Help needed on researching a person's backgroundAny PIs, FBI agents out there?

Vanity | 8/29/03 | VMI70

[VMI70]

Our daughter (age 19) has gotten mixed up with a very unsavory character (age 33) who appears to be a con man, drifter, and all around crook. My sister in law has a PI friend who has gotten some info: credit, places of residence, use of aliases and other peoples' social security numbers, etc. The PI got the reports from two different internet sources. Althought they are minor, there are a few conflicts in the information.

My question is: Does anyone know of a reliable personal background information service that is accurate and reasonably priced. We looked for one using Google and there are thousands of them. I don't want to subscribe to one that is unreliable. We are most interested in his marriage/divorce record, as we suspect that he is still married. We also are interested in obtaining his criminal record.

Another question: Has anyone here had any experience with the law with regard to people who use aliases or other peoples' social security numbers? I would imagine that it is a serious federal offense. If you would share your knowledge in this area, I would appreciate it. I want to be prepared before I go to the FBI.

This guy could be really dangerous, so you can well magine that my wife and I are worried half to death. I thought FR would be a great source of help.

[alisasny]

All I have to say is YIKES. GOOD LUCK.

[VMI70]

Is your friend for hire?

[Earl B.]

Lexis/Nexis public records search will turn up a lot of interesting stuff. If you know anyone who subscribes to that research service (many lawyers use it for legal research).

[CJ Wolf]

Did she meet him on the internet? A suggestion: Perhaps you may want to take your daughter on an extended vacation, where she can meet lots of boys her age. You could also try to catch him in a lie or comprising position, ala set him up with an escort hooker and take a picture.

[LarryM]

Why not just hire a private dick? It might cost a few hundred dollars and would be more reliable than the web stuff.

[LuLuLuLu]

I don't know what state you're in, but here in Ohio one can go to the Department of Corrections and do a name search. Same for the county.

My daughter briefly subscribed to one of the heavily advertised sites. I can't remember the name of it, and she's incommunicado right now, since she has an exam tomorrow.

I don't know if this would work, but perhaps a phone call to the local police department is in order? Granted, they won't give details, but if he's known to them you might get a heads up.

[Gringo1]

Naw, he's a normally quiet, big-old southern boy who is a master at fixing stuff, he just didn't like some fool messing with his daughters mind.

[VMI70]

Thanks for the info. I always thought that was simply a news consolidation service. I can probably find someone who subscribes to it.
Thanks again

[Gringo1]

Man, I hate being moderated. Guess things work differently here than in Ca.


oh well.....

[mrsmith]

Get any acquaintances in the legal or possibly financial field to reccommend someone.

Invite him along on a hunting trip, a chance to get to know each other.

[Snake Eater]

I'm not a legal exopert, but I know that using an alias for the purpose of defrauding is called "utterance".

Regardless of why he uses alias, this guy looks unseemly right off the bat. And why is he out poaching 19-year old girls?

[Revenge Of Daffy-Duck]

The man to ask about stuff like this is G. Gordon Liddy. After al he is ex-FBI, ex Prosecutor and loves to help people by answering ( brief & to the point ) questions like this on his radio show.

http://www.liddyshow.us/xstation.php

http://www.liddyshow.us/contact.php

One word of advice though. Knowledge is power but DO NOT forget the psycological angle! You do not want to drive your hormone-addled 19 year old into the arms of this scumbag. Be very careful how you use the information you gain.

[CobaltBlue]

Running a credit check is illegal but chances are he'll never know you did it. Please note that as an officer of the court I am not telling you to break the law, just observing that PIs do this all the time. It's not a crime but it is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act so he could sue you or your PI for invasion of privacy.

Credit checks turn up aliases and addresses. With addresses you can contact local courts to get information that's otherwise not available, like criminal records.

If you know a cop they can run a criminal background check through NCIC, which is a federal database and very complete, but that is way illegal, is my understanding.

Do a google search using "background check" turns you up people like these guys:
http://www.crimcheck.com/

[Myrddin]

Try getting his vehicle license plate. Have local law enforcement run the plate and wants/warrants for the registered owner (assuming the registered owner is the person of interest). That should take just a few minutes. An NCIC criminal background check can also be run with that info. If you're lucky, you'll find an active warrant. If not, you'll have to wait for something that gives law enforcement probable cause to check the guy out.

[MindBender26]

"appears to be...." He is a con man, etc., or he isn't

Anything you want to know is in the public record, and or credit check. Legally, you must have an articulatable reason for a credit check. You were considering offering to lend him money, weren't you........?

Any friend who works in the credit field (mortage broker, etc.) can get you a credit report.

If he is from your area, go to the courthouse. Work backwards, starting in the Clerk's office.

If he is using a phony name and/or SSAN, that is a problem. The use of an alias is usually not a crime, but the wrong SSAN is.

Finally, the most important question is, why is he doing this, why the phony names and numbers. The answer to that question will lead to even more data.

[VMI70]

I found it very odd also.
I've seen a whole helluva lot worse.

[Gringo1]

Ditto. Much worse.

[VMI70]

"If he is from your area, go to the courthouse. Work backwards, starting in the Clerk's office."

That's one of the problems, he is from Illinois, and we are in VA.