Online research can play a crucial role in asset investigations, from identifying leads, getting to know your subject, and even collecting evidence of their lifestyle and expenditures.
Asset investigations are complex. Every investigation is different, but most involve gathering intelligence through several different avenues: analysis of financial records, interviews, surveillance, and online research.
This article covers online research, including its role in asset investigations, where to look, and a strategy for working more efficiently and effectively.
Role of Online Research
Most asset investigations start with some online research. Your findings will fuel decisions about what financial records to request or whether to pursue litigation. Online asset research also provides the background information and investigative leads that inform and focus your next steps in the investigation.
Online research might also come later in your investigation. For example, it can help with verifying or corroborating witness statements or financial records. Like all online information, everything you find needs to be verified before sharing with clients or the investigative team.
Where to Look
With any online research, there’s no single source that will provide all the answers. This is especially true for asset investigations. Assets can be anywhere. They’re tangible and intangible, and they might be scattered anywhere in the world, so these types of investigations rely on information from lots of different kinds of sources. As a result, online asset researchers scour the free web and professional databases for public records, news, social mentions, and more.
When you’re deciding where to look for asset information, you’ll be selecting from two main types of sources:
Direct Sources
This includes the websites of government agencies, courts, universities and alumni groups, and other organizations that create and post the records. It’s best to get your documentation from direct sources because, in many cases, they are considered the official source. Sometimes, though, you don’t know where to look. You may not know all the places where your subject has registered a business or their vehicles, and it’s impossible to check every jurisdiction. That’s where aggregated sources come in handy.
Aggregated sources
Databases like LexisNexis, TLO, IDI and Westlaw include records from a lot of direct sources. So, when you’re not sure where to go directly and you want to cast a wide net, aggregated sources can be a big help. Keep in mind, though, the further you get from the original source of information, the more errors might show up, resulting in gaps, misfiled records, or data entry mistakes. Also, not all jurisdictions share their data with the database vendors, so you might not be searching all states or counties.
The best approach for online asset research is to use a combination of reliable, vetted sources: aggregators for taking a broad approach and direct sources for verifying and documenting. Get to know the sources, including what’s included and what’s missing.
Strategy
Asset research requires creating financial, behavioral, and business profiles based on findings from a variety of sources. But with all the challenges of online information — misinformation, disinformation, missing or redacted records, lack of identifiers — it’s important to have more than a list of favorite resources. You’ll also need a strategy for using them.
Here are some strategy-related tips to consider when conducting online asset research:
Understand the purpose.
The goals of any asset investigation are to identify financial assets, liabilities, current or potential income sources, and expenses. Also, you’ll be any information you can for the legal and investigative teams, such as names of accountants, or banks. And keep your eyes out for any leads to hidden assets or evidence of possible fraud (e.g., dumping assets).
Gather known information.
Before starting your research, ask for any personal identifiers such as full name, aliases, date of birth, employers, or relatives. Also request the results of any previous research. Sometimes you won’t get much, but anything helps. Use this data when preparing and refining your searches.
Get to know your subject.
Find out as many details as possible, covering personal and professional lives. Look for information about their environment, hobbies, vacations, new purchases. Learn their spending patterns and what’s important to them (e.g., their vintage car or gun collection may be near and dear to their hearts) so it can be used as leverage later in the process.
Save everything.
What doesn’t seem important in the early part of your research may prove to be a key component of the investigation. Create a system for saving and easy retrieval of your findings — and make sure you know what format works best for your client before you start your research.
Create your research plan
I generally start a basic asset investigation with two or three comprehensive reports, pulling out leads and noting what direct sources need to be checked. Then I move on to gathering intelligence about business entities, personal and real property, liens and other financial liabilities, court cases, media mentions, and more. After analyzing findings, I’ll fill in any research gaps before completing the report. Remember what’s important to your client. That will guide you throughout the process and help you create your own research plan.
Conclusion
Every step in the research process feeds on the next. Take what you’ve learned from one to refine the next. It’s not linear, either, since you may need to go back and revise what you’ve already done.
Online asset research supports the entire investigation by providing the needed intelligence for decisions about next steps, improving the process, and supplying corroborating evidence. Use multiple vetted sources, and prepare a strategy that saves time, avoids gaps, and meets the client’s needs.
Want to dig deeper into asset searches? Check out Marcy’s class at PI Education, “Beyond the Balance Sheet: Strategies for Finding Financial Assets Online“
About the author:
Marcy Phelps is a private investigator, Certified Fraud Examiner, and research expert, specializing in fraud prevention, professional research, and research training services that help clients find and use strategic business information. She founded Marcy Phelps & Associates (formerly Phelps Research) in 2000 after obtaining a master’s degree in library and information services from the University of Denver.