Social Media | Open Source Investigation

What Is A Social Media Investigation?

A social media investigation looks into the social media posts, status updates, photos, and conversations of an individual. You might require a social media investigation for a court case, custody battle, or as part of a background investigation. This can be used as evidence in court cases to support alibis and provide supplementary evidence, for risk assessment, and for active monitoring.

Why Do I Need A Social Media Investigation?

Social media investigations are commonly used during court cases to provide information relevant to a case, to supplement evidence, establish character, support or disqualify an alibi. Social media is being used more and more in custody cases, divorces, and even criminal trials. You also might need a social media investigation as part of a background check or risk assessment.

What Happens During A Social Media Investigation?

In a social media investigation, a private investigator will search for key terms and posts relevant to the goals of the investigation. In most cases, they will use high powered software to search, monitor activity, and set up alerts for new posts and account creations.

The private investigator will walk you through the process, make sure they understand your goals, and move forward in the best way for your case.

What Are You Searching For?

What you're searching for will depend on the investigation.

For the average court case, social media can be searched to establish foundation of character, verify or disqualify an alibi, and find supporting evidence. This includes looking at the location tags for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts, verifying that the posts were original, and identifying what other individuals associated with the case are involved. For some investigations, like for crimes against minors, alerts and searches can be set up for specific search terms, and it can be discovered what type and age of individuals the person is interacting with.

For a domestic investigation, you might search for photos of your partner that support your suspicions of infidelity, or check the location data on posts on Twitter to verify he or she is where they say they are. Internet messaging, Facebook messages, and Twitter direct messages can also indicate whether or not the individual is staying faithful.

A custody case can involve looking at photos posted across platforms to identify who the individual is associating with. Twitter posts could indicate whether the individual is suited and trustworthy for retaining custody, and a Tumblr investigation can reveal the individual's priorities, thoughts, and intentions.

Any case involving possible drug use can mean searching for photographs and posts across platforms that would indicate potential drug use, as well as a search for Tumblr posts of images or comments, re-blogs, that support drug use. This type of investigation includes searching and setting up alerts for specific terms relating to drug use. In some cases, a sting can be set up to see if, through internet messaging services, the individual is dealing or affiliated with a dealer.

Why Should I Hire a Private Investigator For A Social Media Investigation?

While anyone can conduct a social media investigation, private investigators have access to high-powered software that makes for a quicker, more efficient search. Professional investigators also have a strong understanding of ethics and know what data must be pulled for evidence to be admissible in court. This means they are well-versed in metadata, MD5 hash value, what is required for provability, and the rules that dictate what level of searching, friending, and following is allowed, depending on the case. Additionally, if you conduct a social media investigation on your own you could see your evidence, or even your case thrown out of court.

Brian Blackwell Investigations

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20+ Years Experience

 

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Skip Tracing And People Searches

EXPERT SKIP TRACING AND PEOPLE SEARCHES 

Experienced and knowledgeable licensed private investigator at locating:

Relative or friend gone missing 

Childhood friend 
Former employees 
Victims or witnesses 
Relative qualified for inheritance
Client locates
Locating fugitives
Missing persons 
Runaway
Military buddy

As a private investigator, I have investigated a variety of cases but developed a niche in the world of skip tracing and missing person investigations. There isn’t much that is more fulfilling than reconnecting family members, or locating a person sought in a fraud or criminal investigation. I live to put the pieces together, to find answers.

Locating people can sometimes be as simple as using a private investigator database and locating a current address to being extremely difficult when it seems as though the person has vanished into thin air. Regardless of the challenge, the team at Brian Blackwell is prepared to help. We search and keep searching.

Whether you need to track someone down or know if he or she is committing fraud, you can count on the team at Brian Blackwell to provide unparalleled, confidential private investigation services.

Your investigation will be handled in a timely manner, professionally, and discreetly.

Confidential investigation services you can rely on, superior client relations, competitive rates, outstanding work product, and guarantee our focus will be to obtain the results necessary for you to win your case. We guarantee your satisfaction. 

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Brian Blackwell Investigations
brianblackwell.com

Copyright Brian Blackwell. All Rights Reserved. 

About Brian Blackwell

After being the victim of an attempted murder in June of 1993, I decided to devote my life to helping people who have been a victim of a crime.

I studied and apprenticed, taking courses in criminal law, criminal investigations, civil law, evidence analysis and preservation, interviewing techniques, criminal justice, firearms training, and defensive tactics.

___

After being (honorably) discharged from the United States Army in November of 1991, I worked in the residential mortgage business. Then the following occurred: I had driven my car into the parking lot of the office building where the mortgage company was located in Tacoma, Washington, on a Wednesday at about 9 p.m., and parked. I got out of my car and began walking toward the door of the office building when I heard several footsteps coming toward me from behind. I turned around and saw four young males that appeared to be in their mid-teens approaching me, one leading the way and holding a handgun in his right hand. I knew I did not have time to get back in my car to escape or escape on foot without being shot. It was clear the only chance I had of surviving was to confront the situation and hope for the best. I took a defensive stance by standing with one leg forward so as to not be knocked down easily, and quickly calculated my options.

I remember thinking: the best chance I have of surviving is to disarm the gun and wrestle it out of his hand—if he can’t fire the gun, he can’t kill me. Even though there were four of them, I concentrated mainly on the one with the gun. The one holding the gun stood in front of me demanding money and it was clear from the look in his eyes that he had no intention of letting me live. As a diversion, I gave the impression that I was reaching into my front left pant's pocket to retrieve money, which fortunately made him slightly lower the gun and move it to his left away from my body and gave me the opportunity to control the situation and get the gun away from him. I pushed it further away from my body using my right hand and began ramming my left index and middle fingers behind the trigger to jam it and prevent the gun from being able to be fired as I attempted to wrestle the weapon out of his hand.

As a side note: he was able to fire a round before I could get my fingers behind the trigger to jam the gun, but the bullet did not hit me. Out of the corner of my right eye, I saw the brass cartridge laying on the ground from the bullet bouncing off the pavement.

I continued ramming my fingers behind the trigger. He tried several times to fire the gun again as I was pushing my fingers behind the trigger and wrestling for control over the weapon. Fortunately, the other three did nothing but watch. He eventually gave up and released his grip on the gun’s handle and they all ran off down the street. I pulled my sore, bloody fingers out from behind the trigger—I had cut one finger on a burr that was on the backside of the trigger. I cleared and secured the gun, and called 911; sheriff’s deputies responded. I turned over the gun to the deputies and told them what had happened. I could tell by the look on their faces they were amazed by my actions. One deputy said: "You’re lucky to be alive." I responded: "Anyone who tries to kill me is going to have to earn it."

BRIAN BLACKWELL INVESTIGATIONS 

Thorough, comprehensive investigations related to fraud and criminal cases, litigation, insurance claims, and locating people.

Whether you need to track someone down or know if he or she is committing fraud, you can count on the team at Brian Blackwell to provide unparalleled private investigation services.

Licensed Private Investigator
Fraud Investigator 
Corporate Security Consultant
Forensic Statement Analysis  
Technical Writer, Editor

• University Of Pittsburgh School Of Social Work
• Degrees in Criminal Justice and Accounting

A+ Better Business Bureau rating

Brian Blackwell is a frequent Guest Speaker at organizations for seniors concerning schemes and frauds that target the elderly.

Brian Blackwell Investigations
www.brianblackwell.biz

Copyright Brian Blackwell All Rights Reserved