Campaigns and consultants: Five tips and tricks for uncovering information on your competition--or vetting your own candidate

Knowledge is power. Here's how to uncover hidden information on the competition. And make sure you know everything they may find on your candidate.

don’t be surprised in a political campaign. check the opposition candidate’s background with these professional investor tips.

It happens every election cycle. Some piece of information from a candidate's past is revealed, damaging their chances of winning and changing the outcome of an election. An embarrassing photo, a careless college social media post, membership in an unpopular organization, financial connections unknown to the voting public. 

In today's super-heated political climate, everything is fair game. We work with campaigns and consultants nationwide on opposition research as well as candidate background screening. We offer the following tips and tricks to make sure your campaign is the one on offense in this high stakes game:

1. Use free background check sites and apps. Sites such as Intelius (www.intlius.com) and TruthFinder.com (www.truthfinder.com) are among many "free" background check websites, which charge fees to receive information. These websites are fine for general, unverified information such as current and former residences, household members, etc. These sites claim have all types of criminal records and more, but the sites are really designed to help online daters screen potential Romeos, so don't expect to learn much more than your opposition's actual age and whether he's secretly living with his mother. Also note, much of the information is out of date or incorrect, as there is no verification of the information or the source from which it has been gathered. Nevertheless, it's a low-cost way to at least establish residency, uncover any major criminal cases and start a dossier. 

2. Explore campaign contributions. Start with the Federal Election Commission (FEC): https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=filings  Browse "all filings" for the subject's name (either as candidate or donor). Look for contributors to certain candidates that show up consistently and/or in large amounts --and also look at what campaigns the candidates are contributing to. Hint: you won't find the KKK contributing to your opposition. But a registered PI has the tools and access to be able to run all the contributors to a campaign against other known aliases, to reveal who or what groups/companies might actually be behind that steady stream of random donations between $50-$150. You'll find the same information for state and county elections for most states at that state’s  Secretary of State website.

3. Find out if your opposition has been an officer or director of a corporation or LLC. Search opencorporates.com. Where do their interests lie? Have they been a director or officer of a company in a questionable industry? You'll find this at the Secretary of State website for each individual state or on OpenCorporates.com (incomplete, but a good place to find out what states a candidate might have interests in). Some states allow you to run this by officer name, others you'll need to know the name of the corporation for the search.

4. Check for federal cases including criminal, civil and bankruptcy for individuals and companies. Go To Pacer.gov. You'll find a nominal fee for searching nationwide data on cases involving entities of interest, with some federal district court cases going back to the 1980's. Undisclosed bankruptcy from 1992? Named in a RICO case in 1987? Many individuals assume their background fades as time passes, and politicians are no exception. This site can help bring the past to light.

5. Check their education. DegreeVerify.com. You'd be shocked how many people exaggerate or outright lie about their education. Listing degrees from foreign universities (harder to track) is a common tactic among young professionals looking for an edge. However that white lie from 30 years ago got carried along from job to job and is now part of their public profile. Finding out that they didn’t actually play Division I volleyball, didn't actually receive that MBA from Wharton or didn't even attend that university in Lucerne, Switzerland could make an opposition candidate rethink their run.

6. Bonus: Old websites, blogs and media. The Wayback machine (https://archive.org/web) allows you to find online content dating back to...the beginning of the internet. You can find old material that doesn't show up anymore in Google searches. You'll need to search by publication, by date--unfortunately no keyword search tool here.

Pro Tip: If you’ve done all this and are ready to take your opposition research to the next level, contact us. We can uncover litigation at the state level (requires a private investigator license), expose deep social media, dark web (including emails you didn't know exist), employment verifications, liens, assets, judgements and financial records, social affiliations and more.

Asset Searches: Making the Invisible Visible

Who owns what, where. Pickering Sullivan assists client around the globe track assets including offshore accounts through a deep network of local contacts.

have suspicions about a creditor that declared bankruptcy? we can help get fraudulent bankruptcies overturned.

Our client, a financial services firm, was faced with a large loss after one of their customers secured a bankruptcy judgement. Our client was convinced the customer had undisclosed assets.

Pickering Sullivan quickly engaged our network of national and international sources. By cross-checking historical records of financial transactions spanning ten years and by conducting investigative interviews in multiple countries, we were able to uncover evidence that the subject had moved assets off shore and set up a new company operating both inside and outside the US, controlled by family members.

Our client was able to use the findings to overturn the bankruptcy and were able to pursue the subject for a settlement.

For corporations or individuals facing questions about counterparty assets, talk to us about how we can help.

Business Intelligence: Protecting Against the Theft of Trade Secrets

Most competitive threats come from within. Working with Pickering Sullivan to identify, track and report on any suspect individuals within the organization should be standard practice for tech, biotech, blockchain and other IP-dependent companies.

Employees who BRING knowledge about your methods or processes to a new employer may be committing ip fraud. we can protect you.

Pickering Sullivan was engaged by a consumer goods company after they heard that several employees who had left the firm over a multi-month period all seemed to be joining a competitive startup.

Using advanced investigative tools and techniques, we were able to confirm connections between three of the former employees and the startup. The information we uncovered enabled our client to successfully litigate, enforcing their non-compete and preventing the loss of business-critical trade secrets.

Gathering business intelligence on competitors should be standard practice in any high growth industry. Talk to us about the range of intelligence-gathering available for your business.

Corporate Governance: Confirming Claims with Total Discretion

We can help make sure the people responsible for leading your firm are exactly who they say they are.

PERFORMING DEEP BACKGROUND CHECKS ON YOUR SENIOR EXECUTIVES AS A STANDARD PRACTICE IS A PRUDENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY OF AVOIDING POTENTIALLY EMBARRASING AND DAMAGING CONFLICTS DOWN THE ROAD.

Pickering Sullivan routinely works with firms of all sizes to confirm background information on senior executives and board members.

We were engaged by a public tech company after concerns arose that a senior leader and board member may have misrepresented certain details of their educational background. The company had attempted to verify the individual’s education on their own but found that records were not available from the school in question.

As a boutique firm, we’re able to work rapidly and with complete discretion. Through a series of off-the-record discussions with trusted sources and by accessing records not available to the public, we were able to prove beyond a doubt that the individual did not have an MBA as claimed. Our client was able to manage the situation quickly and quietly, avoiding likely public exposure and erosion of shareholder trust.

Having a complete, up to date dossier on each executive leader and board member is a vital part of corporate governance. Talk to us about how we can make this a standard operating procedure for your company.

Pre-Employment Screening: Verify the People you Need to Trust Most

Trust but verify: Pickering Sullivan can make sure the people you hire have the educational and professional background they claim. And can also unearth any other civil or criminal charges you should be aware of.

USING FREE WEBSITES OR APPS TO CHECK A POTENTIAL EMPLOYEE’S BACKGROUND IS A GOOD START. HOWEVER WE CAN UNCOVER THE HIDDEN INFORMATION NOT VISIBLE TO THESE SERVICES, THAT THE INDIVIDUAL DIDN’T WANT YOU TO FIND.

Our client had used an online background check service to verify a new senior hire. Although the service didn’t turn up any red flags, our client decided to have Pickering Sullivan double check.

It’s a good thing they did.

Using a combination of professional databases, field-based record checks, and the resourcefulness to cut through bureaucratic red tape, we found the individual had attended a university but failed to graduate as he claimed on his CV. Further, we uncovered a bankruptcy, charges of assault and battery and numerous liens and judgements—none of which were revealed by the online background check service.

With the proliferation of sites such as Reputation Defender and other similar services, individuals are now able to conceal damaging evidence of prior wrongdoing from standard background check services or internet search engines.

A licensed professional investigator like Pickering Sullivan has enhanced legal access to privileged data, plus the experience and knowledge to work around cloaking services. We offer different levels of cost-effective pre-employment screening depending on the level of responsibility and whether an employee will be handling sensitive information and money. Talk to us today about any upcoming key hires.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Insights to Confirm Your Purchase Decision

A small investment in deep due diligence from a professional PI firm like Pickering Sullivan can save losses, headache and embarrassment from later discovery of personal or professional issues with key individuals acquired through mergers or acquisitions.

considering a merger or acquisition? find out what the target company and its officers aren’t telling you. a single piece of non-disclosed information could make the difference between a deal succeeding or failing.

One of our technology clients entered a non-binding LOI to purchase a startup. They engaged Pickering Sullivan to learn more about the backgrounds of the four founders as part of their standard due diligence process.

In addition to standard education, employment and criminal background searches, we also conducted patent application searches on all four, given the highly technical nature of the industry.

We discovered that one of the founders had recently applied for a trademark on IP that appeared very similar to IP developed by the company being acquired. In addition, the individual had incorporated a new company under a family member’s name that appeared to be competitive to company he was selling. None of this had been disclosed by the founders to the acquirer.

As a result, our client withdrew their bid, potentially saving millions in lawsuits and a failed acquisition.

Non-disclosed information is one of the most frequently cited reasons for why deals fail. Talk to us about how we can protect your company as a routine part of M&A procedure.

Adoption Reunion: Our Know-How, Resourcefulness and Network Made the Difference

Each year, thousands of people adopted through “closed” adoptions seek answers as to whom their biological parents are. A professional PI like Pickering Sullivan has the resources to find out.

ancestry.com and other online services are a great start. however we can help find birth parents even when these services fail.

Pickering Sullivan was engaged by an individual seeking his birth family. He had tried online services with no results. His had been a “closed” adoption from the 1960s. This meant hospital and adoption agency records were sealed, unavailable even to the adopted child later in life.

The only thing the individual knew about his birth family was that his birth mother was an employee at what he believed was his birth father’s family business—an industrial plant in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the business had been closed for many years and the owner of the business was now deceased.

Working with public records and our proprietary network of genealogy researchers, law enforcement and healthcare sources within the target community, we were able to collect and carefully analyze historical documents that led to a series of successful records requests from public agencies. This in turn led to a series of interviews with former employees who had worked at the business in the 1960s, which confirmed the names of both his birth mother and birth father.

Our research led us to learn that the birth mother and birth father were deceased. However, we were able to find the nephew of the subject’s birth father. This enabled our client to reach out and meet his birth mother’s family, who had no idea that she gave birth to a child—and have since welcomed our client warmly into the family.

If you’re an adoptee who has wondered about or searched for your birth family, talk to us about how we can help reunite you.