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 Relationship Investigations Relationship Investigations are frequently requested by individuals are who involved - or are contemplating involvement - with another person or group of persons for the purpose of business, investment, social, political and/or personal reasons. These investigations often involve ‘due diligence' or background enquiries related to the corporate or personal history of an individual in order to discover whether the individual is, in fact, the person he or she is presenting (or outwardly appears to be) to the client. Unfortunately, most individuals rely on their ‘personal radar' to determine the ‘bona fides' of a potential personal and/or business partner and many of these individuals become the victims of practiced and manipulative ‘actors' who have become skillful at identifying a person's needs and who then proceed to fill that need - victimize that person - by presenting forged or stolen documentation, ‘staging' properties, boats and/or vehicles to create a positive impression, behaving socially in favourable ways or telling that person what they want to hear in order to obtain some selfish goal, which can include, among other things, money, property, security and/or sexual gratification. Usually the methods employed by these individuals include theft, deceit, false pretences, fraud, forgery and impersonation, in short, some form of trick or lie that induces the victim to behave in a certain desired way based on their uncritical acceptance of the fiction that has been presented to him or her. This type of behaviour is common in marital and personal relationships (‘cheating', adultery and infidelity), business partnerships (breach of contract and ‘non-compete' agreements) and between employers and employees (false disability claims and internal theft) and retailers, banks and insurers (identity fraud). It is extremely important, no matter whether one considers themselves to be gullible or sophisticated, for individuals to be cautious and curious when dealing with other persons rather than being too readily accepting or assumptive of what is presented or said by another party. The wrong choice can irrevocably harm or destroy the physical and mental health and the personal financial future of a person, his or her children and their extended family as well as the stability of associated businesses and/or corporations. Everyone contemplating or involved in a personal or business relationship should be determining and confirming by direct and indirect questioning and by the retention of private investigation services, if warranted, the ‘bona fides' of the person or company in question. In particular, one should ask for, determine, and CONFIRM basic information concerning identity, place and date of birth, citizenship, current address and address history, current employment and employment history, personal and business contact telephone numbers, names, addresses and telephone numbers of parents and siblings, marital status, divorce status, criminal status, bankruptcy status, business and property ownership, driver's licence status, nature of vehicle(s) driven, licence plate number(s) and whether the person leases or owns his or her residence. (DON'T BE AFRAID OR SHY ABOUT DOING THIS!) Access to this necessary basic information, however, can be problematic. Some jurisdictions, like Canada, have legislated significant national privacy protections such as the Federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. (P.I.P.E.D.A) that, with limited exceptions, restricts the collection, use and disclosure of most information about an identifiable individual to two methods: Consent or Court Order. Little information about individuals can be found in public records and comprehensive commercial databases similar to those found in the United States do not exist. IN SUCH CASES, HOWEVER AWKWARD, OBTAIN CONSENT! DO NOT EXPOSE YOURSELF TO AVOIDABLE, UNNECESSARY RISK! The quality and nature of the relationship between and among individuals is inextricably linked to the level of mental and physical health, happiness and financial prosperity that individuals experience in both personal and business affairs. While a very few individuals may view isolationism and retreat from social contact as a positive way to avoid emotional, psychological, financial and other practical consequences of partnership and group dynamics, by far the vast majority of human beings clearly prefer the potential advantages of personal and group interaction. Relationship Investigations Continued...
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