Costa Rica Visitor Alert: Beware of Public Pay Phone

According to several sources, telecommunications companies in the United states continue to receive complaints from customers who make international phone calls from Costa Rican pay phones. Unhappy customers placed calls from Costa Rica and were charged up to $50 for a five-second international call. The country's main telephone service, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricity, (I.C.E.) [...]


Burning Question in Costa Rica; Is she cheating?

As a private detective in Costa Rica, I get this type of inquiry often: "Hi, my name is Bill and I live in California. I have been coming to Costa Rica for the past 7 years and last year I met a woman there and we hit it off pretty good and I have been [...]


Treat Others as You Expect to be Treated

Having an office in Costa Rica for a number of years and conducting hundreds of cases, investigating anything from fraud to finding birth parents, I have been successful because I treat people the way I expect to be treated. Thus, I thought it would be a good idea to share this with my readers. When [...]


Marriage Fraud and the Internet Dating Services

Increasingly I am receiving request for background services on relationships that originated via the inter net. I can tell you from the onset, that such relationships usually have hidden agendas by one or both of the participants. Since my expertise is in the fraud field, marital fraud is one of the events that I am [...]


Cheating Spouse: Using a Private Investigator

If you are in need of a private investigator for a personal matter, there are a few things to consider. For starters, if you are using a private investigator for the purposes of obtaining information on a cheating spouse for evidence in filing for a divorce, most areas now allow for a no-fault divorce, which [...]


Private Investigators Qualifications

You wouldn’t hire a stock broker or a life insurance agent without making sure they were qualified. Make sure your private investigator is legitimate before disclosing your personal information. The only way a private investigator can be considered legitimate in his or her field is to have the necessary private investigator licenses. While private investigator [...]


Napoleonic Law and Costa Rica

Even though the Napoleonic Code was not the first civil code and did not represent the whole of his empire, it was one of the most influential. It was adopted in many countries occupied by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and thus formed the basis of the private law systems also of Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, (and their former [...]


Letter Rogatory & Service of Process in Costa Rica

As a general rule courts may serve documents only to individuals within the court’s jurisdiction. An exception to this rule is countries that invoke universal jurisdiction, granting their courts ubiquitous domain. Therefore a person seeking to take an action against a person in another country will need to seek assistance from the judicial authorities in the other country. This is of [...]


Looking Up Cell Phone Numbers

To trace cell phone numbers for free is almost like an impossible task provided you are looking for all the up to date and comprehensive information behind a particular number. To trace cell phone numbers could be very interesting and thrilling if you know that the person who you are looking for is someone in [...]


Checklist to Avoid Scams in Costa Rica


Offshore Bank Pitfalls

Offshore bank accounts are sometimes touted as the solution to every legal, financial and asset protection strategy but this is often much more exaggerated than the reality. First and foremost offshore bank accounts are less financially secure. During the banking crisis which swept the world in 2008 the only savers who lost money were those [...]


Private Detective Costa Rica and Cheating

Are you worried that your spouse or may be cheating? Sometimes this marital suspicion is natural. Unfortunately, suspicion is usually correct. The majority of private investigator cases in which you suspect infidelity usually result in your intuition being correct. Cheating is all the more likely if the two of you have had marital problems and [...]


How to Avoid Marriage Scams

From time to time we receive inquires from men who feel they are being scammed by a dating service or a marriage service. Here are some important things to remember if you are entertaining using theses types of services. 1.  If somebody whom you met on a dating websites asks you for money SIMPLY DO NOT [...]


Private Detective List Money Laundering Methods

Usually money laundering requires and often occurs in three steps: 1. Placement: Cash is introduced into the financial system by some means 2. Layering: Carrying out complex financial transactions in order to camouflage the illegal source. 3. Integration: Acquiring wealth generated from the transactions of the illicit funds. Some of these steps may be omitted, depending [...]


Private Detective Discusses Money Laundering

Money laundering, at its simplest, is the act of making money that comes from one source  look like it comes from another source. Money laundering is a crime if it is used to disguise the origins of illegally-obtained money, because the proceeds of a crime are made to appear legitimate. The methods by which money [...]


Fraud in the Inducement v Factum

Fraud in the Factum is a type of fraud where misrepresentation causes one to enter into a transaction without accurately realizing the risks, duties, or obligations incurred. This can be when the maker or drawer of a negotiable instrument, such as a promissory note or check, is induced to sign the instrument without a reasonable opportunity to learn of its [...]


Private Detective Discusses Types of Fraud

Fraud can be committed through many ways, including mail, wire, phone and the Internet. The international dimensions of the web and ease with which users can hide their location, the difficulty of checking identity and legitimacy online, and the simplicity with which hackers can divert browsers to dishonest sites and steal credit card details have all contributed to [...]


Private Investigator Discusses Fraud

Unlike many of my colleagues, I have had the benefit of obtaining a good legal education which led to my Juris Doctor. Thus I have a good understanding of the law and use it from time to time to educate my clients. Many times clients have been victims of fraud and don’t realize it. This [...]


Global Positioning (GPS) in Costa Rica

There are readily available surveillance devices, or “bugs”, are hidden electronic devices which are used to capture, record, and/or transmit data to a receiving party such as a law enforcement agency or a private detective. The U.S. has run numerous domestic intelligence, such as COINTELFLO, which have bugged the homes, offices, and vehicles of thousands [...]


Geolocation & RFID use in Costa Rica

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tagging is the use of very small electronic devices (called ‘RFID tags’) which are applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. The tags can be read from several meters away. They are extremely cheap, costing a few cents [...]


Detective Requisites in Costa Rica & USA

Requesites for a Private Detective Before retaining a private detective or a private investigator whether it is in Costa Rica or the United states, considerations should be given to the credentials of such individuals offering theses services. Street work Detectives have a wide variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved [...]


Corporate Surveillance in Costa Rica & USA

Corporate surveillance is the monitoring of a person or group’s behavior by a business. The data collected is most often used for marketing purposes or sold to other businesses, but is also regularly shared with government authorities. It can be used as a form of business intelligence, which enables the corporation to better tailor their [...]


Telephone Monitoring in Costa Rica

As background to this block I have included information concerning the monitoring of telephones domestically and internationally. The official and unofficial tapping of telephone lines is widespread. In the United States for example, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement commonly referred to as CALEA requires that all telephone and VoIP communications be available for real-time wiretapping by [...]


Spotting a Good Detective

If you want to ensure that you don’t have to worry about crime and criminal activities around you, it might be a good idea to research about some quality private investigator Latin America or even private investigator Costa Rica. Many people have discovered that knowing how to spot the good ones from the crowd has [...]


The Private Investigator Fictional Blog

Because I am a former Police Chief-turned private investigator, the private eyes in my blogs tend to reflect some of my own characteristics as a real life private investigator. I don’t do this intentionally, or maybe I do. What it boils down to is that I write about what I know, which is being a [...]


Amended Class Action Complaint Against Paragon Properties

According to reports out of Florida, the Third Amended Class Action Complaint was filed yesterday against Paragon Properties of Costa Rica and its affiliated entities and owners. This amendment is, at the court’s request, significantly tighter and more streamlined, and it clearly identifies who is suing who for what. The scope of the fraud continues [...]


Due Diligence and its Meaning

As a result of the United States Securities Act of 1933 the term “due diligence” was born and became common nomenclature for business and personal transactions. This Act included a defense at Sec. 11, referred to as the “Due Diligence” defense, which could be used by brokers accused of inadequate disclosure to investors of material [...]


Tips to Avoid telemarketing Fraud

It’s very difficult to get your money back if you’ve been cheated over the telephone. Before you buy anything by telephone, remember: Don’t buy from an unfamiliar company. Legitimate businesses understand that you want more information about their company and are happy to comply. Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you get brochures about costly [...]


Investment Fraud

As a Certified Fraud Examiner and Private Investigator I know that an investment fraud can look legitimate in so many ways, but there are many warning signs everyone should be aware of. The key is not only to recognize some of these warning signs, but to act on them. There is Nothing on Google! – [...]


Advance Fee Schemes

An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value—such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift—and then receives little or nothing in return. The variety of advance fee schemes is limited only by the imagination of the con artists who offer them. They may involve the sale of products or services, the offering of investments, lottery winnings, “found money,” or many other “opportunities. ” [...]




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