Investigations for Dummies

Most "Detective work for dummies" type books have more or less the following:

- Google

- Some advice about subscribing to people search services

- Some advice to have your own equipment (i.e. camera) because many companies require that you do in order to hire you.

- The definition of a "tort" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort

- Maybe this kind of overview stuff -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_investigator

- Perhaps a discussion of interviews and advice that you ask people directly to provide the information you want. An overview of "Cognitive Interviewing" if it's a pretty good "...for dummies" book -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_interview

- Possibly a discussion of Elicitation/Social Engineering/Pretexting, although that's more likely if it's what the whole book is about -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)

- If it's been updated recently, they might have some awkward and not so well polished section that says basically, "friend people on Facebook."

It would really knock my socks off if any book had some special unknown technique in it. How to investigate things is no big secret or mystery.

You can reseach (detect) this for yourself, if you're so inclined. No need to spend money.

Eon, if you were a girl I'd kiss you.

This could come in very handy, thanks.


DarkShadow out

Bought a copy of "Complete Idiots Guide to Private Investigating" back when I first started doing this. Finally broke down and read it a few months ago (for lack of any other books in the house that I hadn't read before). EON's assessment is 100% accurate for that book.

Interesting, but nothing that you probably don't already know or have easy ability to learn through a basic web search.

It's amazing what you can do with Google, a phone book and some intelligent imagination.

-Wolf

Wolf wrote:

It's amazing what you can do with Google, a phone book and some intelligent imagination.

-Wolf

So true. As a person who works in Cyber Security I can attest to this. It's incredibly easy to get information from a single piece of information.

Once when doing a Patrol I came across a wallet with about $200 worth of cash inside. There was no identification what so ever, no credit cards or id of any kind. It was just a wallet with cash, but it did have a few pictures. I used image searching services (Mainly Google Images) and I tracked the owner down through his Facebook. Technology is truly amazing.

DarkShadow wrote:

Eon, if you were a girl I'd kiss you.

What is it with you wanting to kiss guys lately? Did your ex mess you up that much?

I actually got a book called FORSENSICS FOR DUMMIES...Its pretty interesting stuff, but mainly designed to help you understand the techno-babble on the CSI type shows OR for aspiring mystery authors (the reason I bought it)

Getting some training from a man who used to be a private investigator/locksmith. He's now an ethnographer.