Is there such a thought as a private detective online? A kind of Dick Tracy for the world of the Internet? Can’t you see the dark and smoky research room with laptops scattered everywhere?
If you google things like internet detective, cyber investigator, or online detective, you’ll find tons of information on conducting private investigations yourself, but very little on live private investigators willing to track down perpetrators online. In reality, this is a whole new industry that is beginning to take shape.
If you’re simply trying to find someone, say an old friend from high school, then there are plenty of online services to help you accomplish that task. As an example, NetDetective (of which I have no affiliation), is probably one of the most popular sites. According to its website, NetDetective “allows you to discover the information you want to know about your doctor, boss, friends, neighbors, lover, and even yourself.”
While this type of service is extremely useful for the right applications, it offers no solutions for the second type: I need to find, stop, or prove that someone is doing something wrong online for me, my business, or my loved ones. Now this is a horse of a completely different color.
Let me give you an example. Recently, we were contacted by a high-profile person who was being attacked by former associates and friends. The attacks were relentless, including social media (facebook), anonymous blogs and blog comments, emails, etc. To the point that that person was also concerned about physical safety even though she wasn’t being overtly threatened.
Unfortunately, people who are attacked in the online world will generally not receive help from traditional lawyers and law enforcement. Lawyers are very good at litigating and taking all legal action once they can prove that someone is attacking their client. But how will they do that when the online attacker is hidden by security layers and masked IP addresses? Most law firms do not have the resources for such investigations.
Unless the threat is serious enough, conventional law enforcement probably won’t be able to help, as this really doesn’t fall within their statute.
What should the client do? For people who work in this small specialty, they have received a number of calls from both companies and individuals who are desperate because their online reputation is under attack. They literally don’t know where to turn.
What the individual really needs is an Internet investigator, or online detective to help gather the necessary information and can then direct them to the appropriate legal or law enforcement resources.
So as you can see, there is a big difference between an online investigator and a service like NetDetective. Each has its own specialty and application.