Private investigator Mike LaCorte joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about the profession of private investigator. How often are the people they're hired to watch cheating on their partner? What are PI's allowed and not allowed to do on the job, legally? Has anyone ever caught him investigating them? Answers to these questions and more await on Private Investigator Support.Mike LaCorte is CEO of Conflict International https://conflictinternational.com/Director: Anna O'DonohueDirector of Photography: James FoxEditor: Richard TrammellExpert: Mike LaCorteLine Producer: Joseph BuscemiAssociate Producer: Brandon WhiteProduction Manager: Peter BrunetteProduction Coordinator: Rhyan LarkTalent Booker: Nicholas SawyerCamera Operator: Neill FrancisSound Mixer: Mark CheffinsProduction Assistant: Jack HaynesPost Production Supervisor: Christian OlguinPost Production Coordinator: Ian BryantSupervising Editor: Doug LarsenAdditional Editor: JC ScruggsAssistant Editor: Andy Morell
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00:00I'm Mike LeCourt. I'm a private professional investigator.
00:02Let's answer your questions from the internet.
00:04This is Private Investigator Support.
00:11IceThePotential3392, what is the most interesting case you have ever solved?
00:17A client of ours was being blackmailed.
00:18This individual had a mistress and that information would have been
00:22devastating to him if his family found out.
00:25And whilst morally that's wrong, blackmail is a criminal offence too.
00:28The first thing he wanted was this problem to go away,
00:32and he was willing to pay for the problem to go away.
00:34His mistress's computer was compromised and some of the data on that
00:39was being printed and shared with the client and left on his car.
00:45We started to put an investigation together.
00:47We used a combination of forensics on the computer
00:50to try and see if we could get leads from the app.
00:53We swept the address and the vehicles to make sure there were no listening devices.
00:58In the end, we identified the blackmailing group.
01:01A couple of the individuals who were behind it ended up being deported.
01:05That was a testing time for all of us because it pushed
01:08our investigation boundary to its maximum.
01:12You've got a client on the one hand that's potentially done something
01:16that's immoral in terms of the way he lives his personal life.
01:18And then you've got a criminal activity that's taking place,
01:20trying to extort and blackmail the client for personal gain.
01:25JNK456.
01:27When you are hired to find out if a spouse is cheating,
01:30what percentage of the time are they actually cheating?
01:33When there is a niggling doubt with someone,
01:37generally there's something going on.
01:38In order for someone to make that decision to hire an investigator,
01:40there's got to be some type of issue, breach, untrust that's happened.
01:46More are actually cheating than not
01:48because spouses will do some groundwork themselves internally first.
01:52And it's pretty even in terms of male-female coming to us,
01:57in terms of being the client.
01:58Let's put that figure anywhere between 70 to 75 percent.
02:03For the love of Xero, has anyone caught you investigating them?
02:07Look, in the private sector, this can happen,
02:09but every professional investigator out there will take every step they can
02:12to make sure it doesn't happen.
02:13Every investigator out there will grade their targets from white to red.
02:20White being completely unaware,
02:21right up to the level of awareness of an individual
02:24increasing potentially during an investigation.
02:26If a subject, their awareness increases,
02:30you need to then adapt the way you investigate.
02:33Sometimes it's more risk-free being overt to be covert.
02:36Everyone's got cameras, so it's easier to get a camera out and film
02:40rather than try and do something hidden.
02:43One of the cases many, many years ago had to get some imagery of
02:47these individuals that shouldn't be together,
02:49and it was another infidelity case.
02:51And we managed to set up a reporting type scenario
02:55with a camera on a tripod, someone holding a microphone,
02:58allegedly from a reporting outlet in Leicester Square,
03:02and just asking tourism comments.
03:04We approached the target, who's with the third party,
03:06and passed the microphone between the two,
03:09engaged in conversation and asked,
03:10how long have you been together?
03:12And all of that was documented overtly on a camera.
03:15That's an example of sometimes overt to be covert.
03:18This one's from ItsVSN, random 4am thoughts.
03:22What are the things private investigators can and cannot do?
03:25Things investigators can do,
03:26they can put surveillance teams on the ground to follow someone.
03:30They can run background reports and check for bugs, tracking devices.
03:34An investigator cannot go into someone's information in their phones
03:38or anything like that.
03:39Private sector investigator cannot hack into emails, that's illegal.
03:43Go into people's bank accounts,
03:44anything that's considered private data,
03:46an investigator cannot do that.
03:48This is from Factoid80, you're letting people in on the game.
03:51Hiring a PI is essential before getting married.
03:53I always recommend a deep background check and a fiance test,
03:57which is to let her know you're traveling for a weekend,
03:59and on that weekend, hire a PI for surveillance.
04:02You don't want to try and test your fiance.
04:04Where's the trust if there's the test?
04:06If you want to try and find out the truth,
04:08you hire an investigator.
04:10But it needs to be proportionate.
04:12From Peony Lily, you're a private investigator detective.
04:14What is your outfit and weapon?
04:16Most investigators will carry some type of change of clothing or items
04:20that can change their appearance pretty quick.
04:23Glasses, hats, scarf.
04:25During COVID, masks were issued everywhere
04:27and it was a godsend for all the surveillance operatives
04:30throughout the world.
04:31I always tell my investigation team,
04:34it's easier to dress down than dress up.
04:36If you are smartly dressed, you can always take your tie off,
04:40take your jacket off, put a jumper on, put a beanie hat on.
04:43In the back of any surveillance vehicle in the boot,
04:45you'll see a variety of different types of clothing.
04:49If you want to change your appearance completely,
04:52never forget your shoes
04:53because that's one item that investigators can miss in changing.
04:57This is from Ask Reddit.
04:59Private investigators of Reddit,
05:00what is the most bizarre task you've been assigned to do?
05:04I was contacted a while ago by a celebrity photographer.
05:10This photographer was in a relationship with someone from a band.
05:16The person in the band lent a very famous guitar.
05:21The objective was to trace the guitar and bring it back to its rightful owner.
05:24The individual declined all knowledge of it,
05:27but we had proof otherwise.
05:29I had to travel back to the US with this famous guitar on my back
05:33with some of the stewardesses thinking I was part of some famous band.
05:36Bizarre case.
05:37From Red Seymour,
05:38what made you decide to become a private investigator?
05:40What was your most fun case?
05:42I started on the ground doing inquiries, fieldwork, surveillance work.
05:47It just intrigued me.
05:48This industry has consumed me actually.
05:51It was something I'm super interested in,
05:53and I've always have been intuitive and understanding and uncovering facts
05:58and the diversity in terms of what a private investigator actually does.
06:01The fun case that we worked on was a few years ago,
06:05a family office where the female was suspected
06:11of having an affair with her ski instructor.
06:13It was in a very popular ski resort
06:15where we needed to put a ski surveillance team together.
06:18Where and how would the target behave inappropriately
06:22during the time she's with the instructor?
06:25I tell you, when that task hit the office,
06:27most investigators put their hand up for that
06:29because it was a good few days skiing
06:31and you had to be quite competent.
06:32She was pretty good.
06:33So the end result of the ski task was no,
06:35there was no infidelity going on,
06:37probably paranoia from the client's point of view.
06:40For the surveillance team,
06:41it was a great few days skiing paid for,
06:42so I think they enjoyed that.
06:44This is from AggressiveAD8587.
06:47How are private investigators legal?
06:50Lots of countries around the world,
06:52investigators need to be licensed in order to practice.
06:54In the UK, an established private investigator
06:57that's a member of accredited associations
06:59is registered with the ICO as insurance
07:02and is DPA checked, is legal to practice.
07:05You need to make sure what you're doing
07:06is proportionate and necessary
07:08because when you present your reports to the court,
07:10you can't say you've followed someone for a year
07:12in a way to try and catch someone out on that one occasion.
07:15This one is from Reddit or Forgetit.
07:18Private detectives of Reddit,
07:20what's your oh shit moment where you had to stop watching
07:24and either step in or call the police?
07:26My biggest oh shit moment was we were working
07:29a case years ago where there was internal fraud.
07:32It was for a bathroom suppliers company
07:35and there was lots of items going missing.
07:40We knew where goods were going missing from,
07:43let's say this is our client's warehouse.
07:45We had an agent parked in a car park at this position here.
07:48Now unbeknown to us is the team were taking goods out here
07:52in the vans and using the same car park here
07:55to move them into different vehicles.
07:57He was actually blocked in by the vans
07:59when they were moving goods from the client's van
08:02into their own van.
08:03If you do get spotted, it will ruin the operation
08:05that we've been working on for weeks and weeks.
08:07He can't drive himself out of there.
08:08The other agent could not walk up to the vehicle
08:10and drive him out.
08:11We just have to monitor the situation
08:14and let it run its course.
08:15The agent was fine.
08:16He stayed in the vehicle until the vans moved on
08:18and that vehicle was never used in the surveillance again.
08:20This one's from GrayBlueEyes.
08:23What are your must have apps sites
08:25that are always available at your fingertips?
08:27In this day and age, any type of communication tool
08:30would be very difficult to operate as an investigator
08:33without being able to capture and communicate.
08:35Do I have a discrete car?
08:36Yes, vehicles will be nondescript
08:39and there's a lot of planning that goes into
08:41a type of surveillance vehicle that's used
08:43before it's out on the ground.
08:44With hidden audio and video devices,
08:47technology has changed dramatically
08:49since I first started.
08:50We were carrying backpacks with battery packs
08:53and big file effects cameras back in the day.
08:55Many people associate investigators with binoculars,
08:56for example, with technology.
08:58And now there are a monocular,
09:00which is small, single-handed, that's digital,
09:02that can capture and record huge distances
09:06and transmit that information live.
09:08This is from Poogies.
09:10What would actually happen if you hired
09:12two private investigators to follow each other?
09:14I think that's an impossible scenario.
09:17And just think about it.
09:18Investigator A goes and sits outside
09:19investigator B's house, waiting for him to come out.
09:22And investigator B goes and sits outside
09:24investigator A's house, waiting for him to come out.
09:27So if they're following each other,
09:28then they're going to be both watching empty houses.
09:30Question from Mill Group 2001.
09:33What's the hardest thing about being a private investigator?
09:36I suppose the hardest thing about being
09:38a private investigator is you don't switch off.
09:40It consumes you.
09:41It consumes your time, your thoughts, your processes.
09:44It's a way of life rather than just a job.
09:46But a case that come and hit the desk,
09:47it was working for a financial institution in the city.
09:51And our objective was to find the address
09:56that this individual is living at after a meeting.
09:59I remember calling my wife as many years ago saying,
10:01I'll be home for dinner.
10:02The guy left, went into St Pancras train station,
10:07got on the Eurostar, ended up in Paris for the weekend.
10:10So my two or three hour surveillance
10:14turned into a whole weekend.
10:16If you are not fully committed to a way of life
10:19as an investigator, then maybe this career isn't for you.
10:22This question is from Jersaw.
10:24What do real private detectives usually investigate?
10:27It could be consented cases like pre-employment checks,
10:29so screening staff for positions in work,
10:32right up to fraud,
10:34supporting lawyers for court cases,
10:37gathering information and evidence
10:38that can be used for decision-making,
10:40brand protection,
10:41investigating fakes that are out there
10:42for some of the brands,
10:43matrimonial,
10:44where you believe a partner has been unfaithful
10:47or cohabitation,
10:48where a partner has moved into another address
10:50with someone else,
10:51proving that for a particular reason.
10:53But what investigators or private detectives do do
10:55is uncover the truth.
10:57The Risky Marie.
10:58What possessed y'all to hire a private investigator?
11:02Like how does this even work?
11:03We're a distressed purchase.
11:05People don't book us like you book a holiday.
11:06People come to us when they have a problem
11:08and they need to either find the truth
11:10or find the facts or connect the dots.
11:12We cover a wide range of services
11:14from tracing individuals
11:16right up to, you know,
11:17corporate fraud and intelligence gathering.
11:19But private clients,
11:20they come to us commonly
11:22when they've either been scammed,
11:24there's an internal family office issue,
11:28or there's a breach of trust,
11:29an unfaithful partner,
11:31a family member that's gone astray.
11:33This is from Candy Emergency.
11:35How can I tell if my car has a tracking device?
11:38In order to conclusively tell,
11:40you need to do what's called a technical sweep.
11:43You'd have a skilled technical investigator
11:46with the right equipment
11:47that will scan the vehicle,
11:48do two types of searches.
11:49A physical search,
11:50going underneath in the engine,
11:52in any of the compartments.
11:53And then the vehicle is scanned
11:56with some equipment
11:57that will look for emitting signals
11:58or frequencies or what have you
12:00to try and identify
12:01whether a tracking device is on that car.
12:03Todd Orland 56032.
12:05What do you think is the most critical skill
12:08for a private investigator to have?
12:09Leaving no layer unturned.
12:11So being intuitive
12:13and drilling down into the detail and the data.
12:16Questioning everything that you find
12:18and you see
12:19and verifying all of the sources of information
12:21that you uncover.
12:22Having that out of the box thinking mentality
12:26to tackle cases
12:27and analyze a case in more than one dimension
12:30makes you a complete investigator.
12:32This one's from Redsplaypin.
12:34How the hell do I hire a private investigator?
12:37Good question, this.
12:37Depending on the country you're in,
12:39you look at your local
12:40or your state, national
12:42or international association.
12:43In the UK, there's the Association
12:45of British Investigators.
12:46Check on that website
12:47for an accredited
12:48and approved investigator there.
12:51Globally, a good starting point
12:53would be the World Association of Detectives.
12:55There's nearly a thousand investigators
12:57on that platform
12:58in more than 80 countries around the world.
12:59This one is from AuthorNerd911.
13:03Thinking of becoming a private investigator.
13:05Thoughts?
13:06Well, my first answer to that
13:07I think is a great idea.
13:08I would align yourself
13:09with some professional associations
13:11like the Association of British Investigators.
13:14I'd look for potential internships
13:16and apprenticeships
13:17for entry-level investigator
13:19to give you an insight
13:20into the world of private investigating
13:22and whether it's for you.
13:23This one's from AvocadoOfDestiny.
13:25What general tips would you give to people
13:27to lower their profile a little bit
13:29and be a bit harder to trace?
13:30Thinking along the lines of stalker
13:32or identity thieves.
13:34From a picture,
13:34you can find out so much about someone
13:36without knowing them.
13:37Lots of dotting parents
13:38posting pictures of their kids
13:40outside their school
13:41with the school badge
13:42or the school sign behind.
13:43Very easy for, you know,
13:45nefarious characters online
13:47to understand which schools
13:48your kids are going to.
13:49And just your private data.
13:51Home addresses, personal data.
13:52We've got two reputations now.
13:54Everyone has.
13:55You've got your personal reputation
13:56in terms of the reputation you have
13:58with your friends, colleagues and family.
13:59But you've also got
14:00your online reputation too.
14:01You need to protect both.
14:02This is from EvelynFM.
14:04What is the most shocking case
14:06you've worked on?
14:08The client was a banker
14:09from the Middle East.
14:10He wanted to try and locate his child
14:14and his estranged wife
14:15was going through a very messy divorce.
14:17Thought they were still somewhere
14:18in the Middle East.
14:19We ended up tracing them
14:20to somewhere in the US
14:22and the client was adamant
14:24that it couldn't be.
14:25So we sent some field investigators out there,
14:28took some images, showed him
14:30and he was gobsmacked.
14:30He couldn't believe it.
14:31We were able to prove
14:32that the mother forged his signature
14:35on the consent to leave.
14:37In the end, the father actually received
14:39custody of his child.
14:41From Selangus Fro,
14:42who is the better detective,
14:44Sherlock Holmes or Benoit Blanc?
14:46Mr Blanc is more suited currently.
14:50However, if we were to bring Mr Blanc
14:51back in Sherlock Holmes times,
14:53then Sherlock Holmes would win hands down.
14:55Modern investigators sometimes
14:56can be a bit lazy.
14:57Some Sherlock Holmes techniques,
14:59getting out there,
15:00speaking to people,
15:02doing the covert questioning statements,
15:04that type of field work
15:06to supplement whatever you've found
15:08through all of your data sets
15:09can be overlooked by some modern detectives.
15:12Doing the field work in combination
15:13with what you can do at your fingertips
15:15makes you a complete investigator.
15:17So we've got a question here
15:18from Shuffleupagus.
15:20Question for private investigators.
15:22What's a typical day look like for you?
15:24There's no two typical days
15:25that are the same
15:26because you do such a wide
15:30range of investigating.
15:31It could be desktop research.
15:33It could be interrogating databases.
15:36It could be looking
15:37at open source intelligence.
15:39That's information that's freely
15:40available on the net.
15:41Or it could be getting out on the field,
15:44asking questions,
15:45maybe doing some covert surveillance,
15:46interviewing, door knocking neighbours.
15:48It just really does depend on
15:51the case that you've been assigned to
15:52and the objective.
15:53I hope I've answered
15:54all of your questions from the internet.
15:56Thank you for listening
15:57and I hope you enjoyed it.