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Daytona Private Investigators
Daytona Private Investigators
"Pulling Skeletons out of Closets Since 1998"
"Pulling Skeletons out of Closets Since 1998"
Florida P.I. Rick Raymond's Blog
Blog
DATING BACKGROUND CHECKS
| Posted on April 7, 2020 at 10:43 AM |
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In our society, online dating is hugely popular. With a few clicks, a person can create an entire persona online and appear to be whomever they choose. It is of the utmost importance to vet and verify information provided before jumping into a relationship with someone. The key word here is: "Before". I can't tell you the number of people who contact our firm for background checks on a relatively new boyfriend or girlfriend and we find they are actually living together or have been dating for months and have done no research to determine the person's background. Our basic Background Check will provide a great amount of information on an individual so you can make an informed choice. Common information returned during our Background Checks include the following: 1) Address History 2) Business Affiliations 3) Bankruptcy Filings 4) Criminal History 5) Civil Litigation and Lawsuits 6) Liens 7) Liens 8) Foreclosures 9) Evictions 10) Vehicle / Property Ownership 11) Relatives and Associates If you have questions, we can get the answers. Just remember that the best time to conduct and Background Check is before you get serious. https://www.DaytonaDetective.com |
Are Bank Account Searches Legal?
| Posted on November 8, 2018 at 4:22 PM |
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The short answer is NO, unless you have a court order. People call us all the time wanting Bank Searches performed. They may be attorneys or private individuals. The reasons vary. Sometimes it is because they have a judgment and want to collect. Other times they may have been in an automobile accident and want to see if it is worth suing the at-fault party. Whatever the reason, most investigators that offer these services are breaking Federal law. They way they conduct these searches is the problem. The main way data brokers and investigators find out bank information is by pretending to be the account holder. This is called "pretexting" in the investigative profession and its just a fancy word for lying. The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently ran an article which some great information about this practice. See the link below: |
Red Flags of Online Datings Scams
| Posted on May 29, 2018 at 11:55 AM |
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Online dating scams are everywhere. Each month, our private investigative agency receives numerous calls from folks who have met someone online but are a little suspicious of the other party for some reason.  These scams are often referred to as "catfishing". Catfishing is a scam where someone, the 'catfish,' creates a fake online identity and seeks out online relationships. These scammers are often based overseas and the bottom line is they want your money! Below are some of the RED FLAGS of online dating scams: 1) Communicate Off-Site - Most online dating sites monitor member activity and will boot problem users. To avoid this, many scammers will almost immediately ask to take conversation off site and seek to communicate via text and email. If you just start chatting with a person and they want to move to more private methods of communication, this could be your first sign of a scammer in action. 2) Too Much Proof - We have noticed with our P.I. Agency that many scammers go out of their way to "prove" that they are who they claim to be. This has included photos of their driver licenses, professional licenses and resumes. If you just met someone, showing them your driver license would seem a bit over the top. "Methinks thou doth protesteth too much!" 3) May-December Romance - A number of our clients that have come to us for online dating scams are older and some are widowed. When asking them the stated age of the scammer it is often 20+ years younger. Not to say there is anything wrong with age differences in relationships, but scammers often try to fulfill the "fantasy" aspect of their marks. If a 24 year old drop-dead gorgeous young lady is interested in a 56 year old, slightly overweight gentleman...beware! 4) Not Meeting in Person - If the person always has an excuse for not being able to meet in person, you should be wary. Many of our clients have reported that the scammer lives relatively close to them but is overseas for work. They claim they will be returning soon and will meet in person at a later date. Sometimes, they even try to get the mark to send them money for plane tickets so they can fly to see them. This brings us to #5. 5) Show Me The Money - The typical scammer always has an excuse for everything. Often, they have set up a "meeting" with the mark and plans are all set when disaster strikes. They communicate that they are stranded in a country and have lost their wallet and ID. Can you send them some money to help them out? One client told us that the scammer, a "contractor', asked her to send him $5,000 so he could pay his crew while he was stranded out of town. She ultimately ended up giving this scammer $190,000.00. Some scammers ask for other items of value like phones and iPads. 6) Photographs Seem Odd - We have seen scammers send photos that they have found on other people's online profiles. One scammer even clumsily photoshopped his head onto another body in a photo and the skin tones were so mismatched that even a child could have seen the disparity. In one case, we were able to verify that the photo of a "Doctor" from England was actually a Rabbi from Seattle. The Rabbi had no idea that scammers were using his photos online. Basically, if it seems too good to be true...it probably isn't. If you have that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something isn't right...double check and verify information provided to you. Also, never send money to someone you do not know or have not met in person. If you still have questions, call our Florida Private Investigative agency and let us verify information provided to you by the "man or woman of your dreams"!  |
Is there a GPS Tracker on your Vehicle???
| Posted on May 6, 2017 at 10:59 AM |
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It's more common than you might think! There are many reasons why someone might place a GPS Tracking device on your vehicle. Divorces, Business Disputes, a Repo tool for Used Car Dealers and Stalkers! If you suspect that a GPS Tracking Device has been placed on your vehicle, we can assist you in Detecting, Locating and Removing the device. Detecting a GPS device is not easy because nearly all trackers go into standby mode once the object it is attached to stops moving. These GPS tracking units do this to conserve battery life. In standby mode, the unit is not actively transmitting so electronic detection devices will not pick up any signal activity while the device is basically "asleep".  We begin the GPS Tracker Detection process with a physical inspection of the vehicle. We work with and sell these devices so we know what to look for and where to look. Once that step is completed, we take the vehicle for a short drive to determine if an active signal is being transmitted. Should a device be located on your vehicle, we can assist in identifying the type of device, manufacturer and company that supports the device for service. Should you wish to report it to law enforcement, we will document our findings and assist you in reporting the incident. This service is provided on location at our offices at: 553 Ballough Road, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Please call (386) 310-4812 to schedule an appointment. GPS Tracker Detection and Removal Service usually takes about an hour. (C) Rick Raymond Investigations - 2017 |
Predators of the Mentally Ill
| Posted on September 29, 2015 at 9:02 AM |
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We recently handled a case for a client whose sister is a
Paranoid Schizophrenic and suffers from Bi-Polar disease as well. She has
battled this for nearly her entire adult life. There were periods of relative
calm, but for the most part, her life has been extremely difficult. Add to this the fact that her family is financially well
off. When her father passed away, he left her a considerable sum of money and
property. Her home was gifted to her. Several years later, when her mother
passed away, another large sum of money became available. These sums of money
are set up as trusts and paid to her monthly with some lump sum payments from
time to time. Suffice it say she was financially set. When our client, her sister, came to us, she was concerned
because her younger sister was spending money at a break neck pace. The client,
who lives out of state, requested we conduct some inquiries and a little
surveillance to see what was going on in Florida at her younger sister’s home. What we found was shocking. There were two men, both
registered sex offenders, living with the younger sister. One of them had
convinced her to buy him a brand new truck and they were engaged to be married.
The other registered sex offender told people he was her care-giver and was living
at her home rent-free. Both were convicted felons several times over. Our
investigation revealed they were doing drugs in the home and bringing
prostitutes to the house when the woman was asleep. Then we checked her
finances and found that she had either purchased or co-signed on over 22 car
loans through the years for her girlfriends. Additional research revealed her
name along with many of her “friends” on numerous checking accounts and many of
her friends had debit cards on her accounts. One month she received a sum of
nearly $80,000.00 and was broke within 3 weeks. The more we investigated and
researched, the more people we found with felony records that had lived at her
residence at some point through the years. Our client was also concerned due to
her sister’s failing health and mental / delusional episodes. What we found was heart-breaking. A middle-aged woman with
mental health issues and dozens of so-called “friends” who simply exploited
her, stole from her and took advantage of her for many years. Not one of them
ever reported her failing health to her family. Not one of them ever tried to
get her any help. They knew if the family became aware of the situation, then
there would be no more money. Thankfully, due to our investigation, both of the registered
sex offenders are no longer in the house. In fact, both have moved out of
state. Her friends were put on notice that no more “favors or loans” would be
done. The aftermath though is that it may be too late for this woman. She is in
a facility now and her affairs and estate are being properly managed to make
sure she is cared for. If you have a relative that you believe is being preyed upon
by unscrupulous people, call us for a consultation. (386) 310-4812 or online at www.RickRaymondPI.com or www.TheFloridaPI.com (C) Rick Raymond Investigations 2015 |
What Is Marital Waste?
| Posted on May 28, 2015 at 9:59 AM |
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Many
of our clients come to us for assistance during divorce proceedings. Although
Florida is a “no-Fault” state with regard to adultery most of the time, one
common by-product of infidelity is Marital Waste. Marital
Waste is defined in Florida Statutes as: “The
intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets
after the filing of the petition or within 2 years prior to the filing of the
petition.” For
the sake of clarity, “petition” referenced above refers to a filing of a
Dissolution of Marriage Petition. So, how does this affect your case, you may
ask? From
an infidelity angle, if your spouse is maintaining an adulterous affair in
Florida and spends money on the paramour, it could be considered marital waste.
Perhaps your spouse buys the paramour an expensive ring or jewelry. Or maybe
your spouse takes expensive vacations with the other woman or man. If marital
assets (read that as “your shared money”) are used to fund these endeavors or
purchases, it could be considered to be marital waste. Often,
we private investigators uncover instances of marital waste during our
investigations and surveillance. You may not be able to recover damages just
because your spouse is cheating on you, but you may be able to get your share
of the money spent by your spouse on his or her paramour. Marital
waste can also take the form of destruction of marital property and concealment
of marital property. A private investigator can assist is locating and
identifying assets and property you didn’t realize you owned. It
isn’t always easy to detect and prove marital waste, but it certainly should be
looked at in any infidelity matter. (NOTE: We are not attorneys and do not give
legal advice. The above should not be relied upon as legal advice. Please
consult an attorney before initiating investigative services.) Copyright® - Rick Raymond Investigations –
2015 – All rights reserved. |
A Parent's Worst Fear...KIDNAPPED!
| Posted on September 5, 2014 at 8:58 AM |
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All parents go through it at some point. Innocently shopping
with their child and suddenly they turn around and the child is gone. Your
pulse quickens. You get that feeling in the pit of your stomach. You
frantically race along the aisles searching desperately. Then you spot your
child in the toy section…or on the candy aisle. You run to them…hug them…scold
them. Now imagine that feeling prolonged over a week long period.
Then for two weeks. That is what a recent client went through. A father, we
will call him John, came to us recently asking for help locating his 6 month
old son. His mother was addicted to drugs. The child had been born addicted to
drugs. John had played by the rules. He had gone to the court and received full
custody of his son. Then one day during a supervised visitation that went wrong…the
mother bolted with the child. John went back to the court and received an
emergency pick-up order from the judge which directed law enforcement to remove
the child from the mother and return him to John…by force if necessary. The problem was that no one knew where she was. She had ties
to Central Florida, South Florida and in Tennessee. She could literally be
anywhere. Law Enforcement assured John that if they came into contact with her,
they would detain her and return the baby to him. The problem was that they were
not actively searching for the child because they had no idea where she might
be. John begged us for assistance. We took his case and started
poring over her past records. Traffic tickets, arrests, employment and even her
Facebook page. We located an ex-boyfriend who had a child with the mother. On a
hunch, we did surveillance on his residence. On day one, nothing. On day two,
nothing. Then, on day three, we saw him leave for work. After work he went by a
local liquor store. Then he drove to a private residence. He took some beer
into the home. We sat and waited…and watched. After a while a female emerged
from the home. She entered the boyfriend’s car. She departed and we initiated
mobile surveillance. At a traffic light, we got our first good look at her up
close. It was the baby’s mother. The only problem was that the baby was not
with her. We continued following her as she drove to the bowels of a run down
South Florida neighborhood. She stopped in the middle of a city block and a
male subject approached her car cautiously. After a quick hand to hand
transaction where she obviously purchased drugs, she took off and continued
driving. When she arrived back to the residence and went inside, we contacted
John and told him we needed him to come down to our location with the certified
court order. John was 5 hours away. So, we sat and waited and watched. Around 11:00 p.m., John arrived and we explained what we had
seen. We called local law enforcement to respond to the location. They were
busy and it took over two hours. Finally, at 1:00 a.m., police arrived. We
explained the situation. The police, armed with the judge’s order, banged on
the door. There was no answer. They rapped steel flashlights on the door and
windows. They woke up neighbors who claimed that they didn’t know her. After an
hour, the police said they could do no more. The police left. John went to his
hotel room to get a quick nap. We stayed on surveillance…waiting and watching
for any sign of life. Then it happened…at 6:45 a.m. she stepped out front to
smoke a cigarette. With precision, we moved into place. One investigator
distracted her while the other quickly placed himself between her and the front
door. A quick call to 911 and then to John and the police arrived. The baby was
okay. John went home with the baby that morning and the mother was arrested for
drug possession and an old warrant.  Not all cases turn out this way, but we were happy that we
were able to assist John and locate his son. If we can assist you, call us for a free consultation. |
A Recent Case
| Posted on May 27, 2014 at 7:06 AM |
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The interesting thing about being a Private Investigator is the fact that each day is different. There is rarely anything "routine" about our work. Recently, we were contacted by a client out of state. She had not spoken to her brother in a couple of months and was unable to reach him via phone or email. She had called the local police department and they had gone by the brother's residence to do a well-being check, but did not get a response at the door. Now, according to our client, it is not unusual for her brother to "disappear" from time to time. She said he can be a bit of a recluse, once even heading to the Bahamas for 2 months without saying anything to anyone. What troubled us about this case was that the client said that it "felt different" this time for her and her family. She was certain something was amiss and requested we attempt to locate her brother. After some initial research we headed to her brother's residence about 2 hours away. Once we arrived we noted the grass had not been mowed in quite sometime. Also, there was an inordinate amount of mail in the mailbox. Neighbors said they had not seen him in months. A knock on his front door went unanswered. Looking into the front plate glass window, we observed a large amount of dead houseflies on the floors, sofa and window sills. When we went around to the back of the residence, the smell coming form the rear door and windows confirmed our worst fears. Our client's brother was dead. By the looks of it, he had been dead for about 2 months. We immediately notified the authorities and called our client with the sad news. She was not surprised as her brother, only 52 years old, did not take care of himself and suffered from heart and diabetic issues as well as chronic alcohol issues. This man lay in his home for two months with no one being alarmed or concerned in his local neighborhood. He had no friends that we know of and because of his reclusive habits, even his family did not have much contact with him. We learned that his bills were all on auto-pay through his bank. He had effectively shut out the outside world. The take away from this case is that we should take time to strengthen relationships with our friends and family. Hug your spouse and kids and live your life in such a way that others are a source of comfort and happiness in your life and that you are the same in theirs. |
Cloak and Dagger Games that some Clients Play
| Posted on February 17, 2014 at 7:52 AM |
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Yesterday, I received a call from a
potential client. We will call him "John". When we spoke,
"John" refused to provide his last name. He spoke in generalities and
getting any information out of him was like pulling teeth. I was trying to
determine exactly what his needs were to see if I could assist him or not, but
he made the process quite a bit more difficult than it had to be. The
conversation went like this: John: "I might need the services
of an investigator. What areas of the State do you cover?" RRI: "We cover the entire State of
Florida. I'm happy to see if I can help out. Can I get your name, please?" John: "I don't like to give my
last name out. A friend of mine was involved in a custody matter and
might need to find the other party." RRI: "Why does your friend need to
find the other party?" John: "The other
person vanished but we think they are in Tampa." RRI: "Who is the other
party?" John: "The other half of the
custody battle." RRI: "Is the other party the one
with the child or children?" John: "Yes." RRI: "Is it the mother or the
father?" John: "Why do you need to know
that?" RRI: "Sir, if I am going to be
able to help you, I need to know the details of the situation. These cloak and
dagger games are fun, I suppose, but I need more information to make a decision
if this is a case we can assist you on. Why does your friend need to
locate this other person?" John: "I'll let
my friend know what you said and he can call you back Tuesday if he
is interested." (John then abruptly hung up the phone.) This isn't the first time I have
received a call like that. I can only imagine that this client had
been watching too many old Hollywood P.I. movies. Full disclosure is very
important when retaining a private investigator. You wouldn't meet with an
attorney and only give little bits of information to them when asking them to
assist you. It is no different when hiring a P.I. For us to be able to make a
determination whether we can actually assist a client, we need to know the
details of the situation. Clients who play "spy games" on the phone
really are doing themselves a disservice. We understand that sometimes these
situations can be sensitive, and maybe even embarrassing, but in order to
assess the case and provide potential solutions and options, we need all the
facts and details. What is somewhat humorous is the
refusal to provide a full name or last name. As a professional investigator, I
have clients call all the time for consultations. Once I speak with a client, I
make notes of the basics of their situation, their name and phone number and
any other relevant information. This is done so that if someone else calls and
they happen to be "on the other side", I will know that there is a
conflict and decline to take the case. We never tell the opposing
party that there is a conflict, we just decline for a non-specific reason
and move on. By not providing all of the facts and
details surrounding their case, I am unable to provide all of the possible
options for that client. Imagine going to the dentist and telling him vague
information. Perhaps you let on to the dentist that you have a pain in your
mouth. He asks what type of pain. You answer that it is near a tooth, but
decline to point out which one. The dentist will quickly send you packing and
will probably be a bit upset that you wasted his time. It is no different with
a private investigator. Florida law requires private
investigators to maintain 100% confidentiality with regard to any and all case
related information. Here is the exact wording for the Florida Statute Chapter
493: "Except as otherwise
provided by this chapter or other law, no licensee or any
employee of a licensee or licensed agency shall divulge or
release to anyone other than his or her client or employer the
contents of an investigative file acquired in the course of licensed
investigative activity." Violation
of this confidentiality law can result in the arrest of the investigator.
Confidentiality is the bedrock of a Private Investigator’s business. Our
clients enjoy the same type of confidentiality as they do with their attorney
or a member of the clergy. With
that in mind, if you ever need the services of a professional investigator, be
open and honest with the investigator from the start. There may be some detail
that, if shared with the investigator, can assist you greatly or significantly
affect the outcome of your case. Leave the cloak and dagger drama for the
movies! Feel free to call us for a no-cost consultation. Rick Raymond Investigations - (386) 310-4812 Florida Private Investigators |
A little of this and a little of that!
| Posted on February 7, 2014 at 11:28 AM |
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Well, we are now fully into 2014 and we are busy here at Rick Raymond Investigations. Our caseload has been unusually high for the last few months. I am always humbled by our clients and the trust and confidence they place in this firm. A big THANK YOU to all of the law firms, companies and private clients that allow us the honor of assisting them with life's little problems. We are finally settled into the new office. We just had to move as we outgrew our old office and needed the extra space. We are now located in the historic Jessup's building located at 100 S. Beach Street in Daytona Beach. We are upstairs in Suite 210.   February is now upon us and we are noticing an uptick in alimony reduction cases. Folks, if you are paying alimony and you think your ex is not "playing by the rules" so to speak, please visit this blog post to learn more: Alimony Reduction Information. There is some great information there. If you haven't already checked us out on Facebook, you are missing some interesting thoughts and articles. Visit our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DaytonaPrivateInvestigator. As always, feel free to visit us online at www.RickRaymondPI.com or call us a 386-310-4812. We are always happy to assist! (C) Rick Raymond Investigations 2014 |
