You can research a person’s online aliases, dig deeper into leads (such as profile images), leverage Google to uncover files, and set up a system to capture real time notifications about your target’s online activity.

Here are a few simple tools to get you started:

1)  Dictionary mining

Spam bots use this method to guess email addresses, but it can be a valuable technique for online investigation as well.

Subjects will often use the same nicknames for their emails as they do for forums and blogs. So if the person of interest is sweetsparkles02, chances are the person’s email is sweetsparkels02@hotmail.com. An investigator can try sending a test message to that email and wait for a bounce back. If you don’t get a ‘delivery-failure’ bounce back message, it means that sweetsparkels02@hotmail.com is likely a real email address. (note: Some hackers try to gain access to those emails by selecting “forgot password” link and guessing the secret question…so make your password a good one.)

You can often discover what aliases a person uses by searching for the person’s name. Twitter, for example, will show a username associated with the person’s real name. SocialMention and CheckUserNames are also useful tools for finding other sites where username appear.

2) Reverse Image Tracking through Exif Data/Tineye

Armed with a person’s name, you can find the web-sites a person visits, then do a reverse lookup on the images to uncover additional sites visited by the target and even discover a person’s location.

A) Use a profile picture to discover other sites visited by the target by checking which other sites have the same profile image. Web-sites like tineye.com show all other sites with the same image. This can be particularly revealing for catching cheating spouses who post the same profile picture across multiple dating sites.

B) Smartphones often Geotag pictures with GPS coordinates, which means it’s possible to learn where a picture was taken by looking inside its EXIF data. Many sites (including Facebook) delete this information, but  Twitter and Photobucket preserve it.

3) Picture fishing

Another way to acquire pictures of a person is to simply ask for them—say, by using a fictitious dating profile. (Be aware of any legal or liability issues involved with using fake online profiles.) To get a recent picture, ask the subject to hold up a book or magazine to prove that their profile photo is a recent one. The picture may reveal GPS coordinates in the EXIF data.

4) File search

There’s a special Google search operator that shows files stored on uncovered servers. Using this method, it’s possible to discover files belonging to a person, like a CV.

Type the following command into Google.com: intitle:”index of” “parent directory” john doe (John Doe should be replaced with subject’s name or alias).

The above search format is known as “Advanced Google Search Operator.”

5) Google Alerts

Setting up a Google alert on the subject’s name and/or alias (google.com/alerts) allows you to capture up-to-date notifications from Google whenever the name comes up somewhere online.

6) Search within a site

Finding people who like to hang out at certain Websites can be tricky—many sites (especially blogs) do not have a built-in “user search” function that shows all pages where the subject has interacted (left a comment, created a profile etc.).

It is, however, possible to do the following search in Google: site:domain.com John Doe —while replacing the domain.com and John Doe with name of the site and subject’s name/nickname. This will show all comments made by the subject on a given site, for example:  site: pursuitmag.com ”chris says:”

This can be useful for building a target’s psychological profile. People often mention personal details in comments, such as the city they’re in, Websites they frequent, or places they spend time. This a good source of additional leads and a chance to apply other steps described above.

About the Author:

Robert Sinclair is an online investigation enthusiast and chief-editor of http://whycall.me

“Someone must’ve done something really bad to you.”

That’s the first thing I usually hear when I tell people I wrote the book InvestiDate: How to Investigate Your Date. And yes, they’re right, someone did. But he’s not the reason I started writing my book. He’s the reason I finished it.

For several years while I worked as a reporter, I took notes on research technique, psychological insights, and public databases. Single on and off, I became hyper aware of things I learned at work that I could use to date more safely, especially since I was Internet dating too. I became vigilant, studied body language and word use. I’d catch things at the starting gate, usually, until I met someone beyond underhanded.

My then boyfriend was acting strangely, I thought, on Facebook – accepting dozens of scantily-clad women as “friends” and minimizing computer screens when I walked by.

“It’s in your head,” he’d insist. I even paused to consider it. After all, my project, grounded in suspicion, was nearing a decade worth of research.

Then one early morning around 4 am following a bizarre phone call from my then-boyfriend earlier that day, his mom asked in a panic that I call emergency rooms to see if we could track him down. I got online to look up hospital phone numbers. It occurred to us that maybe, just maybe, he’d posted something on Facebook that would help us find answers. I typed in the web address for Facebook and was automatically deposited into his account, where an open chat window revealed he was not physically ill, he was just physically busy.

There, in black and white and riddled with typos, my boyfriend was getting directions to another woman’s home. “Anticipate my kisses,” the final message read. The conversation started at the time he’d called me much earlier in the day wondering about my whereabouts. In the chat window, he gave this woman his cell phone, not once but twice, in case she’d missed it before.

Adrenaline high, I clicked on the inbox: There were three dozen other meeting requests, sexts and more. My stomach churned. I gathered my belongings, told his mom he was fine, and left.

About a week later he called. I didn’t want to pick up, but I missed his voice, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I was finally getting an apology—closure served up à la mea culpa, some shred of human dignity.

No. Instead, he told me this was all my fault. I had found the emails and caused myself the heartache. Then he delivered the final blow; he told me InvestiDate was stupid. He said my book would fail. He warned me: “Don’t even try it.”

I owe him a thank-you note. It was exactly what I needed to hear to motivate me to finish the darn thing. Now, I try to help others avoid a similar outcome. I mean, think about it: How much do you really know about your date? Let’s say he says he studied at Vanderbilt. Did he? When you say “Commodore,” does he know you’re talking about the school mascot?

In this day and age of speed dating, random meetings, and online hookups, a girl (and a guy) can never be too sure—unless, of course, they take matters into their own hands. Fortunately, the Internet is full of speed bumps for the liars, cheaters, con artists, and convicts of the world.

Here are five hard-earned tips for arming yourself with information, 007-style. Turns out, a little due-diligence can go a long way.

Check Criminal Databases

Not sure if your hot date has a sticky past? Plug your date’s name into FamilyWatchdog.us and CriminalCheck.com to see if he or she comes up; you may also search by address. Both of these sites identify sex offenders. The Federal Bureau of Prisons at Bop.gov will tell you if you’re dealing with a felon. If you want to look up all crimes by a local, pay a small fee to Tennessee Open Records Information Services (TORIS) or pay to use a background check database, like Intelius.com. Also, Jail.org will notify you for free if a crime happens near you.

Call Without Dialing

Does your date have one particular set of numbers that pops up on his or her phone? If it’s a cell phone, you’re in luck. Punch in those pesky digits at SpyDialer.com – you’ll be able to hear the caller’s outgoing voicemail message. So if your date insists Bob from work is calling but you SpyDial and get Roberta’s voicemail, he’s not quite on the up and up.

Make a Date-a-Base

Pick one email to use just for dating and on dating websites. Share the password with two friends (for emergency lookup only). Start making a “date-a-base”—a list of the people with whom you interact…and take note of anyone who appears to be a scammer or a player, or whose claims don’t add up.

Next time you’re asked out, run the info on your date through your date-a-base. Over time you’ll have accumulated names, photos, and enough info to lose the liars not worth your time.

Post a Control Post

Are you dating on free sites, like Craigslist? If you post a personal ad, post one that’s really you (and anonymize your date-a-base email) then post another ad that’s your alter-ego. In one ad, post something that speaks directly to who you are – single, fun-loving, museum-goer, ardent traveler. In the next ad, still be honest but be more risqué – single, wine-lover, looking to paint the town red. Many people will reply to both posts – that’s fine, dating is a numbers game, just make sure the responses match. If your date is 32 in one response, he or she should be 32 in the other.

Look at Your Feet

Did the “I love you” seem disingenuous? While our words can lie, it’s hard for our bodies to go along. So, look down at your feet then look at your date’s… are they facing a door or an exit? If it’s the latter, chances are the words aren’t from the heart.

Basically, it’s important to know whom you’re dealing with. It’s also important that if something feels amiss, you have the tools to find out what you need. You don’t have to run a dozen different checks on everybody you meet for dinner or a drink. But as with anything else in life, it’s better to be prepared than caught in a mess…with a person who does not mean well.

Maria Coder is a former crime journalist and author of InvestiDate: How to Investigate Your Date.

In part two, Kelly Cory outlines the most frequent types of information theft and the consequences for your business.

Common Security Attacks  

Theft of data, services and resources: stealing computer files, accessing accounts, interception of emails or internet transactions, stealing laptops or computers.

Denial of service: attacking computer or website (locks up equipment or crashes your system).

Malicious codes and viruses: finds and sends your files over the Internet, can find and delete critical data, lock up your computer or system, hide in program documents or create hidden files, can install on your system and record your keystrokes.

Insider threats: Non-business use of computers may expose system to threats, disgruntled employees, vendors or subcontractors, unauthorized use or misuse of resources, illegal transfer or storage of information, compromised data (loss or alteration).

Other threats: spoofing, snooping, social engineering, abuse of system privileges, ransomware, insider threats, phishing, spear phishing, spam, compromised websites

Repercussions of Attacks

Cost in time and money, stop/slow work and workflow, network crashes or lockouts, shuts down email communication and electronic commerce, embarrassment or diminished credibility, repair costs, legal expenses, misinformation, loss of business, out of business, loss of public confidence in business.

The cost of protection significantly outweighs the potential loss. Making the effort to protect your company’s information reduces your risk and provides protection against liability.

What happens if a virus or other malicious program compromises one of your computers and steals sensitive information? Losing control of employee health information, employee personally identifiable information, customer financial information, investigative subjects’ personal identifiers, or logins for restricted private investigator databases could easily result in identify theft for employees, customers or investigative subjects.

It’s not unusual for business owners or managers to be unaware of the financial risk to the business in such situations. It is important to understand that there are real costs associated with not providing adequate protection for sensitive business information.

Consequences

Expectations

Customers expect that businesses will safeguard their private information, and that it will not fall into the wrong hands. If a business accepts credit cards, it should be PCI DSS compliant.  If a company handles medical records, it should be HIPAA complaint. And of course, private investigations firms’ records require special protection to maintain confidentiality. Investigators are expected to keep that sensitive personal information secure and confidential.

Due Care (planning) and Due Diligence (taking action)

In protecting their information, it’s a company’s responsibility to conduct due diligence. They must first implement “due care”—the care and forethought that a reasonable individual would exercise under the circumstances.  This includes planning for information security and being thorough when protecting your business, as well as staying up to date on the topic of cyber-security.

Due care is the standard for determining legal duty.  Should you be the victim of a security breach, you must be able to demonstrate that you took due care in information security in court to defend against negligence in a lawsuit.

“Due care means it is time to leave behind amateur efforts” –Justin Tsui of Team Logic IT

Due diligence is the effort made by a reasonable individual to avoid harm to another party. Failure to make that effort may be construed as negligence. It’s crucial to stay updated on all industry-recognized information-security best practices and make changes accordingly.

Information security is an ongoing journey, not a final destination.

Next week: In Part Three, Cory offers tips on identifying information security risks and offers a detailed strategy for protecting your business.

See also: Part 1—Information Security for Private Investigators

About the author:

Kelly Cory is president of Keystone Investigative Services, Inc.

The author is independent of any specific company, program, or software that would benefit from the promotion of this information. This article is meant solely as an informational piece to help educate others on how to protect themselves and their companies. Any recommendations and tips should not be construed as legal or professional advice. Should you have any specific questions or concerns regarding your information security, contact a trained IT professional.

This article is a compilation of information gathered across various sources, from industry professionals and workshops and includes information from NIST and Team Logic IT as well Keystone Investigative Services, Inc. 

Still, there are a few small-screen sleuths who do inspire us—with their methods, their style, or at the very least, their comic timing:

Columbo

The runaway favorite of PIs we polled, Columbo teaches us the value of being underestimated. He elevates the rumpled look and hammed-up bumbling act to high art, and it’s always his last-minute aside, the oh-I-almost-forgot question, that  blows the case wide open.

Reality check: His wardrobe, at least, seemed quite true to life.

Cool factor: Makes cool seem irrelevant, somehow.

Investigative strategy: Pester people with idiotic questions until they confess out of sheer irritation.

What we learned: Try to be the smartest guy in the room, but seem like the biggest dumbass.

“I’d have to say (I’m like) Columbo. I spend a lot of time shlumping around, frequently rumpled, often deferential and at the same time unintentionally rude, and I seem to have a talent for getting people to say more than they intended to.” -D. Daughterty

Laura Holt (Remington Steele)

She’s smart, competent, and dogged, but nobody cares—they won’t hire her because she isn’t a man. So she invents one.

Reality check: Height, maleness, good looks, and an English accent, sadly, do seem to inspire more confidence than actual competence does. Life ain’t fair.

Cool factor: At least Zimbalist didn’t have a mullet. But Brosnan was a lousy Bond.

Investigative strategy: Distract the clients with a shiny strawman while doing the real work behind the curtain.

What we learned: Play the perception game if you have to. But get the work done.

DCS Christopher Foyle (Foyle’s War)

A policeman on wartime England’s southern coast, Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle singlehandedly holds off the Nazis with his icy blue-eyed gaze of quiet moral outrage, while investigating war profiteering, smuggling, and inevitably, murder.

Reality check: BBC dramas always seem so plausible to us Yanks, but the criminals always confess in the end (Don’t we wish!), tortured as they are by Foyle’s chilly disapproval.

Cool factor: He fly fishes. That’s enough for us.

Investigative strategy: Engage stiff upper lip. Ask. Ask again.

What we learned: The Art of the Long Pause. (Edgy interviewees anxiously fill the silence…perhaps with useful information.)

Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death)

Although we can’t strictly recommend private eye-ing without a license or consuming such vast quantities of THC, there’s something about Jonathan Ames’ madcap incompetence and boneheaded persistence that makes us root for him. He means well.

Reality check: N/A

Cool factor: Infinity on the hipster/irony scale

Investigative strategy: Inhale deeply. Cross your fingers. Press ahead.

What we learned: Overthink it, then dive in.

“Jonathan Ames makes me laugh. The strange thing is, we try to be methodical and thorough, but sometimes we blunder and bungle out way into the answer. Ames does this every episode. There’s something hopeful in his pot-infused, nerd-like curiosity…and he makes me laugh.” -T.H. Humphreys 

Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files)

In a head-to-head PI roshambo, Rockford beats Magnum 9 times out of 10. Real PIs may have a crush (or a man-crush) on Magnum, but Rockford’s their go-to guy when it comes to investigative technique. Plus: in a real PI’s world, gold Pontiac Firebird beats red Ferrari, and sideburns beat mustache. Every. Single. Time.

Reality check: Living in a trailer, bouncing checks, and getting punched in the face twice an episode—sounds about right.

Cool factor: Rockford was vintage before vintage was cool.

Investigative strategy: Try your best to get a retainer. Fail. Bug Angel for info.

What we learned: The client isn’t telling you the whole story. Ever. 

“Rockford had that little on-the-go business card maker always ready for a pretext.” B.H. Griffith

Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I.)

The voice-cracking, short-shorts wearing, and shameless cadging may drive us crazy, but Magnum is always and forever the PI every PI wants to be, deep down.

Reality check: Not even close. A helicopter? Sure, but nobody does covert surveillance in a red Ferrari. Not exactly a stealth ride.

Cool factor: Off the charts—only one man can wear That Mustache and win.

Investigative strategy: Whine. Use other people’s stuff. Borrow money.

What we learned: It’s all about the network. If you can’t have an aircraft, a seaside mansion, a bar, or an Italian sports car of your own, know people who do have these things.

“His friends had it all! One had a helicopter, one had a bar, and the other…a mansion and cool car.” -W. Thompson

You may also like: Detectives in Film—A Few of Our Favorites

In part one of this series, Kelly Cory outlines the risks that cybercrime poses to small investigative businesses.

What is information security?

“Information security, also termed cyber security, is the protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity and availability.” –National Institute of Standards and Technology

In business, the term “information” would include company policies, procedures, emails, invoices, payroll, employee data, client data, passwords and company website. For investigative agencies, subject identifiers and investigation data would also be considered sensitive or confidential information that would need to be safeguarded.

Information systems include computers, networks, accounting programs, case management software, online data storage, etc.

Note: Security of information not only is relevant for computers but extends also to smartphones and any other electronic devices which are used to connect to the Internet.

Why is information security important?

Internet crimes are on the rise—identity theft, credit card fraud, scams, computer crimes, spam, malicious links/viruses/codes/programs, sexual predators, and non-delivery payment/merchandise, to name a few.

The FBI reported 303,809 complaints of internet crime in 2010. The 2011 Norton Cybercrime Report estimated that the annual total cost of cybercrime that year was approximately $388 billion. That number included $114 billion in direct theft and time spent resolving attacks and another $274 billion for productive time lost by victims of cybercrimes.

Myth: Having an antivirus program on your computer is enough to be considered secure.

Fact: Having an antivirus program won’t protect you from other sources of malicious attacks.

People often have the misconception that if they’re not doing anything “important” online, they won’t be a target. It doesn’t matter who you are or whether you’re high profile. Hackers have software programs designed to scan about 10,000 computers an hour to identify those with a weakness to penetrate and launch attacks against them.

Having the best antivirus protection in the world still won’t protect you if you don’t use strong passwords.  Brute force attacks have become much easier with the advent of sophisticated algorithms specifically targeted at cracking passwords. According to Woopra, one of the world’s leading web analytics companies, the average time to hack a password with only 5 characters all in lower case using just an average computer is about 12 seconds.

The average time it takes to hack a password with 8 characters all in lower case is about 2 ½ days. But if you make your password stronger (longer, include capital and lower case letters and special characters), you can significantly reduce your risk of having your account hacked by a brute force attack.

For instance, if you use a password which is 8 characters long and using all character types, it would take over two centuries to hack. If you raise that to 9 with characters of all types, it would be 20 millenniums before that password was likely hacked. This is all considering the use of only an “average” computer used to conduct those brute force attempts.

Just imagine if stronger computers were used to implement those attacks. Many cyber criminals have lots of money and can afford powerful equipment to handle the efforts they need to hack numerous accounts quickly.

Less serious cyber criminals or individuals with malicious intent can still hack your accounts by brute force without sophisticated computers simply by learning something about you. People tend to use passwords that they remember. A great deal of personal information, preferences, favorite books, songs, activities and names can be found on a person’s social networking page these days.

How many of you use your dog’s name as your computer password or your date of birth as your cell phone’s voicemail password?

Who is attacking?

Reasons for launching attacks vary: Hackers may be motivated by money, access to resources, competitive advantages, grievance or vengeance, curiosity, mischief, attention or notoriety. Professional cyber criminals (script kitties) hack for the sheer thrill, or to just to prove they can.

Additionally, in difficult economical times, people may turn to Internet crime out of desperation. Like any industry hit by cutbacks, there are a lot of highly skilled information technology specialists out of work who have time on their hands and families to feed.

What are common targets?

The bad guys want access to your and your clients’ information, access to your money and personal identifiers, to connect you to a botnet, to use your information for political reasons, to use your resources for hidden file storage, and to identify anything they can use from you to make money. Your personal information is valuable, and there are some people out there who want it to sell for a hefty profit.

According to the OSF DataLoss in 2010, the average number of identities exposed per data breach was as follows:

Hacking comes out on top because hackers use sophisticated scanning software to find unprotected computers.

Specific targets are end point operations, your word processor, office software, PDF readers, social networking, emails and mobile applications.

It is important to note that small businesses are prime targets for malicious attacks. There are an estimated 26.8 million small businesses in the US, and most small businesses (89.9%) have fewer than 20 employees. Small businesses usually don’t feel at risk and are largely unaware of the need for protection. Therefore, they tend not to focus on security and remain unprotected.

Like any business, small companies maintain confidential information, employee and client data, trade secrets, and financial information, and those are all prime targets for attacks. Investigative companies have even more at stake than some other businesses, as they typically deal with sensitive and confidential information regularly. So combine a lack of thorough security measures with high stakes information at risk, and you have a prime target for an attack.

Myth: I’m protected because I use a MAC, not a PC or gmail rather than hotmail.

Truth: Hackers go after what’s popular (where there are more people/targets). As MAC and gmail popularity increase, we will likely see more attacks on them.

Remember, everyone is at risk!  There was a 400% increase in computer infections leading to more data breaches in 2010 than in the previous four years combined.

In part 2, we’ll look at the different types of cyberattacks and their potential consequences. 

About the author:

Kelly Cory is president of Keystone Investigative Services, Inc.

The author is independent of any specific company, program, or software that would benefit from the promotion of this information. This article is meant solely as an informational piece to help educate others on how to protect themselves and their companies. Any recommendations and tips should not be construed as legal or professional advice. Should you have any specific questions or concerns regarding your information security, contact a trained IT professional.

This article is a compilation of information gathered across various sources, from industry professionals and workshops and includes information from NIST and Team Logic IT as well Keystone Investigative Services, Inc. 

Maybe. But the bottom line is this: Whatever people believe, make the stereotype work for you. Be who everyone expects to see…and you’ll be invisible.

Take it from Agent X, Pursuit’s covert ops consultant. He’d tell you his name, but then…you know the rest.

The female covert operative: the very idea evokes smoky, black-and-white images of leggy, Cold-War Soviet spies laying (forgive the pun) the perfect honey trap for unwitting Western journalists, diplomats, and men who wield power, influence, or (most importantly) information.

Phillip Knightley explodes a few “honey trap” myths in this article for Foreign Policy Magazine, titled: “The History of the Honey Trap.” And in this piece for the Times Online, British journalist Jon Swain describes his romance with a beautiful “Mossad Mata Hari” posing as a photojournalist.

Mostly, these anecdotes reveal a simple truth. The honey trap often comes to naught—sex or romance are exchanged for useless information, if any at all; schemes to ensnare, compromise, and blackmail powerful men (and sometimes women) often fail.

And from the point of view of the private investigator, what’s the use of it? Considering how many of our cases have to do with domestic relationships, how would a honey trap work, exactly? The word “entrapment” immediately springs to mind.

Which leads to the point of this article: Why waste a female operative’s unique skills by merely exploiting her sexuality?

“In most of the world, women in law-enforcement or security are considered non-players,” says Agent X, a 20-year veteran of the trade who has worked internationally. “It’s just a mindset. That’s why it’s often so much easier for women to do surveillance.”

Agent X points out that because such a small percentage of law-enforcement and security personnel are female, women can often disappear into the environment in ways men might not be able to. A man walking a dog in a neighborhood at night might arouse suspicion, for example. “But a woman in that situation is perceived as non-threatening,” he says. “It’s not uncommon to see a woman walking a dog or pushing a carriage…and she’s able to get closer to targets that way.”

The same goes for surveillance at a bar or restaurant. “It’s easier for a man-woman surveillance team or a single woman to sit in a bar and watch (without arousing suspicion) than for a man to sit alone,” says Agent X.

“Women just aren’t seen. They’re invisible,” he adds, at least, from the point of view of targets keeping an eye out for tails. “Because they’re not ‘classical’ authority figures.”

Agent X admits, this approach plays to the stereotypes about men’s and women’s traditional roles in society. But when it comes to surveillance, playing to stereotypes works. Would you wear a polo shirt and khakis while infiltrating a biker bar? What about a country club?

When it comes to disappearing into the background and quietly gathering information, it’s all about perception, playing to what people expect to see. “If you’re a female with a stroller, a dog, a leash, or a baby seat in your car, there’s nowhere you can’t go,” he says. “Think about it: a guy walks around looking in my yard – suspicious, right?  He’d better have on a gas company vest. But a woman out there with a leash calling a lost dog? Who’s not gonna come out and help her look for it?

“A female just has so many advantages,” says Agent X. Especially as part of a man-woman team. “If somebody’s engaged at the front door with some stupid dog story, somebody else can be in back doing a trash pickup.

“Pack a baby seat, stroller, and leash in your car,” he advises female investigators. “Then have a bag ready with a jacket, shorts, sweat pants, sneakers, pumps, and a couple of different shirts.” In two minutes, he says, a female can easily dress up or down, go into character, walk in anywhere, and fit in, from a gym to a nightclub. “Boom, you’re done,” he says. “You’re unburnable.”

And the purse-cam is rolling.

This article first appeared on Thomas Humphreys’ blog at [FIND] Investigations.

For two decades, the FBI protected gang kingpin Whitey Bulger from prosecution. Former FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick tried to halt a disaster in the making, but no one listened.

He told his story in a gripping 2012 memoir:

Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down

In June, former mob boss Whitey Bulger goes on trial for his role in 19 killings in the 1970s and 1980s, when he headed the notorious Winter Hill Gang in Boston. At the time, Bulger was allegedly an FBI informant—a fact which he denies; but his lawyers will likely claim, at trial, that the Department of Justice promised Bulger immunity from federal prosecution.

Former FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick grew up in those same Boston streets and dreamed of joining the agency. He went undercover in the 60s South to fight white supremacist groups and played a leading role in the ABSCAM corruption sting in the 70s. He trained young agents in the subtle art of cultivating informants.

But when Fitzpatrick met Bulger in 1981, he foresaw disaster: He suspected that Bulger’s handler John Connolly and Connolly’s supervisor John Morris were compromised and that a sociopathic Bulger was manipulating them to stay in power and continue his crime spree unchecked.

When Fitzpatrick’s superiors ignored his warnings, he tried to make his own case against Bulger. But his informants’ identities were leaked, and they were murdered. Demonized as a whistleblower, Fitzpatrick resigned.

A decade later, agents tipped off Bulger that he was being investigated. The crime lord went on the lam for 16 years before being captured in 2011.

If you think that sounds complicated, check out Fitzpatrick’ explosive memoir, Betrayal, which details the astonishing matrix of agents and officials who conspired to protect Bulger, and whose corruption may constitute, in the words of a U.S. Congressional report, “one of the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement.”

Fitzpatrick’s warnings have long been proved correct; but his greatest vindication may lie ahead, when he’s called to testify at Bulger’s trial this summer.

That story remains untold. But Fitzpatrick’s labyrinthine tale of corruption at the highest levels of government makes a compelling read and offers a rare look inside the FBI, through the eyes of a veteran who knows how things should be…and feels a duty to reveal how they really are.

Fitzpatrick kindly agreed to answer a few questions:

What’s the latest?

There’s a lot going on with the Whitey Bulger case right now. His trial is slated for June of 2013 in the U.S District Court (in South Boston’s Seaport district), barring any crazy stuff appearing in the media.

Bulger’s defense, sort of, is that he claims he was never an FBI informant. He also proclaims that he had immunity from the organized crime strike force (that investigated him) under the aegis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston.

The real crime is that Bulger, an alleged serial murderer and arch criminal, was allowed to commit crimes and claims that he deserves a “pass” in future prosecutions.

What were your initial impressions when you met Whitey Bulger and learned that he was an FBI informant?

I interviewed Bulger in 1981, as a veteran FBI agent assigned as second in command to the four-state office (ME, MA, NH, RI) headquartered in Boston. My mission was to identify FBI agents and others who were suspected of leaking classified information to the media and others.

The leaks—a federal criminal offense—were ostensibly about Whitey Bulger’s role as an FBI informant, whose job was to furnish confidential information about criminals, specifically the New England mafia. Bulger’s association with the FBI was supposedly a secret, but it was an ill-kept secret.

One problem that came out was that Bulger was outed as the head of the Irish mob, a group called the Winter Hill Gang. He, along with his associate, Steve (the rifleman) Flemmi were simultaneously warring with the Italian mob—called the “LCN,” or “La Casa Nostra.”

When people in law enforcement and the media learned that Bulger was clandestinely working with FBI agents, they anticipated that this association would stain all who participated as “rogue” or “bad” agents. The Mass State Police suspected that agents John Morris and John Connolly were criminally involved with Bulger.

In an effort to set the record straight, my first assignment was to assess Bulger and ascertain if he was suitable to be an FBI informant. My job had also been to uncover the “leakers” and prosecute them. No one could prove Bulger’s informant status until the Globe Spotlight team broke the story—with Morris leaking it to them.

I found that my boss, the SAC, leaked Federal Grand Jury information revealing one of our informants, who was subsequently murdered. Of course, Morris and Connolly were accused of leaking along with others. That story remains largely untold.

When I reported this to FBIHQ I was taken off the cases and endured retaliation. I subsequently prevailed, but the damage was done. Today, we are finally uncovering the true extent of corruption at the highest levels of government.

As a veteran agent and FBI trainer, what warning signs did you see that the Bulger arrangement was going to be problematic?

After initially interviewing and interrogating Bulger, I was skeptical. As a veteran FBI agent with lots of major case, instruction, and teaching experience (organized crime, terrorism, hostage situations, death investigations etc.) at the FBI Academy, and as and resource chief for major cases, the warning signs became evident.

In interviews, Bulger stated that he was the leader of the Winter Hill gang in Boston, an Irish mafia organization. This was against informant rules and regulations. Bulger also said that he would not testify in court. I wondered, Why use him as an informant if he won’t testify? Furthermore, he insisted that he wasn’t an informant. He said he had his own informants and wouldn’t name them. Again, this created a loss of trust and demanded closure.

As a profiler, I assessed him as a liar and psychopath. I told my boss he was manipulative and untruthful. He was leader of the Irish mob; we had numerous reports of his violent nature, which subsequently resulted in my opening murder cases against him. Bulger could not remain an informant and be the subject of an FBI investigation according to FBI/DOJ rules.

I recommended Bulger be closed or terminated as an FBI informant following my assessment and suitability review. To my surprise and astonishment, others didn’t accept my assessment, which created a firestorm and crisis situation that exists to this day.

What happened when you tried to warn your superiors?

When I tried to warn my superiors about the dangers of using Bulger as a criminal informant (CI) and especially as a TEI (top echelon informant), virtually all agents involved criticized my decision to “close” Bulger and apparently resented my recommendation.

Despite my findings, Bulger was kept open as an informant. I was threatened with ‘insubordination’ if I continued. I did continue! Retaliation ensued and the cover up continued.

You characterize the protection of Bulger as a “conspiracy.” How far reaching was this campaign to shield him from prosecution, and what, in your opinion, was the motive for it? What were the repercussions?

In court testimony after Bulger’s outing and prosecution, I would characterize the criminal justice system’s protection of Bulger as a conspiracy of sorts. I spelled out the dangers as a far-reaching campaign to shield Bulger from prosecution across a wide range of federal agencies: DOJ, FBI, USA etc.

The individual motives, explained by representatives in the criminal justice system, were that Whitey Bulger was helping take down the New England mafia. Bulger had been elevated to a position called TEI, or “top echelon informant.” Furnishing info on organized crime in Boston and New England was a very high priority for the FBI and Department of Justice in Boston and even at FBIHQ in Washington, DC.

I became a “lone wolf” in defending my assessment: that Bulger was not to be trusted; that he said he wouldn’t testify; that he was the head of a major Irish gang; and that he actually claimed that he was not an informant. Repercussions were quick and furious. I was cast as a “traitor,” disloyal to the FBI informant program.

I protested that my oath required me to tell the truth and to try to stop Bulger’s continued violence. I opened criminal cases on Bulger for alleged conspiracy in the murders of other FBI informants. Bulger remained an informant despite my warnings and protests.

When finally charged, Bulger went on the lam for over sixteen years. He was captured in Santa Monica with his longstanding girlfriend, who was prosecuted and is now incarcerated. Bulger is in Pilgrim Prison and awaits trial at USDC Boston in June of 2013.

Who are the villains in this story, and why did they act as they did? Who are the heroes?

Upon reflection and after years of testimony, I find there are no villains or heroes in this saga.

What prompted you to write your book, Betrayal, and what message did you hope to get across in it?

My story and book, Betrayal, tries to explain the need to uphold my oath and to protect the criminal justice system and the rights of ordinary citizens.

What don’t people (and the press) understand about Bulger and the story of his collaboration with the FBI?

People have a difficult time understanding the FBI’s protection and administration of the Criminal Informant Program. The base understanding is that the program helps to prosecute gangsters and fight “fire with fire.” The mantra is that “one cannot use altar boys” against violent criminals like Whitey Bulger and other mafiosi. This may be true, but adherence to established rules and regulations is paramount.

What made you want to join the FBI? What motivated you—idealism, curiosity, belief in justice, desire to help people/do something good and useful?

I joined the FBI to help in the fight for justice and fairness in the criminal justice system. As a young boy, I dreamed of joining an elite force in law enforcement promoting protection and service to all good citizens. In Betrayal, I spell out my work against the mafia in New Orleans, against white supremacists in Mississippi, in white collar crime in Florida through ABSCAM and undercover assignments.

I thoroughly enjoyed my work “on the boards” instructing law enforcement personnel nationally and internationally: hostage negotiations, terrorism, death investigations, profiling, serial murders to name a few. I traveled all over the country and abroad to teach and learn about advanced methods of law enforcement.

It was great! I guess my youthful idealism motivated me along with the quest to continue learning more to help and assist my associates and professionals in the law enforcement field. In imparting new ideas about crime prevention, I hoped, ultimately, to stop crime.

Did your experience with the Bulger story disillusion you with the FBI and/or with the criminal justice system?

As I near the Bulger trial in June, I will be called to testify once more. I’m not disillusioned by my FBI experience, because along the way I investigated cases that epitomized my ideals.

Yes, the criminal justice system in America can use some adjustment. We need more accountability and fairness in the system and proper training in this regard. We need more circumspection about the potential of trampling people’s rights, and we need to reaffirm that people are innocent until proven guilty. That’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes, because crimes and violence are difficult to comprehend; particularly as they pertain to constitutional rights.

Click here to learn more about Fitzpatrick’s memoir, Betrayal.

For detailed coverage of the ongoing Bulger saga, visit Boston.com

At our investigations firm, we get quite a few calls from online daters asking us to background check prospective beaus.

Often, the request is driven by a gut feeling: Something doesn’t seem right about him/her. Her profile photos don’t match her stated hobbies, age, or profession. He says he’s a successful lawyer, but he doesn’t ever seem to go to work. She often leaves the room to call or text someone.

Many times, people aren’t sure what they’re looking for, only that they have a vague, dark suspicion about the person they’ve recently met or are newly dating. They’re torn: They want to trust the potential love interest, but they want to protect themselves from…something, they’re not quite sure what. So they call us.

That’s not the kind of investigation we do. But there’s plenty that daters can do on their own, by acquiring a few simple investigative tools. Learning your way around free online databases and public records can turn up employment, criminal, and address histories; and honing your powers of observation can turn your vague gut feelings into a more sophisticated radar for disingenuousness and deception.

Former crime reporter Maria Coder offers a seminar series that arms daters with those tools. And she’s recently released a book called InvestiDate: How to Investigate Your Date that teaches simple, legal methods for learning more about people you meet online and (hopefully) putting fears to rest.

In her lecture series for Internet daters, Coder shares a few tricks of the trade, such as:

1. How to create a secondary “stealth” online dating profile to look for folks who change the basic facts about themselves, such as age or profession. “Whenever someone lies about anything, I disregard them,” she says.

2. How to use criminal, address, and professional databases to check out claims that seem contradictory or false.

3. How to be vigilant for popular dating scams, such as people posing as soldiers or investment bankers, who then con their “beloved” out of thousands of dollars.

Coder has received lots of press for her book, including this Nashville Scene article, penned by Pursuit‘s managing editor. And to detractors who suggest that surreptitiously checking up on a love interest goes beyond the bounds of healthy skepticism, Coder merely smiles. “Better safe than dead,” she says.

A version of this article first appeared on the [FIND] Investigations blog in 2012.

It’s a cold, rainy day on the watch, and Music City is more akin to Gotham City. It’s Blade Runner  weather for sure. This is the kind of weather that prompts brooding, that begs for sullen soundtracks.

I’m feelin’ pretty “film noir” today.

One of my favorite eras of cinema is the post-Watergate “cinema of paranoia,” that glut of mid-to-late seventies movies that dealt in the conspiratorial and the cerebral—with sparse, haunting soundtracks to boot. It was a time when Americans were suspicious of authority, and there was no shortage of smart, crisp, investigative flicks to reflect that.

Here are a few of my favorite soundtracks of that era—a time, you could argue, that heralded the Age of Surveillance.

Taxi Driver

Bernard Hermann’s last film score is the aural equivalent of an expressionist painting. The tones are brooding and beautiful in a detached manner, a lot of jazz-informed saxophone and piano hovering around dark tonal clusters that summon the dark, unforgiving streets of Travis Bickle’s New York.

Hermann was the genius behind most of Hitchcock’s film scores, and it’s fitting that this would be his swan song. Taxi Driver is indebted to classic film noir in many regards when it comes to narrative style—antihero as protagonist, and cloudy love story. The unflinching violence and the modernist wash of paranoia and alienation are the 70s touches in evidence here.

The Parallax View

The first of three scores on this list composed by Michael Small, and also the first of three films directed by Alan Pakula.

Parallax follows an investigative reporter (played by Warren Beatty) closing in on a shadowy syndicate called the Parallax Corporation. The Corporation deals in political assassination, a subject much in vogue at the time of the film’s release. (The 1975 Church Committee’s unveiling of many of the illicit activities of the CIA and FBI washed the last bit of naïvete out of the eyes of many Americans, just one year removed from Nixon’s resignation.)

Michael Small’s score for Parallax is regal and restrained, sinister minimalism being a trademark of many of the soundtracks of this era. The theme begins with a brooding patch of strings in the background, while a dissonant, repeated two-note piano phrase serves to usher in the theme of suspicion and danger.

Klute

Donald Sutherland as the noble detective, Jane Fonda as the beautiful, morose call girl, a murder mystery, a doomed romance. All the essential ingredients are here for a prime caper.

Once again, this paired director Alan Pakula with composer Michael Small. There are minor-key waltzes, unusual touches of harpsichord here and there, lots of lonely piano. The sense of someone watching or someone being watched is constantly at hand in the soundtrack, with two different instruments conducting a sort of uneasy dialogue.

Marathon Man

Hard to think of anything creepier or more villainous than a Nazi dentist. It’s part of what makes director John Schlesinger’s 1976 thriller so enduring. A common theme throughout many of the conspiracy films of this era is that of a naïve protagonist slowly submerged in intrigue beyond his comprehension, much as the American public at the time had slowly drowned in the scandal of Watergate and the post-Vietnam fallout.

Thus, Dustin Hoffman as the young grad student pitted against Laurence Olivier’s evil Nazi dentist  proves a powerful combo. Once again, Michael Small scores this one, with themes of varying dissonance and restrained beauty.

All the President’s Men

Two reporters hot on the heels of the most explosive political scandal of the 20^th century—one that would eventually bring down an entire political administration and end an era of the public’s implicit trust in their government. In some ways, the importance of the Watergate scandal was more in the reaction than the crime. A generation later, skepticism of government is an American staple. But at the time, this scandal had few precedents in American life. The sense of betrayal was stark, and widespread.

Alan Pakula returns as the director for this film version of the nonfiction bestseller. This time the score is by David Shire, another master of  mood and minimalism. The soundtrack essentially revolves around two themes, both low and brooding but with some sense of the magisterial. It is the sonic equivalent of the two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, walking down long corridors of Washington DC buildings, attempting to uncover the truth while the weight of history looks in on them.

The Conversation

Francis Coppola’s The Conversation stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert drawn deeper and deeper into a sinister plot, and it’s one of the underappreciated gems of mid-70s cinema. Coming as it did in between installments of the Godfather franchise from Coppola, it’s actually quite amazing how different a film it is—small in scale comparatively from a cast and plot standpoint, but riveting and haunting.

Composer David Shire uses sparse and mournful piano themes for the majority of the score, somewhere between Monk and Satie. At various points in the film, he distorts the piano or creates interesting overlays of sound effects to evoke the concept of wiretapping.

The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3

This is a good-old-fashioned heist movie, updated for the menacing 70s of New York, with a stellar cast—including Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, and Walter Matthau. The plot pivots around a New York city subway hijacked by armed men demanding a cash ransom from the city, lest they start executing hostages.

Matthau plays the world-weary and cynical detective who has to figure out how to stop them. The soundtrack is once again by Shire, although here, instead of minimal piano weighted with implicit tension, we have a lurching , dense percussion and brass heavy theme, the meeting point of old-school film-noir jazz and new funk.

See more installments of the Sounds of Surveillance.

But that information travels both directions.

Here’s how you can shield your identity from the spies of cyberspace.

 Think about the last time your surfed the net for discount boots or delicate medical conditions: Every site you browsed was tracked and stored in memory. You’ve been profiled—your interests dutifully recorded and cataloged, all in the quest for your almighty click.

After all, someone has to make money somewhere…and the price may be your privacy.

Take heart. Even as you surf under the murky shadow of Google’s Big Brother presence, it IS still possible to evade its lurking clutches.

Here’s how:

Google Opt-Out

This global search behemoth has revolutionized the way we learn and share information, and how we shop, interact, and converse. Its reach is mind-boggling—hence, the need to protect our privacy from its Eye of Sauron.

There are ways to search cyberspace, all the while keeping your identity to yourself…or at least tagged as “anonymous.” Try installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser add-on in your Google account. You can also clear your web history, or try tracking the trackers using services like Ghostery.

Reduce Cookies

Cookies (or “small text files”) are used by website owners to glean information about who you are, what sites you browse, and other personal information. Sure, they’re great for marketers, website owners, and advertisers; but they’re not so great for users.

To remove and clear your browsing history (without leaving crumbs for cookies to follow), go to the Internet Explorer ‘tools’ menu at the top of your computer screen, click on ‘Internet Options,’ then proceed to the ‘General’ tab. Look for your ‘Browsing History,’ where you can delete your web history and thwart any further disturbances from those pesky little nuisances.

Tor

This internet tool is a free download that promises the browser online privacy. Developed for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as part of an onion-routing project, it was originally intended to protect government communications. Now, anyone can use it to keep their online movements private.

One of the benefits of Tor is its hidden services, which allow website owners and internet users to surf without revealing their location. This is an essential tool for journalists or contract workers in foreign countries who may want to contact family members but need to avoid revealing their location, for safety or national security reasons.

Summary

The internet is a great tool. It’s a free ticket to a nearly cosmic quantity of information. (There’s a reason it’s called “cyberspace,” after all.)  But there is a price to pay for all this knowledge: your privacy.

Protecting your anonymity online is a perpetual cat-and-mouse game, and the trick is to stay one step ahead of the trackers. Use good sense about allowing your personal information online, clear your web history often, and experiment with tools like Tor, and maybe you’ll stay under the big Google radar.

Colter Brian is a freelance writer and former private investigator/photographer. He contributes to sites such as Online Searches. Some of Colter’s hobbies include spending time in the outdoors and perfecting his pasta recipes for his toughest critics—namely, his two children.