Understanding The Repossession Process

Investigation News - Understanding The Repossession Process - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Businesses that rent, borrow, lease or offer financing on products face risk of non-payment. When a customer does not make payment, the business stands to lose considerable amounts of money. Investing in a professional investigator with repossession experience can be the best way to collect property legally without losing additional money.

The repossession process today really begins with the way companies do business. In today’s business world, many companies sell products and offer financing at the same time or lease and rent products. In all these cases, there is a risk that the customer will simply not honour their contract and will not pay.

When a customer does not pay, the business has a few options. They can write off the loss, they can keep trying to collect on the delinquent account, or they can repossess the item that has not been paid for. Repossession is a legal process that allows a business to legally take over a product in cases where a contract has been broken. No business likes to repossess – it is a costly hassle and still results in some loss of money – but in cases where money cannot be recovered, repossession lets a company recover some of their lost money and assets."

Understanding The Repossession Process

Computer Surveillance - What Does it Offer?

Investigation News - Computer Surveillance - What Does it Offer? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Computer monitoring software can uncover exactly what computer users are doing online. Anyone interested in installing this type of software, though, needs to select the program carefully.

According to a 2001 American Management Association survey, 77.7% of major U.S. companies used computer surveillance to check employee e-mail, Internet use, phone calls, computer use, and files. Some companies even used computer surveillance to videotape workers. The reason is not hard to see: According to IDC Research, 30 to 40% of Internet use during work hours is for personal use. Employers are concerned that they are losing worker productivity, thanks to employees who use work hours to surf the Internet and to send personal email. Employers are also concerned that workers who use company computers to commit fraud crimes, or use the system to send sexually explicit materials may embroil the company in a lawsuit."

What is computer surveillance?
Computer Surveillance - What Does it Offer?

Who Should Use a Polygraph?

Investigation News - Who Should Use a Polygraph? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "A polygraph can be a useful tool that can be used as part of a larger investigation to get answers. However, businesses interested in using the test need to follow the law to the letter to avoid legal action.

Polygraph tests have caused a lot of controversy and have generated many myths over the years. In November 2006, A Jacksonville, Florida firefighter fought the results of a polygraph test that he says was inaccurate. The man took the test as part of an internal investigation into an incident which allegedly involved nooses being placed on his uniform. The polygraph results suggested deception, but the firefighter has always consistently claimed that he found nooses on his uniform – an act that can be seen as a hate crime or a form of harassment. Administrators of the test are defending the polygraph as a reliable tool but the firefighter and his attorney are pointing out the many documented studies that suggest the test is highly fallible."

Should you look to a polygraph to get answers?
Who Should Use a Polygraph?

Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself

Investigation News - Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Real estate fraud is on the rise. Knowing the popular scams out there and knowing how to protect against this type of criminal activity is essential.

Real estate fraud is an umbrella term for criminal activity involving real estate – criminal activity that usually amounts to little more than theft. According to new statistics, the problem seems to be getting worse. The FBI reported that in 2005 alone, real estate fraud cost the country at least $606 million. The Treasury Department is tracking 35% more suspicious through 2006. The IRS reports that cases of mortgage fraud that have been brought to their attention have been doubling every two years, starting with this decade. This worrisome trend means that all real estate investors and homeowners should be on the alert."

Learn more about real estate fraud by clicking the link below:
Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself

Is Your Ex Avoiding Child Support?

Investigation News - Is Your Ex Avoiding Child Support? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Many parents and children are in financial difficulty today because parents are not paying the child support ordered by courts. Hiring a private investigator can help parents augment resource-strapped legal systems so that payment can finally be made.

Deadbeat parents cost children a lot of money. In the state of Hawaii alone, more than half a billion dollars represents the amount of delinquent child support payments. According to 2005 statistics, the state is only able to successfully collect 40% of delinquent accounts. The District of Columbia is not much better, collecting only in 37% of cases. Most states have passed laws to get deadbeat parents to pay up — in some states; parents who fall behind on their child support can find their pay checks cut, their credit dinged, or their licenses suspended.

Despite the legal measures, though, parents still report that deadbeat parents do not pay child support. Child advocacy groups point out that some parents move or change identities in order to avoid child support, while others only make a payment or two when threatened with cut pay or loss of a license and then return to non-payment. In many cases, law enforcement and child services simply do not have the resources to find and compel non-paying parents to make payments."

Find out what parents can do that the courts have not tired:
Is Your Ex Avoiding Child Support?

How to Tell Whether a Partner is Having an Emotional Affair

Investigation News - How to Tell Whether a Partner is Having an Emotional Affair - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Look out for the signs of an emotional affair. Emotional cheating can lead to a traditional affair, so keeping an eye out for the classic signs can help partners outwit pain down the road.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with a friendship. However, friendships do not involve the deception and the type of inappropriate emotional closeness that an emotional affair entails. Despite its name, an emotional affair can involve physical intimacy, although it does not always. What this type of infidelity always dishes out, though is pain: pain caused by a partner who invests more emotionally into another relationship.

Emotional affairs involve someone who builds an inappropriately intimate relationship with someone outside their partnership. This may mean that a husband suddenly starts confiding all his personal and work-related problems to a female co-worker rather than his wife. It could also mean a wife suddenly confiding all her successes and desires to a new male friend rather than her husband. An emotional affair is usually also marked by secrecy – a partner may downplay or outright lie about the amount of time spent with a new partner. Sexual attraction is almost always part of the equation, too, although it is not always acted upon.

How to tell?

There are several signs that a partner is having an emotional affair:"

Find out all of the Emotional Affair signs by clicking the link below:
How to Tell Whether a Partner is Having an Emotional Affair

When Does Online Cheating Cross the Line?

Investigation News - When Does Online Cheating Cross the Line? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Online cheaters connect with other partners in cyberspace for adventures that range from erotic virtual encounters to basic flirting. While some don’t consider it cheating, many experts agree that online infidelity crosses the line – and can lead to real cheating in person.

Online cheating has many forms. Some internet users log onto online dating sites – or specifically, online dating sites designed especially for discreet married people – to meet someone in person. Many others simply flirt and have affairs online, without ever meeting the person they are speaking with.

What is online cheating?

Some justify “hot chats” as harmless fun, but this sort of behaviour has caused marital rifts – and has even lead to in-person affairs offline. At best, cybersex means that a partner starts spending time with someone besides their partner – time that can better be invested in the relationship. Since online flirting or online sex is simpler and fantasy-based, it can fuel desire even more, leading someone to seek a real-life affair. Of course, there is always the real possibility that the cheater’s partner will be upset and hurt when they find out about such online activity."

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When Does Online Cheating Cross the Line?

When Should a Polygraph be Used?

Polygraph testing is used by many companies. Understanding where and when to use polygraphs is a must for any business looking for answers.

People lie all the time, and as law enforcement officials have known for a long time, when people lie, they often show it in some way. When being dishonest, some people avoid eye contact, others fidget, and others break into a sweat. Polygraph tests take this basic concept and create a measurable way of recording people’s reactions to questions. A polygraph tests respiration, blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductivity while the subject is being asked specific questions. By comparing the body’s response to specific questions, polygraph examiners can verify the truthfulness of what a subject is saying.

Cases in which to use polygraph testing

There are a number of cases when polygraph testing is used:

• For criminal and civil cases. In some cases related to civil lawsuits or criminal trials, hard evidence is not always available – or not always enough. Polygraph testing is sometimes used to bolster evidence or to determine the trustworthiness of a witness. In many states, polygraph examiners are allowed to testify in criminal and civil cases. Police often use the polygraph in investigations across the country, but by law no one can be forced to take the test. By law, refusal to take the test cannot affect a case’s outcome.

• For pre-employment screening. Government agencies hiring employees for sensitive jobs will often use polygraph screening to select candidates.

• For issues related to homeland security. The Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, and other federal bodies charged with the nation’s security routinely use polygraphs to uncover crimes and threats against the nation.

• For commercial theft investigations. Businesses concerned about fraud and employee theft may be able to turn to the polygraph to gauge employee honesty and loyalty to the company.

• For the monitoring of sex offenders. In many states, it is now compulsory for sex offenders to undergo polygraph testing before being considered for parole or probation. In some cases, testing is also used to monitor sex offenders. Since these offenders can often re-offend without anyone learning about it for some time, polygraph testing is seen as one way to determine whether a criminal has been rehabilitated or not.

• By banks. Since bank employees often are responsible for or have access to large amounts of money and other valuables, polygraph testing is used by some to determine employee honesty and in order to run internal investigations.

Many people use polygraph testing: law enforcement agencies, the government, public defenders, attorneys, U.S. and district attorneys offices, parole and probation departments, and companies authorized under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA).

A free polygraph test resource for businesses

Companies wanting to use polygraph testing themselves need to proceed with extreme caution. While the test is legal, it is highly controversial and must be done completely legally. If not done correctly, a polygraph test can cost a business a great deal in legal costs and in lost reputation. To find an investigative professional who can go beyond the results of a polygraph and to find investigators experienced as polygraph examiners, businesses need look no further than the PInow.com Worldwide Directory of Private Investigators. The PInow.com Worldwide Directory of Private Investigators lets businesses look for polygraph experts in their area and even offers free polygraph resources and useful information.

Avoiding Hiring Employees that are Going to Cost you Money

The statistics are nothing short of daunting. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, employee fraud cost the country more than $600 billion in 2003 alone.

According to the Department of Commerce, one third of all workers steal from their employers. The same findings suggested that 68.6% of employees who steal do not have criminal records. According to the US Department of Commerce, more than 30% of all business failures can be attributed to bad hiring practices.

There is obviously a big problem when it comes to hiring. It is extremely difficult to separate the honest and effective employees from those potential employees who will end up driving your business into the ground. That’s not all: most employers agree that hiring time is a time of extreme stress, which just adds to the possibility of hiring mistakes. Most employers begin their employee search when they are short-handed and short on time, meaning that the resources needed to make careful decisions are simply not there. Most employers want to hire fast, which sometimes means just cursory looks at potential worker applications. Combine that with the fact that according to Security Management Magazine, anywhere between 30% to a whopping 80% of resumes contain lies and you have the potential for real trouble. It is simply very difficult to decide who the best candidate in this environment is.

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Business Travel Safety - Must-know Tips for Leaving the Country

Tips one should consider while both preparing for business travel, as well as during the business trip itself.

Business travel is a fact of life for many professionals. According to the Domestic Travel Market Report, business travel accounts for up to 18% of this country’s domestic personal trips. More than 210 million business trips are taken each year in the US. However, with the increased concerns about air traffic safety and terrorist activity, many professionals are taking a more critical view of their professional travel experiences. This stems largely from the fact that professionals seem more vulnerable to threats of mugging, carjacking, explosives, biological agents, blackmail, kidnap, and even murder while traveling. When on business, though, many professionals do not have the resources and comfort level enjoyed at home and some of the world’s top business destinations have frightening crime rates and terrible records of violence against foreign professionals.

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Are Employees Using These Sneaky Tactics to Defraud Your Business?

Employees embezzle many millions of dollars from their employees each year. All businesses need to be aware of the most common worker scams.

In 2004, Lucy Magda pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2.2 million from her previous employer, the St. Catharines Standard. The Burgoyne family, who owned the newspaper, was forced to sell the newspaper to Southam Newspapers in 1996, a move that some experts claim was brought about by Magda’s dishonesty. In 2006, a business manager of the N.C. Press Association pleaded guilty to embezzling $268,340 from his former employer. In 2006, an employee of Brock Cabinets was sentenced for five to seven years in prison after she was found guilty of embezzling $1.5 million from the company that hired her.

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Could High Tech Devices In The Office Leave Companies Open to Crime?

Today’s multi-use office machines often act as small computers, storing sensitive office data and even making it accessible to hackers and other criminals. Most companies are not even aware of the danger.

Imagine this: A busy company executive photocopies a sensitive document and faxes it to a client. Both the client and executive take care to keep the document well hidden and destroy their only copies. The document is leaked out to the press a day later, putting an important deal in jeopardy. Sadly, this is not the plot of some thriller. It is a situation that occurs in offices across the country. Virtually every modern office may be facing the same danger.

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