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When most people think of a private detective they think of seedy deals in back alleys and someone taking photos of a cheating spouse. But that's the Hollywood version of it. The reality is that a professional private investigator can help with a number of different issues throughout a wide range of areas.

Two perfect examples are vetting and hiring new employees, and assisting in investigating internal employment-related issues.

Turning to a private investigator, especially one skilled in fraud detection and prevention, to help with the hiring and human resources management aspect of running a business could save a business and its customers from being victimized by a "bad" employee.

There are approximately 16 million people living in the New York City/Long Island area. While the majority of them are decent, law-abiding people, some might not be what they appear. As a result, you may need a private investigator to help you protect your business from fraudsters who prey on their employers. Here is a look at how a professional investigator can help:

Employee Background Checks

An employer needs to know that they are hiring the right person for the job because hiring the wrong person for the job can be very costly, especially for smaller businesses. Hiring mistakes have actually led to companies going bankrupt in extreme cases. Every year, a company can lose about 5% of its total revenue to occupational fraud. That's a significant number, and it highlights how important it is to get help. In addition, if a company hires a person without checking their history, and that person later victimizes either employees or customers of the company, the company may well be liable for “negligent hiring.”

Consider this:

• It costs 3 times a position's salary to replace a person hired in that specific position.
• 10% of criminal background checks turn up red flags
• 23% of employment background checks turn up red flags
• 44% of driving records turn up red flags

All of this means that you could be hiring someone who isn't what they say they are. And while, at first, it might seem to be a minor issue, that dishonesty could grow once they're in your employ. Once inside the company, that dishonest employees could access confidential information, systematically steal from the company or its clients, steal trade secrets, and, in the worst cases, cause physical harm to co-workers or customers. A thorough background check can help to lessen those risks by identifying red flags of misconduct or dishonesty before the company, and its employees, are made vulnerable.

Worker's Comp Claims

If a worker is hurt on the job, you're legally required to provide financial assistance to them. However, this is where a tremendous amount of fraud takes place. In fact, a proper background check of a potential employee could reveal repeat instances of worker's comp claims, or a history of filing frivolous lawsuits against previous employers. A private investigator could not only run background checks, but could help determine whether or not a claim is legitimate through surveillance, photographs, social media, and more.

The sad fact is that not everyone is honest, and there is always a chance that one of your employees could take advantage of you. But with the services of a good private detective, you can help protect yourself, your company, your employees, and your customers, and make sure you have the right team working for you.

For any family, the disappearance of a loved one can cause immense emotional and personal turmoil. For missing persons cases, hiring a Private Investigator can be of great benefit in assisting the affected family to find the missing person, or at least develop sufficient information to provide closure.

While it is highly appropriate and necessary for family members to contact the local authorities as soon as there is a suspicion that a person has been abducted or has disappeared under questionable circumstances, individuals do need to remember police response can vary, based on the circumstances and the age of the individual, as well as limited police resources. (more…)

For any business owner, hiring new employees can be a lesson in trust. While almost all companies, large and small, will require an employee background check, it is unfortunate that some corporate practices in this field only extend to verifying the last place of employment and checking up on references.

This is not always the best or most thorough practice, and can lead to penalties and legal issues down the road. Sadly, the trustworthiness of a new hire is not always that easy to discern, especially when potential hires utilize subversive tactics to undermine accurate verification.

Some of the common things that our NYC and Long Island Private Investigators will uncover include:

• The use of stolen Social Security numbers to hide criminal records
• The practice of a hired reference service to provide positive recommendations
• Falsified contact numbers for previous employers, to hide possible infractions

A Comprehensive Employee Background Check Can Be Vital to Ensuring the Legal and Fiscal Viability of Your Company

How do you discover the truth about potential employees?

At Radius Investigations, our NYC Private Investigators have access to resources that can provide the complete employee background check your company needs before hiring any new employee. Databases that are not available to the public can allow us to uncover information such as:

• Criminal and arrest records, as well as possible warrants from other states
• Convictions and prison time
• Financials, including bankruptcy and other legal filings
• Real identity and age
• Professional licensing and education verification
• Driving records
• Military records
• Exclusions from employment

The result is that you, as the employer, can gain an honest assessment of the individuals you are intending to hire, and this can lead to a decision that is wise for your business. This is not only from the perspective of protecting your company from possible internal fraud, but also in regard to avoiding the chance of legal action and penalties that can result from poor employment choices.

For NYC and Long Island employers who want the peace of mind in knowing they can trust their employees, we recommend that you contact us about our employee background check services.

Divorce proceedings where young children are involved are especially sensitive, given the high priority on preserving the children’s well-being. Far too frequently, however, the non-custodial parent may fall behind on or entirely discontinue support payments. For the custodial parent who needs the financial support to maintain a household and properly raise the children, this can feel like an overwhelming challenge.

How Can a Private Investigator Help Enforce Continuation of Child Support Payments?

When non-custodial child support has lapsed, many custodial parents will turn to a Private Investigator in order to help remedy the situation.  This can often follow one of 3 courses of action.

Location of the absent parent

Lack of support payments can mean that the non-custodial parent is voluntarily missing in order to avoid his/her financial responsibility.  In these cases, a Private Investigator can be employed to locate that individual, and once located, the custodial parent can then proceed with legal action to compel the continuation of child support.

Verification of employment or income

There are other situations where the non-custodial parent may be accessible but may claim that they have insufficient funds to meet their responsibilities.  A private investigator can help to verify the non-custodial parent’s employment and provide circumstantial evidence of his/her income by collecting evidence and analyzing the non-custodial parent’s lifestyle.  These details can then be used to assess whether the non-custodial parent is being truthful regarding his/her financial situation.

Learn How We Verify Employment" 

Location of Assets

In addition, where the non-custodial parent claims that he/she has insufficient assets to support the award of child support, a Private Investigator can be employed to uncover hidden assets and provide evidence as to the ability to provide support.

Learn How We Can Locate Assets

Regardless of the cause of non-payment, custodial parents should take action to protect their rights and the rights and welfare of the children. The resources and skills of a Private Investigator can be of great assistance in obtaining the evidence and/or information crucial to preserving those rights.

"Get the Support Your Family Deserves"

Our Expert Child Support Private Investigators can help you verify and gather the evidence you need in your child support case.

Available 24/7

Divorce proceedings are emotionally challenging, even in cases where there is an amicable separation.  However, when a split between parties turns into an effort to control or belittle the other person, these proceedings can move beyond contentious and into the realm of subterfuge. (more…)

Thanks to Hollywood and television, it's very common for people to assume that they have a full understanding of what a private investigator does. But the reality is often far different – instead of getting drawn into dangerous espionage, most private detectives handle investigations that are a bit more low-key. However, one thing that we do indeed do is run surveillance – in a number of different ways and for a number of different reasons. (more…)

Today, the process of hiring new employees has become one of the single most important aspects of any company's procedures. The simple fact is that hiring the wrong people can have a tremendous influence on a business' success or failure. Finding a good private investigator who can conduct employee background checks is a must. If you're not convinced, just look at a few of the statistics involved in the hiring and screening process. (more…)

As the most heavily populated city in the country, New York is home to all kinds of people – and all kinds of situations. That's a big part of why residents here rely on private investigators on a regular basis to help them overcome different issues that may have arisen in their lives. While private detectives often focus on things like insurance fraud, workers compensation suits, or even domestic infidelity cases, another area that they can help with is in child-related investigations. (more…)

With more than 8 million people living within the borders of New York City, there is simply no way to avoid the sad fact that at certain points in time, some residents may find themselves suspecting their spouse of being unfaithful. If you're one of those unlucky ones who thinks that your partner may be carrying out an affair, you owe it to yourself to get the truth.

However, that doesn't mean that you should go and get the truth on your own. Trying to do so can only create problems, and to get the best possible results you're better off turning to a private detective in the New York area. Here's a quick look at just why that is.

• For starters, it's safer. It's easy for any kind of investigation to get a bit risky – for you or for the other parties. You might lose your cool, or another party may assume that you're doing something you shouldn't be doing without even realizing who you are. Safety is important, and letting the pros handle things is a good idea.
• Your emotions are another reason to trust in the professionals. The simple fact is that in something as potentially emotional as an infidelity case, emotions can lead to rash behavior and much more. They can even cause you to come to a conclusion that isn't even accurate, just based on the wrong perceptions. Letting an impartial professional investigate for you will ensure that this isn't an issue.
• Resources are one of the biggest things to consider, too. The reality is that no matter how many movies you've watched, that doesn't qualify you for this type of task. Private investigators have access to a huge range of tools, technologies, and connections to help them with an investigation.
• Similar to resources, a private detective will have plenty of experience to help guide them on the case. You may think you know what to do, but the reality of an investigation is often far different from your initial perceptions. Letting the pros take over is a much better idea.

There's no doubt that finding out the truth about your partner and their activities is something you should do if you're questioning their loyalty. But there's a right and wrong way to do anything, and in these situations it's always best to let someone who knows what they're doing take care of things for you.

Insurance is something that continually gets discussed, whether it's in the news or just among people trying to find the best policy. For many people, insurance is something that can truly help them when things get rough. But for others, it's just a tool to use to drive forward a scam. Insurance fraud is a serious crime, and it's one of the most common investigations that New York City private investigators find themselves working on. But many still don't fully understand what it is all about. (more…)

More than 8 million people live in New York City alone, and among them are millions of married couples. While many of those couples will go through their lives happily, others aren't so lucky. If you find that you are one of the unlucky ones facing a divorce, you owe it to yourself to consider the services of a private detective operating in the NYC area.

This surprises many people, and it's true that in a number of divorces a private investigator would not be needed at all. But in high asset divorces, contentious divorces, and other situations, you could find that their services are exactly what you need to get the best results for yourself. If you're not sure as to whether or not you truly need a private detective, here are some of the ways that they can help you during a divorce.

• There are cases where the proceedings of a divorce can depend upon proving that the other party was unfaithful, if the cheating spouse spent assets on the other party. Gathering that evidence can be tricky, but using a private detective will get you the proof and help improve your divorce results.
• Child custody is another area that a private detective can help in, as is child support. Dishonesty often occurs when custody and support are at stake, but with the help of a detective you can find out what you need to know about your spouse's lifestyle, income, and even what they're doing with your children when you're not there.
• In many divorces, especially high-asset ones, the simple process of asset location can be a huge factor in the outcome of the divorce. Spouses that hide certain income or property will make it difficult to get the most accurate and fair judgments during a divorce. Asset location is something that a detective can certainly help with, and their services may track down the assets that a spouse is keeping from the courts.

Simply put, there are a lot of different areas that a private investigator can help with when it comes to your divorce. It's important to remember that handling these things on your own usually isn't'a good idea since emotions can impede your results – not to mention the fact that a professional will have lots more experience and resources on their side.

If you need assistance with a divorce, contact us today to learn more about our services and how we may be able to help you.

Let's face it – nothing can be more stressful and difficult than finding yourself in the situation where you must provide care for your loved ones. That role reversal can be hard for any child, and it's even worse when your circumstances mean that you are forced to confine your loved one to the care of someone else. Placing a parent's care in the hands of a stranger is no easy matter, and something that takes considerable trust. It can also create a tremendous amount of stress. (more…)