIALISTS  

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

http://www.pfma.org

by Cynthia_Hetherington at Aon.com

If information anxiety is something you have self diagnosed yourself with, and “overload” is an understatement.  Then avoid anything “wiki” on the web.

In technology “Open Source” means something very different from “Open Source” in intelligence.  For intelligence analysts open source is the information you can readily retrieve such as public records, news print and media, ramblings on blogs.

Whereas open source in technology is the sharing of computer code, for the betterment of that code.  The thought is that the more programmers and challengers who work on the code will improve it overall, and be able to tailor it to their needs.  Linux is open source, Microsoft Windows is not.  Napster is open source, and iTunes is not.

Now information is open source like code was.  Community driven definitions, as you would see in Wikipedia.com is a perfect example. 

An example:

During a lunch conundrum when trying to decide the difference between a
Stromboli and a calzone we checked Wikipedia for a definition.  Turns out that Stromboli is an island off the coast of Italy that currently has an active volcano threatening the population of 500.

We didn’t see anything about a stuffed pizza.  My ultimate question being “is there sauce inside or is it all cheese like a calzone.” 

Wikipedia failed us on this mission.  But brought to light that the idea Stromboli was influenced by several other web surfer contributors.  In other words contribution from un-vetted sources could result in popular opinion results.  Whether the editors of Oxford English Dictionary or your neighbor Bob Oxford, the information is going to appear on the web.

As a librarian, I cringe that individuals, especially unbiased children will retrieve information from such an inauthentic source.  However easy it is to pick on children, adults are equally sublime in their verification of information.  Hence, garbage in garbage out. 

Leave that argument aside for publishers who are losing book sales on such web services, and librarians who are left lonely at the reference desk.

Our point is to let you know that as investigators, you will see information that appears authoritative.  The websites are intelligently laid out, the information appears encyclopedic, and what you are reading may seem reasonable.  However you must check the root of the source you are reading online.  Are they quoting a text book?  Does your information go back to Wikimedia or GNU project?

Wikimedia Foundation by its own definition, “Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That’s our commitment.”

I’ve met a lot of people on the subways of New York, in first class suites at airports, and through various professional lives I’ve traversed.  There is NO WAY I want to wallow in the sum of all knowledge with just anyone.  Call me an information snob, or call me an investigator, but I need to vet out each detail before culling a report together and charging a client for my findings.

Yet Wikimedia Foundation not only gathers these pearls of wisdom and writes them up in Wikipedia, they are retooling, in  open source style, and regenerating the same details in other services.  Hence, a lie, or mistruth, or error, not only shows up in Wikipedia, it appears in other sources like answers.com. 

In closing, it’s the same old song, verify your facts!

Finding New Information from Old Websites 

by Cynthia_Hetherington at Aon.com

Years ago we wrote about Deconstructing Websites for Company Intelligence. It’s hard to believe that was seven years ago. The same tactics and investigative fundamentals still exist. You should always look at all parts of a website, all pages and all links in and out for real intelligence. Who owns it, who pays the bills and the information they are sharing on these pages. Do not forget to look at the legal disclaimers, copyright information as well as the About Us page. Any one of these could reveal a source you didn’t expect.

However if the website you want is no longer active, you should consider looking for older cached (saved) versions of it through the following sources.

The Wayback Machine on archive.org is the best *if* you know the URL of the website. They were running a search engine within Archive.org years ago named Recall, but was shut down when the researcher moved.

That said, here are some other sources.

Google.com (cache server) Run a search on the target’s name, location, phone numbers (without the common markings, run them as numbers divided by spaces within quotes) i.e. “xxx xxx xxxx” This may result in a match on the cached links, click on cached, which will lead you to an imaged version.

Zoominfo.com - known as a human resource (aka Ego Surf) engine, search on the owners/principals of the former company. Or search on company name itself. The links within the found information are cached so you often times find removed information from this service.

Ownership information, albeit old, is resold to a few information aggregators like Accurint and Dialog. Accurint (aka Irbsearch.com) is cheapest and easiest allowing you to search by name, street, domain name, phone number, or possible contact. Dialog’s database divides their services from Whois, to Whowas and has a more limited search capability.

The Insider brings you new websites for research, examination and review. It also offers a fresh view into well utilized search tools for new context and content.

Courthouse Direct

http://www.courthousedirect.com

This website is a competitively priced nationawide public records database. The database has 415 counties in different states that are covered. The member had the ability to download document images, conduct grantor or grantee searches, order property reports and has a variety of links that could be useful in obtaining information during one’s research. The wesite is user friendly and has a “cart” in which you can view the items you want as well as a “purchased” documents queue, which are both clearly visible and easy to use. the database offers monthly users two different plans to choose from, one for those who are interested in having no monthly minimum charge and the other without a monthly minimum charge, where the rates are slightly higher. The website is maintained by a private company who’s the successor to Courthouse Specialists which was founded in 1982 and is based in Houston, TX with three other offices in different cities in Texas.
Submitted by: Marisol_Declet at aon.com

Vital Records

http://www.vitalrec.com

This website contains the most comprehensive resource for locating vital records on the internet. Searches include international records, states & territories, a Social Security index, and birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Once on the website, it is crucial for individuals to the the time to read the important guidelines that are clearly spelled out on the user friendly and time efficient website.
Submitted by: Marisol_Declet at aon.com

New York City

http://www.nyc.gov

When looking for the appropriate information is the country’s busiest city, this is the place to go. The “Big Apple’s” website is geared to providing the public with quick and easy access to information regarding agencies, programs, and services. This may seem like a “no brainier”, but sometimes we forget to look in the most obvious places. When looking for information regarding company activity, I ran across this site which then pointed me in the direction of Lobbyist information. Although, this may not be the fastest way to get the answers you need, it does not hurt to thumb through when doing your due diligence.
Submitted by: Sara_Higgins at aon.com

Turboscout

http://www.turboscout.com

According to the search engines bio, TurboScout is a search tool that will save you time and make your Web searches easy. You enter keywords only once. Your outcome? 90 search engines across 7 categories and no more retyping keywords into the different search engines.

All your major search engines on one page with no need to remember or type additional Web site addresses of the different search engines. It gives you quick access to the original results directly from each search engines instead of compiled results.

Giving this a shot, I found the only down fall to this site is laziness. Once you start using this site you could easily get lax on your inquisitive nature and not look deeper on the obscure hits. That being said, its wonderful and time saving.
Submitted by: Sara_Higgins at aon.com

The Vault

http://www.vault.com

The Vault was created to prepare the potential employee for the ever so painful job search. Professionals and job seekers alike have discovered that the Vault is the place to go for insider company information, advice and career management services. What does that mean to the investigator? If job seekers and professionals use this site to get the insider company information, advice, and career management services, to the investigator, this site is priceless.

The profiles section reveals information about major corporations and law firms. Current work environment or company activities can give you just enough information to open new doors and connections between employee and employer. The selections are broken down to Companies, Industries, Education, Guides, and Salaries with sub categories in each. There is even a message board to scan and see which employee is in a negative mood and dishing out company secrets. In the Companies Section, for example, you have the “Snapshot” subcategories which give you the company in questions profile, stats, guides, salaries, stock symbols, president and CEO names, number of locations and current yearly revenue.

For its non-Gold members, there is enough free information to get an over all picture of the company your looking for and confirm information already known, thus quickly helping you place focus on the areas needing to be addresses.
Submitted by: Sara_Higgins at aon.com

The Insider brings you new websites for research, examination and review.  It also offers a fresh view into well utilized search tools for new context and content. 

*** Info Industry ***

Submitted by: Marisol_Declet at aon.com

Public Data

http://www.publicdata.com

Public data was formed in 1997 and is a public records database.  PublicData.com purchases all of its data from various government entities (directly and indirectly) and is in no way subsidized by any government.  The database covers Criminal searches by name and date of birth, Sex Offender registries by name, date of birth and by zip code, Civil Court by name, Voter registration by name and date of birth, Driver’s License information by name, date of birth or by driver license number, DMV by license plate or by VIN number, Professional License search by name, date of birth, license or by zip code, Federal and Secretary of State filings.  The database is cost effective and can be used as a significant tool for investigators and researchers.

–

Trans Union Vantage Data Solutions

http://www.vantagedatasolutions.com

This company offers a service that entails information for resident or employment purposes which include criminal and eviction data.  Has access to the most complete set of criminal records and evictions data available. “Maintains over 200 million records in our exclusive database, including data from both corrections and courthouse sources.
“Common name” searches can produce tens, if not hundreds of results, which can create a drain on resources and lead to important results being missed. TransUnion Vantage Data offers a unique criminal categorization method, which will save your customers time, and maintain the integrity of their searches.”

*** Foreign Business ***

Submitted by: Sara_Higgins at aon.com

CCRS: China Company Research Services

http://www.ccrs.info

The facility, located in Beijing, has exclusive researchers from the Sinotrust which is the first Chinese credit reporting agency.  They have a relationship with the Chinese company registration authorities, along with experience in live company research.  The company is still in the process of building a major database of Chinese companies. 

You can purchase any level of company information from simple Registration Searches (confirming that a company is legally incorporated) to detailed and in-depth profiles. Your selections range from: corporate detail (including export license details), business operations, company history, strategic-political factors, international connections, financial status, rating and overall assessments. Along with the standard company information, quotes for marketing sales lists, by sector and/or province, and in-depth research and investigation of commercial issues such as investigation of individuals can be obtained. There is no fixed pricing for these types of investigation. Each project is quoted pricing after a full discussion of the clients needs.  

In reviewing the sample reports provided on this site, it seems that there is quite a bit of information provided in the various reports. The full report document gives profiles on executives, finances of the company you’re looking at, corporate shareholder information, staff profiles, associates and affiliates, and a nicely written business summery and activity section. CCRS states that it’s information is 95% accurate on all levels.

*** NEWS ***

Topix

http://www.topix.net:  Local news from around the world.

Search through 360,000 news articles from any zip code. Get the current or archived articles from any city or town across the country. Type in the zip you need to locate and get the articles you are looking for.  

–

Customer Resource Manager

http://www.crm2day.com

CRM Today focuses on every business function - marketing, sales, human resources, technology etc. - And business sector - finance, retail, health, insurance, it, telecoms, Internet, call centers etc - in order to provide its members with information and knowledge that is indispensable in today’s competitive business environment.

Scanning through its content, the listings are quite extensive. The news section has articles, research reports, and current updated business deals. The site was formed in 2001 and has about 18,000+ professional as associate members in over 84 country’s who gather information, write articles, and gather sources.  

*** SPECIAL ARTICLE ***

Hate your Job?

By Cynthia Hetherington, Cynthia_Hetherington at aon.com 

It is no surprise, that some people are unhappy with their current work situation.  For some it seems like a wonderful start to a long and successful career and before you know it, you are staring at the clock and counting down the days till payday.

These toxic individuals are counter-productive to your workplace environment, and what is more, they are ripe for committing offenses to the company like intellectual property theft or loss, insurance fraud, or embarrassing situations which fallout into reputational nightmares.

Whether you work in a Fortune 500 company as an analyst, or are working your way through college as a waitress, today’s employee is sharing their love and hate relationships openly through blogs and video.

Hello Youtube.com. 

The amatuer video library, youtube.com, was purchased by Google.com.  Wandering through the large amount of mostly silly material and inane content, I wondered how many of my clients had employees who posted material here.  

Sure enough most of my retail clients had employees with tags listed on this service.  Not every video was offensive, but a few were a bit over the top.  One in particular demonstrated the lack of security a company is suffering by video taping a sleeping guard.

Perhaps more useful for investigators is to scan this service for insurance fraud cases. Why bother setting up a surveillance investigation, if you can capture your subject in a mock Shakira video?  Yes, client’s long time disability collector, a former truck driver and the subject of a series of back surgeries, as a result of a slip and fall loading his freezer truck was caught on video tape.  He was dressed in a long blonde wig and funny outfit dancing to “Hips Don’t Lie.” The video wasn’t as a result of expert surveillance, but actually a self video taken by a friend, as a gag to post on his website.  Youtube.com picked it up and they were an overnight success.  

That is until we picked up the video, based on the subjects user handle as a tag.  It made our case quite easy, and has provided more than a few chuckles amongst the investigative staff.

The lesson learned is that when you get a subject’s email address, break off the first half (the portion that starts before the @ symbol) and run it through youtube.com.  If they are posting themselves, or have tags (index words used by XML) associated to them, you should run across the content.

Other places you want to look for this user handle are in technorati.com, icerocket.com and myspace.com.  You should also scan these services for your client names to see if any particularly new and alarming material has surfaced that they may be unaware of.

You never know what will pop up, but with video now joining the web in popularity, it’s sure to be an interesting and often entertaining search.

November 3, 2006
ASIS Western NJ All Day Seminar
Randolph, New Jersey
Life After Google - Power Searching for Investigators
http://www.security-zone.com/asis088/

*** 

October 30-31, 2006
High Technology Crime Investigation Association Annual Conference
Cleveland, Ohio 
Internet Intelligence
http://www.htcia.org

*** 

October 25, 2006
New Jersey Food Council
Woodbridge, New Jersey 
Business Intelligence
http://www.njfoodcouncil.com

*** 

October 16, 2006
ASIS Annual International 
Atlantic City, New Jersey 
Computer Investigations
http://www.njsia.org/events.html

***