Ross Investigators PC, Inc.

​By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger 

Apparently even the CIA wont carry the 2017 Secret Ops of the CIA calendar that is available through The Spy Museum gift shop.  

According to The Washington Post this is because the "inaugural “Secret Ops of the CIA” calendar was produced by the nephew of an agency contractor killed in the line of duty and features reproductions of the actual paintings that have hung for years in the hallways of CIA headquarters in Northern Virginia." however, "Toni Hiley, the longtime CIA museum director, said the gift shop can’t sell the calendar because “it’s not an official work of the U.S. government.”

​The Spy Museum gift shop is, of course, over the moon about the exclusivity as well as the fact it has the actual CIA logo on. So if you plan to order one for your office, we recommend doing it before these calendars sell out! 

​The 2017 Sherlock calendar is put out by the BBC and comes with photos and quotes from a whole slew of characters, not just the stern faced, deerstalker hat clad Cumberbatch. Although we don't mind the fact they chose to include a couple of those, as well.  ​If you're a fan of BBC's Sherlock this is a calander to be adored and/or coveted. 

What would a private investigator's office be, if it didn't include an homage to film noir. The Film Noir 2017 calendar we found on Etsy. It's wire bound, glossy and ships directly from New Zealand. It also provides a colorful and comprehensive sampling a a wide range of noir movies, not just the classics and if you visit the site you can choose from three different noir calendars as well as a Casablanca calendar. Casablanca, btw, will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2017! 

The Things We've Learned From Nancy Drew calander is the brainchild of the brainy Nancy Drew fan club president, Jennifer Fischer and its Dastardly Villians calendar was also enthusiastically endorsed in our holiday gift article in PursuitMag.  Take your pick of illustrations and crimes. 
 

A recent article in Bloomberg focused on how evicted tenants were using private investigator firms to secure evidence that former landlords were running an illegal Airbnb. According to writer David M Levitt, the business finding proof that a "landlord is violating city ordinances limiting the use of private homes for short-term rentals. It’s very lucrative work nowadays in San Francisco, the city that’s come to represent America’s shortage of affordable housing." This gives private investigators a completely new role in cities like San Fransiscos, New York and also Denver, that suffer from a shortage of available housing.  

"The sharing economy has provided new opportunities for grifters to game the system. So-called Airbnb squatters—like the pair of brothers who refused to leave a Palm Springs condo in the summer of 2014 after paying one month's rent—have become more common. It's enough of an issue that Airbnb has a page devoted to the topic; it warns that local laws may allow long-term guests to establish tenants' rights."

"The crazy story of the professor who came to stay and wouldn't leave" published in Mother Jones by Ian Gordon followed the story of someone who hired a private investigator to research the background of a tenant she found using SabbaticalHomes.com a site for short term renters in academia. When the tenant, a tenured professor at Sarah Lawrence, failed to make timely rent payments she hired a private investigator to look into his background and indeed, he had a sustaintial history of evictions from sublets. 

"The new year will bring the first threat of fines under Denver’s new vacation rental rules, and there appear to be plenty of potential targets" began The Denver Post's latest update by Jon Murray. Perhaps it will bring new clients, as well. 

By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger

Chris Wells, a computer, cell phone and vehicle systems forensic examiner,  lives in a world of ones and zeros. His many years of experience working in the cyber realm have made him invaluable to private investigators, attorneys at law and other clients. He has also spent the last few months developing a workshop that will cover the nuances of digital evidence. 

"My clients aren’t as savvy about the cyber world as they need to be," Wells explains. "Just stop and think about the common devices around you; in your home and in your car, that store your personal information. A client's whereabouts can be verified by their vehicle's on-board navigational system. Some don't know that if you post to Facebook on a cellphone that your entry may be internally tagged with your coordinates."

Law enforcement frequently works with dedicated digital forensic teams to glean hidden infomation from digital sources. It is important for private sector PIs and attorneys to understand the basics of digital footprints. This is the reason, according to Wells, that "they don't think right off the bat, 'oh there's digital evidence here and I need to try and go get it.'" 

You can visit Wells' Linkedin post to learn more about his upcoming $40 digital evidence workshops. And if you're not yet sold on the value and want to sample an abbreviated version of the material he'll be presenting, Wells is doing a presentation at the January 4th PPIAC meeting. 

Well continued, “what I want to do in the workshop is remind people of all the devices they use on a day to day basis." For example, "at home they talk to their Amazon echo. Their nest thermostat. All these devices are storing information about people, activities, their contacts their communications (and it is) all information (that) can be made available to an investigator." 

Could the in-house IT person or the tech support desk at Best Buy do the trick? "The guy at Best Buy has no knowledge or bearing on legal evidence," explains Wells, "a person who does digital forensic work will always focus on what does the legal outcome need to be."