There’s More to the Story
National Library Week’s 2023 theme There’s More to the Story (April 23-29) is not only a great theme for the week, but also one that is week in and week out apropos in my professional life as a corporate investigator. A good investigator can sift through and search public and open-source information and find salient details key to an investigation but a great investigator knows there is indeed almost always more to the story and continues to dig until she unearths it (even if or when this information is not available online).
More Cooks in the Kitchen
I thought of this book for Women’s History Month because Zott was a scientist in the 1950s and ‘60s, ahead of her time, and in a field and industry where few women then ventured. And while Zott is a fictional character and there are a plethora of real inspirational women I could write about, it had me thinking about other industries and professions in which few women worked in the 1950s and ‘60s. This includes my own career in law enforcement and, later, corporate investigations.
Sunshine of Our Love: Why FOIAs are an Investigator's Best Friend
This week is Sunshine Week, which promotes the importance of government transparency and allowing citizens access to public records.
Sunshine Week, held on March 12 to 18, was started in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors, now called the News Leaders Association. This week, news organizations and civic organizations across the country have been hosting events and trainings promoting the public’s right to know.
Remember the Maine - And Remember the Facts
Today is the anniversary of the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine, which blew up in Havana Harbor in 1898, killing most of the crew and escalating tensions between the United States and Spain to the point that Congress declared war a couple months later. Narratives around big events can take shape quickly. Although there was scant evidence of a Spanish attack on the Maine, the newspapers owned by Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer pushed the idea that the ship was struck by a mine. By April, the Spanish-American War had begun.
Beware Scammers Selling Bad Romance
Forty percent of people who fell victim to romance scams last year said scammers first contacted them on social media, while 19 percent said contact began on a website or app. Criminals study the information people share online and use it to target their victims and convince them they’re the perfect partner. The scammers’ goal is to get people to quickly fall in love and send them money or bank account information—saying whatever necessary to make that happen.
ChatGPT: Write me a blog
Artificial intelligence - particularly OpenAI’s ChatGPT software - has been the subject of much discussion lately and for good reason. Advancements in AI over the past 20 years have led to technology that was once the province of science fiction now being available to the masses.
In the investigations world what are the implications and risks associated with ChatGPT and other AI implementations?
Numbers Don’t Lie, But Those Who Use Them Sometimes Do
Every so often court cases pop up in the news that serve as good reminders of all the ways a due diligence exercise can go wrong, and now is one of those times. At 221B Partners, we couldn’t help notice the similarities between two cases currently in the news in which fabricated numbers feature prominently.
OSINT for Good: Online Sleuths Fight Sex Trafficking
All Things Possible—a nonprofit that helps people affected by trauma—has partnered with Echo Analytics Group to bring together groups of vetted volunteers to identify potential victims of sex trafficking and their traffickers using open-source intelligence. These open sources can include public records, press reports, social media accounts and other publicly available information. The term “Skull Games” refers to the mental manipulation predators use on their victims.
Covid Changed How We Work – And How Our Kids Learn About It
The onset of the pandemic forced employers to reexamine how and where work is done. But as Covid restrictions have eased, 2022 might be remembered as the year working from home settled in as the new norm for many.
What Would the Amazing Randi Say?
James Randi, known by his stage name “the Amazing Randi,” was an accomplished magician, escape artist and sleight of hand practitioner who, in the 1970s and 1980s, took to exposing as frauds and charlatans figures including faith healer Peter Popoff and Uri Geller, who grew famous for his purported ability to bend spoons through his psychic and paranormal powers. In other words, Randi targeted those wielding stagecraft to deceive the public.
Spies in the Skies
Am I nosy or am I just an investigator? When I notice an interesting piece of information or catch a glimpse of something out of the ordinary my brain can’t help but go into overdrive and want to figure out the whole story.
As Cybersecurity Awareness Month comes to a close, I can’t help but feel like this situation was presented to me by some cyber deity to provide a real world case study on what not to do to protect your privacy and security, and to serve as a reminder to practice good cybersecurity hygiene both in and out of the office.
How one investigator unburied a 50-year-old Alaskan mystery
I love a story that takes a morsel of common knowledge and turns that small narrative on its head, expanding it into something astonishing and new.
Last year, I listened to a podcast called “Missing in Alaska” that did just this with the 1972 disappearance of two congressmen, including legendary Louisiana Representative Hale Boggs, when their plane was lost in the Alaskan wilderness.
Catfishing in America: Te’o’s story a cautionary tale for any social media user
Most Americans probably had never heard the term “catfishing” in January 2013, when news broke that Manti Te’o, star linebacker for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, had become a high-profile victim of the online scam. In fact, it was Te’o’s experience, which is the subject of a new Netflix documentary called “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist,” that brought catfishing into the national vernacular.
This Whale of a Tale Shows Elite Looked the Other Way
The tale of Jho Low’s exploits may draw your attention with the likes of Leo and Kim, and celebrities cavorting on the deck of Low’s 250-foot yacht at Cannes. But it’s the years of painstaking investigative work, talking to sources, and peeling back the labyrinthine networks of shell companies, that makes the story go. Like any good corruption tale, remember the ultimate rule: Follow the money.
Fake Cricket Puts Online Gamblers in a Sticky Wicket
Fraud takes many forms, and the more clever, the more likely it is to gain widespread attention once it is discovered. A case in point: a story out of India earlier this month involving an elaborate fraud consisting of a phony cricket league, Russian bettors and the technology that made it all possible.
221B Strives to Identify Red Flags Before Tragedy Strikes
To help assess the level of threat and determine appropriate next steps, 221B Partners conducts public records research into subjects of interest to get a fuller picture of their lives and whether they have a history of concerning behavior.
OxyContin maker's story shows there's no substitute for old-fashioned digging
I’ve just finished reading Patrick Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain, an account of the Sackler family’s ownership of Purdue Pharma, which created the highly addictive pain medication OxyContin. The book details the heartbreaking and devastating reality of what happens when people and corporate interests put greed before compassion.
The Other Investigators at 221B …
It is only fitting that my next book club pick coincides with this Sunday’s Sherlock Holmes Day, memorialized on the birthday of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I chose The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to share some of my favorite quotes that directly apply to our work as investigators. Who better should 221B Partners get advice on due diligence, threat investigations and market investigations from than the legend and the man of the most peculiar qualities from the other 221B - 221B Baker Street.
221B Partners - Book Club Debut
Indra Nooyi is best known as the former CEO of multinational PepsiCo, which she led for 12 years. A well-deserved, yet astounding achievement for a woman who was born and educated in Madras (now Chennai), India, and who first came to the U.S. as a graduate student to attend Yale School of Management in the late 1970s. She was the first immigrant and woman of color to run a Fortune 50 company. Learn how far women have come in corporate America and how 221B Partners can help Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives like those Nooyi pushed for herself.
