Facebook shuts down Graph Search; investigators scrambling for workarounds

On Thursday, June 6, as I went to one of my favourite tools for online investigation, the one hosted by Michael Bazzell, I instead found a warning saying the service is unavailable. I then jumped over to NetBootCamp, and even to StalkScan, also to be denied. Finally, I manually re-opened some old browser bookmarks on

Beware the zombie short term rental listings!

Beware the zombies!  In light of Halloween today, many of our clients are not aware that short term rental listings can be in a state of inactivity while on the surface seeming to be active.  This phenomenon is termed “zombie listings”.  While the earthly zombies have pale grey skin, various facial disfigurations, and general ghastly

Will visiting someone’s Facebook page put you on their “People You May Know” List? (Page 3)

Previous Page Second Experiment The follow on experiment was to eliminate the possibility that Irwin, the fake profile, was the cause why PYMK wasn’t triggering.  So I asked Vicky to visit some of my friends that were not her friends to see whether that would trigger PYMK.  She visited them each a different number of

Will visiting someone’s Facebook page put you on their “People You May Know” List? (Page 2)

Previous Page Anecdotes from the Blogosphere I have heard some anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon, both from word of mouth and from internet sources outlined below in screenshots: The Experiment But how can we confirm this phenomenon exists?  I set up a little experiment. I had a friend name Vicky use my fake Facebook profile

Harmari Condo HOA Short Term Rental Finder

If your condo building or homeowner’s association has problems with AirBnB operators running illegal short term rentals, there is a solution.  Harmari by LTAS, leaders in online investigation and data mining since 2011 have launched a short term rental monitoring solution specific to property management companies struggling with AirBnB problems. Harmari provides the following service:

Capturing and recording Snapchat video off iphone

Recently at a law enforcement conference, a crime analyst colleague was curious what technique would allow her to capture a Snapchat video as part of her investigations.  Snapchat is a photo / video sharing app which disappear after being viewed by the recipient.  It is very popular among the under-20 crowd that have been shying

Bing Birds-eye gives you a fresh perspective on satellite imagery

Bing Maps provides a fresh alternative to Google Maps as a free resource for satellite imagery.  Specifically it has to do with the Birds Eye feature, which gives you an aerial view at 40 degrees from vertical.  The pictures are not shot by satellites but by aircraft with specially designed remote sensing technology.   Birdseye works

LTAS Technologies signs partnership with Business Watch International

LTAS Technologies Inc. announces a partnership today with Business Watch International (“BWI”).  BWI has agreed to be the exclusive distributor of Harmari Search for Craigslist to law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada.  LTAS Technologies delivers software tools and reports to insurance fraud investigators, industry regulators, tax/revenue agencies and law enforcement to identify criminal