Showing posts with label international private detectives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label international private detectives. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
UK Dating Scams a Serious Risk, Say London Investigators



According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the U.K. is the seventh strongest economy in the world and the third among the members of the European Union, just below Germany and France. Through the years the British nation has been home to millions of illegal from Spain, Turkey and other countries from Europe, and Africa. The U.K. is the capital of the financial markets for Europe in many respects, and a strong link for those countries and the NYSE in America.

Nest to the industrialized world, Britain has historically learnt to go with the flow and remains a powerful country despite wars, inflation, taxes, middle ground prime ministers, media scandals and beautiful duchesses. The Brits in some regards have had their guards down. During this time of lax enforcement and awareness, immigrants have all but taken over the country, and online scams and fraud have reached out of control levels. UK dating scams are among the worst.

With half of countries in the old continent succumbing to bad economies, the British are now a prime target for internet scammers operating in Eastern Europe in countries like Romania, the Ukraine and Russia. Not to mention Spain, the Philippines, Malaysia and West Africa. Criminals from all over the worlds are mixing in with honest British folks seeking romance online.

A report by the Serious Organized Crime Association (SOCA, U.K.), claims that one person out of 50 has been a victim of online dating scams in the U.K. Considering the large number of subscribers, this is an alarming number of victims. There were 592 reported cases in 2011 of online dating fraud in which victims’ lost from £5,000 to £24,900 each, on average, and yet, SOCA affirms that numbers are likely much higher as not all cases are reported to authorities.

London private investigators say fraudsters see the U.K. as a very profitable country for romance scams just after the U.S., Canada and Australia, and advise to conduct dating background checks to very new relationships online. Internet criminals and scammers are increasingly using complex tactics to target potential victims, and anyone can be a victim. It’s best to verify.

Romance over the internet is a fact of modern life, and whether it’s Match.com, eHarmony, ChristianSingles, Zoosk or Facebook or one of the countless other sites for online dating and social networking, UK private investigators say it’s important for consumers to know that no site is immune from fraud. Subscribers need to be skeptical and not reveal personal information. Experts strongly advise against providing personal data or payment to anyone overseas without first having the person or business verified by a reputable private investigation company.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2012 A Hathaway

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Friday, November 18, 2011
International Private Investigators Ask is Your Online Bank Secure?











These days when everything costs more, and businesses and individuals are struggling to survive in the dismal economy, banks are fighting to attract business and automate their workflow to online services or online banking. Those banks who received bailout money from the Hussein Obama administration seem to be in even worse shape, and tax payer dollars appear to have been lost down the drain. In a no growth economic environment, and inflation surging in the United States and in most countries around the world, opportunity is hard to find. Banks are enticing customers with special deals and incentives to use their online banking. They say it’s efficient, fast and also allows the bank to save money with less overhead and employees. Start now they say. As millions start to use online banking, many security experts question the safety of the services.

People in the U.S. are facing a new and sad reality. Due to excessive spending and irresponsible fiscal policy in the United States, the country is facing a potential ruin. Current debt levels lead many economists around the world to forecast a very grim future for the U.S., a land overrun with illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico and Latin America, as well as a general populace who is demographically, no longer American. The bloodline is fast disappearing, leaving behind only those who are in the U.S. to take, and care little about giving back. It’s not their country, after all.

International investigators say that choices of internet banks and online banking portals are growing rapidly to keep corporate costs down. Banks are doing everything they can to get customers to sign up and dedicated to their online software. This makes the banks more profitable when they don’t have to answer your phone calls. But, if banks are doing everything possible to automate banking and cut costs, experts and private investigators say it’s no surprise that budgets for security and anti-fraud technologies have stayed the same, or even been cut. You heard right. Just as millions and millions of customers start banking online is when banks have decreased their budget towards internet security, anti-fraud and other measures which can prevent identity theft and other online security risks. And, all this is taking place at a time when the risk for fraud and scams via the internet is at an all time high. Consumers are getting the short end of the stick.

Law enforcement and private investigators say it’s important for consumers to do their homework before joining any bank. Ask what type of security measures the bank has in place. Read the bank’s privacy policy on its website. Ask other customers and search the internet for any recent security problems the bank may have had. Ask the bank if they share or sell any of your private account information. Ask to have this in writing that your information will not be sold or shared. Many banks try to profit from your personal information, when they should be guarding it.

If your bank is based abroad, or you’re considering a sizeable international investment or financial transaction, experts say it’s wise to consider a professional international due diligence service to minimize your risk. Such investigations can verify banks, companies and representatives.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2011 A Hathaway

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Monday, September 12, 2011
International Due Diligence: Doing Your Homework



Investors around the world are seeking out new and profitable opportunities beyond their own national borders. Investment opportunities are hard to find in the global recession, so managers and business owners and CEO’s are looking to other countries and even other continents to find a more efficient way to compete in the new (and grim) financial landscape. This trend has created a sharp increase in the number of international business deals and foreign investment, especially in booming nations and populations of China and India. Many companies are eager to make a deal, snag an opportunity or find a lower cost supplier, and in the gold rush, many fail to do their due diligence. In today’s high risk environment, not doing your homework can be very costly.

International due diligence is the process of verifying individuals and organizations in other countries to minimize the risk in global business transactions and investment. It is a valuable tool that can save a company from serious negative publicity, serious financial losses or even bankruptcy. It is a form of insurance that can verify new business contacts, new suppliers, small business operations overseas, and determine if a person or business (or stock) is what it appears to be. It’s common news these days that more and more corporations down to individuals are being defrauded in international business and investment. The risk is high, and the demand for professional verification services is growing. Doing businesses offshore has serious potential, but there are also risks that should be identified and minimized before moving forward.

Victims abound in the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia. Relatively rich countries in the developed world are seeking investment (typically) in developing nations, where there is less oversight, less regulation and less transparency. The result? High risk for fraud and scams. Experience investors know that even if you have met a company representative in Beijing, or a sales person in London, or a CEO in New Delhi, there is still significant risk on the table. Financial statements and operation figures can be falsified, exaggerated, etc. Offices may exist on paper, but when an investigator visits the address, it may or may not exist, or be as claimed. Contracts and relationships with other companies may not be true, and even if a company in China, India, Nigeria or Ghana or South Africa or Brazil claims to have IBM or Microsoft or General Electric as it’s major customer, such relationships should be verified in the due diligence and verification process.

In recent years, companies in the Fortune 500 have been seriously threatened by the risk from false companies based in China, India and Southeast Asia. Fraud operations in the Philippines and Malaysia are growing, and investments made in companies based in Manila and Kuala Lumpur are at high risk. Russia has presented serious challenges as well, and investments in Russia (a huge market with a lot of opportunity) are at serious risk for scams, business fraud, stock scams and misrepresentation as criminal operations operate in an organized and effective fashion from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gold scams and precious metals and commodity investment scams are also out of control and being run by organized criminal groups in Ghana, Nigeria and Benin in West Africa. To make matters worse, even if the business contact or company never mentions one of these countries, it doesn’t mean the risk is gone. In fact, many scammers operating from these countries use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) such as Skype to use local phone numbers in New York or London or Hong Kong, to pose as a local or business based in that country. It’s becoming very difficult to know who is who, and where he or she is operating from.

International due diligence is a form of insurance and doing your homework. International private investigators are now in high demand, as businesses and individuals see the need to verify and minimize the risk. Initial screening and scrutiny should always done in house, but before a deal or agreement is reached, experts advise relying on a professional private investigator who has offices or field investigators on the ground where you need them, to verify offices, relationships, operations, employees, management, business registrations and licensing, reputation and more. In many cases, having a professional and highly trained investigator on the ground with local contacts, access to local records, and who speaks the same language and culture is the only way to obtain the evidence and verify the information in question. Be safe and verify.
Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2011 A Hathaway

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Friday, August 12, 2011
International Investigators Busy in Emerging Markets



Emerging markets are nations with activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization, in which China is considered the largest. India is next on the list, but the truth is, more nations are in the developing status than those that are developed. Outside the major economies of Germany, U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, the world is undergoing rapid economic change which includes the infrastructure, method of conducting business and rule of law. Developing nations are still the Wild West, and are inherently full of risk. With risk comes reward, so the saying goes, but international private investigators are busy trying to minimize that risk for global clients. They're working overtime.

Countries like Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, South Africa, Brazil, China, Ghana, Colombia and Nigeria, among the other top emerging 65 economies around the world are undergoing a rapid transformation to participate in globalization and the new economy. But, stifling much of this growth and transformation is the threat from scams and fraud, which can be costly to investors, governments and individuals. We live in an imperfect world, so while getting in at the ground level on a gold mining company in Ghana, or an internet start up in Hong Kong may sound like a great idea with major potential rewards, it is not without major risk.  The unknowns are greater than ever.

Southeast Asia countries are seeing a sharp rise in more fraud and scam types than what most people are aware of on the internet. International commerce, investment and communication by default involves the internet, making international business and deals in emerging economies even more risk prone. The internet offers criminals anonymity and protection. It’s no longer just online dating, advance free fraud or investment scams. China, Malaysia and the Philippines, together with Thailand and Taiwan have seen recent arrests of organized criminals groups surprisingly large and specialized in their illegal operations online. There is serious money to be made, and developing countries often have ineffective and underfunded law enforcement agencies, not to mention corruption problems. These factors combined create a haven for scams and fraud.

Criminals are taking advantage of the global recession. Investors, both individuals and corporations, are looking abroad to find opportunities, seeking a profitable deal in places that are unknown and new, where language and cultural barriers make it hard to conduct international due diligence. It can be hard enough to verify contacts, business operations and proposals in your home country. Throw in a different language and continent, and due diligence and screening for fraud can get complicated. For this reason many investors and consumers are relying on highly trained international private investigation firms like Wymoo® International to verify business contacts, companies and relationships. Having a professional investigator on the ground where you need him, speaking the same language, utilizing local contacts, checking references, accessing local records and providing details of facilities is an invaluable tool at minimizing risk.  Not doing your homework can be costly.

Scam operations in many developing countries have become experts in business fraud, where their main targets are Western companies or English speaking investors. Experts say Africa, Latin America and Asia are the highest crime rate regions for business fraud and scams. China may be the up and coming world power, but by no means is it there yet. China suffers from severe overpopulation and also a serious problem with fraud. The ethics and policies of trading and business practices vary significantly from what Western businesses are used to.

Latin-American emerging markets are no exception. If fraud or scam isn’t present, there’s the risk for hyper-inflation and devaluation of the local currencies, not to mention kidnapping of executives in Mexico, or extortion from drug dealers. Each region is unique, and only a reputable international investigation firm with field investigators in the local area can prudently screen the case for fraud and risk factors, since each country and case is unique.  Be safe and verify the facts.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2011 A Hathaway




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