What are the risks of hiring a private investigator? Customers frequently use our live chat to inquire about the benefits of purchasing surveillance equipment versus the risks of hiring a private investigator. We thought we’d put this piece together to answer your questions and explain some of the issues we’ve encountered. And, to give you a fair and balanced picture, we’ve included some advantages – because private investigators can be useful in a variety of situations.
Some of our best clients are professional, reputable private investigators, so we understand how much effort it takes to do the job right.
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We’ve also included two of our favorite gadgets to rival any top-tier private investigator. Scroll down to see them, or keep reading to learn about the risks of hiring a private investigator.
When Would You Use the Services of a Private Investigator?
If you want to do some low-cost surveillance on your own, our audio, GPS, and visual surveillance equipment are ideal. However, if you need specific, detailed information for a divorce, child custody ruling, or fraud suspicion, or if you believe you are being watched, hiring a private investigator may be beneficial.
Other common reasons for hiring a private investigator are as follows:
- Locating missing assets and property
- Searching for a missing person
- carrying out background checks
- Counter-surveillance operations
- Obtaining background information on a person
- Collecting evidence
What Are the Risks?
Private investigators do not have the same rights as law enforcement officers. In fact, they follow the same legal principles as you and I. Poor private investigators will disregard this line and take unnecessary and potentially illegal risks. They’re expensive – around $200/$300 per hour – so there’s a lot that can go wrong when you hire one. Here are some of the dangers you should be aware of. Here we are going to discuss 20 risks of hiring a private investigator.
1. Being Caught
When conducting a covert investigation, such as surveillance, there is always the risk of the investigator being caught red-handed. Similarly, if you conduct covert investigations, word will always get back to the person you are looking into. Even with the most meticulous planning, it is possible for the best investigators to be caught off guard. This is the tough risk of hiring a private investigator.
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2. Uncertain Outcome
When you hire an accountant to do your taxes, you expect them to be finished once he is finished. However, you could spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a private investigator and still end up where you started: with a lack of clarity.
3. There Is No Value
You don’t give a bartender $7 and hope she brings you a drink back. However, you may be required to pay a $1,000 retainer to an investigator and receive nothing in return.
4. Liability for Illegal Activities
There are numerous examples of investigators providing illegal information to their clients, which ultimately led to their demise. A Massachusetts woman who hired a Virginia private investigator to find hidden assets had her case dismissed a few years ago because the “evidence” provided by the private investigator on some offshore bank accounts “did not exist and was ‘created’ to turn a profit.”
5. Inadequate Knowledge
Many investigators claim to be experts in everything from executive protection to bomb-sniffing dogs to cyber investigations and computer forensics to lie detection and interviewing skills. It is impossible to be exceptional at everything.
6. Absence of Evidence
You may require evidence that your ex is concealing funds, that your legal opponent was conspiring with your competitor, or that certain testimony was false. But there are times when you have to deal with bad facts, such as your ex not hiding money, the competition conspiring against you, and the testimony being true. Unlike the movies, these things don’t always have a happy ending.
7. Untrustworthy
Investigators are not known for their dependability. I know because I have worked with lots of them who aren’t.
8. Have Faith in Methods
There is an inherent trust that you place in an investigator regarding their investigation methods. You can’t be breathing down their neck, after all.
9. Unknown Sources
Secret sources may sound intriguing, but they introduce uncertainty into an investigation. If the secret source cannot be independently vetted or verified, it is impossible to determine whether the information was obtained illegally, through unethical means, or simply as a figment of someone’s imagination.
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10. Poor Strategy
Creating a strategy that aligns with your goals is an important part of hiring a good private investigator. A flawed strategy can doom the case from the start.
11. Maintaining Confidentiality
Your emails, text messages, reports, surveillance tapes, and memos are not privileged if you hire a private investigator directly (rather than through an attorney). Hiring a private investigator through an attorney provides legal safeguards such as attorney-client privilege and attorney work product.
12. No Attorney Support
Over the years, I’ve seen some clients take matters into their own hands and hire a private investigator without the assistance of an attorney. If your attorney is not on board, you are most likely wasting your time.
13. Selecting the Incorrect Private Investigator
Having the right tool is critical to completing the task at hand successfully. Too many problem-solving efforts fail because the wrong tool is being used. Don’t use the incorrect tool.
14. You Get What You Pay For
You pay for what you get, as with most professional services. So, if you’re looking for a low-cost option, you’re likely to get a low-cost result.
15. Inadequate Scope
When I ask clients who are thinking about conducting a background investigation, “What are you looking for?” they respond, “Everything!” I’m aware that we may have a problem on our hands, in part because discovering “everything” may cost around $150,000. Having a defined scope of work at the start of an investigation is critical for staying on track and avoiding surprises later on.
16. Unlicensed
Are you hiring a licensed investigator in your state? Or is it just someone claiming to be an investigator? (Check with your state.) Why should you be concerned? You might end up hiring this guy, who not only ran an unlicensed private investigation service but also ran a prostitution ring on the side.
17. There are no guarantees.
When you hire a contractor to repair your roof, you expect it to no longer leak. However, if you hire an investigator, the end result is not guaranteed, and you may find yourself back where you started.
18. Bias in Specialty
Every investigator has a tendency to recommend work in which they excel. As a result, a private investigator who specializes in surveillance may be biased toward recommending surveillance, even if the task is better suited for a forensic accountant or an open-source intelligence specialist.
19. Saying What You Want to Hear
Over the years, I’ve spoken with dozens of potential clients who I’ve literally talked out of hiring a private investigator because whatever they wanted us to do was a waste of time and resources. However, not every private investigator you speak with will talk themselves out of working; simply be cautious before proceeding. Some will tell you what you want to hear, knowing full well that it will not end happily.
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20. Negative Publicity
Uber hired private investigators as part of a “dirt-digging investigation” a few years ago. To be honest, many large corporations do the same thing every day. Uber hired an investigation firm that used some questionable tactics. It’s unclear whether Uber was aware of what the company was doing, but the damage had already been done. Hewlett-Packard was never able to recover from the fallout of hiring an investigator who used dubious methods (obtaining phone records) to spy on its own directors. You can consider the risks of hiring a private investigator for this point.
Risks of Hiring Private Investigator – FAQs
Is it possible to sue someone for hiring a private investigator?
The simple answer is no, you cannot. Private investigators are permitted to conduct background checks, and interview your friends and family, and, while they are not permitted to trespass on your property, they are permitted to search your trash after you have removed it. You cannot sue them if they are legally registered and licensed and follow the law when performing their duties.
Is hiring a private investigator considered stalking?
Hiring a private investigator, even if their job is to follow someone and speak with their colleagues and friends, is not stalking. Again, as long as the investigator is licensed, he or she has more leeway than the average person.
Hiring an experienced, licensed detective, on the other hand, will be more expensive than purchasing surveillance equipment.
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