INVESTIGATIVE INTELLIGENCE

“Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.”

-World Intellectual Property Organization

So why would I be interested in identifying intellectual property? Well, mainly because of its value. In many cases, this intangible asset can be worth a great deal more than its “physical” counterpart. It is no mystery why companies take the theft of their intellectual property so seriously. It is also important to identify IP when conducting an asset search. Use the below sites to identify different types of intellectual property.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Copy Right Office – Copyright search

World Intellectual Property Organization

Free Patents Online

Google Patent Search

There are probably hundreds of these services on the Internet. These are some of the best free ones that I’ve found.

Whitepages.com - This is by far my favorite free website for reverse phone searches. It has good coverage and provides full names in results. In some cases, it also provides a work number and company name for the individual you are searching for. (Whitepages.com also owns 411.com, a very good website in its own right)

AnyWho.com - This is AT&T’s online directory. Full first names are generally not provided in results, only the first name’s initial.

Yahoo! People Search - Yahoo! service that lets you search for phone numbers, addresses, or e-mail addresses.

Phone Validator - This site won’t tell you who a number is registered to, but it will tell you if a number is from a cell phone or landline and gives date and location issued.

Zaba Search - This is an excellent site if you already have the person’s name and are looking for their phone number or address.

Tip: If the number you are searching for is not available in any of these databases, try searching the number through Google or another search engine. The person may have  their number posted on a website or message board. Try searching the number with and without the dashes.

 Also, feel free to check out The Complete Guide to Tracing Phone Numbers from Home, a very informative write-up from Detectiveforums.com.

Uses these websites to find information on non-profit organizations:

GuideStar (You must register to see reports. Registration is free.)

Foundations Center

Better Business Bureau - Charity Search

So you have browsed through the Investigative Sources section and you still don’t know how to find what you are looking for. Fear not! The websites provided below contain archives of numerous investigative links. It is a good chance that if it is available on the web, one of these websites will point you in the right direction of finding it.

BRB Publications (excellent source for  locating public records)

Black Book Online

Virtual Chase

Virtual Gumshoe

Melissa Data

And don’t forget to keep checking back. The Investigative Sources section gets updated frequently.

Use these searches to locate inmates or to check if someone is a registered sex offender.

Sex Offender Registries

Department of Justice Registry

FBI’s Index of State Sex Offender Registries - List of sex offender registries by state.

Inmate Finders

Federal Bureau of Prisons - Includes all inmates from 1982 to present

Corrections.com - List of inmate locators by state or county.

With the advent of the internet, the world has become a much smaller place. Many investigations require finding information in another country. Use these below websites to find international phone listings. 

Infobel - This should be the first site to check when trying to find an international number.

International White and Yellow Pages

If you don’t find the number you are looking for at the first two sites, check this list of international directories at The Virtual Chase.

OK, I know the headline is a little cheesy, but use these websites to search for newspaper articles online.

Google News -Only for recent news articles

Google News Archives -Includes news articles from the 1800’s. Using the ”advanced search” feature will help to narrow down results. 

NewsLibrary.com -Searching and viewing abstracts is free, but the site requires a fee to download the whole article.

Topix - A good website for online news

News and Newspapers Online - Provides links to newspapers across the US and Canada

Google Maps’ Street View is a tool that allows you to have a 360 degree view on the street level. This proves to be an amazing tool for investigators and one that you will find yourself using quite often once you discover it. It is not available in all locations, but currently has views in most US states and is expanding its coverage.

View the below links for more information.

Street View at Times Square, New York 

YouTube video describing how Street View works

Wikipedia page on Street View

Top 15 Street View sightings

Especially with the up coming election, it’s interesting to see who is donating money to whom. This information can also be a critical aspect of a corruption investigation.  Use these databases to find out where your favorite candidates are getting their contributions.

OpenSecrets.org

Follow the Money

PoliticanInformation.com - This is just an overall good website to find information on politics, policy, and political news.

 Federal Election Commission

Below is a list of contact information for the headquarters of the top 10 companies on the Fortune 500. 

Wal-Mart Stores

Exxon Mobil

Chevron

General Motors

ConocoPhillips

Bank of America Corp.

AT&T

General Electric

Ford Motors

Citigroup

Use these website to find out information about a specific domain name or IP address.

Whois Source 

Network Solutions 

Whois.net 

IP Address Guide 

Archives.org  - Use the “Way Back Machine” to see what a website looked like from a previous date.

Search these regulatory bodies and databases for any possible actions. Not doing bussness with a broker who has had actions filed against them could prevent a company from losing a good amount of money.

EDGAR

NFA 

FINRA

SECINFO

NASAA

FDIC Enforcement Decisions and Orders

Comptroller of the Currency 

Stanford Law School

Any due diligence investigation worth its salt should include many of these searches. The chances that a match will be made is extremely minimal, but the consequences of finding out you are doing business with someone on one of these lists could be catastrophic.

OFAC (Brown & Co.)

Excluded Parties List

US Bureau of Industry and Security - Denied Persons List

Directorate of Defense Trade Controls - List of Statutorily Debarred Parties 

Specially Designated Nationals List (US Dept. of the Treasury) 

Major Money Laudering Countries (US Department of State)

FBI’s Most Wanted 

Interpol’s-Most-Wanted  

Finding an owner or shareholder of a company can be a crucial part of many investigations. These sites can help to set you on the right path.

Zoominfo (Also listed under the “People Searches” section)
http://www.zoominfo.com/

Annual Reports
http://annualreports.com/

Kompass Business Search
http://www.kompass.com/

Business.gov
http://business.gov/

Hoovers
http://hoovers.com/free/

Dun & Bradstreet
http://www.dnb.com/us/

Thomas Net
http://www.thomasnet.com/

Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/index.html?Intro=intro3

The Internet is probably the single best tool available to an investigator. Below are some of my favorite websites for finding information on specific individuals.

Pipl.com - Excellent site for searching people in the “deep web”
http://pipl.com/

Zoominfo - “ZoomInfo collects and organizes information from the Web” on individuals and companies
http://www.zoominfo.com/

“Who’s who” search - “An archive of 29,000 profiles.” Gives a large amount of info on noteworthy individual’s, both living and dead
http://www.nndb.com/

Death Master Index - Searches the Social Security death index