Our weekly hack for those in the field doing the work & digging up critical intel.
The ability to uncover information on the internet is the primary skill of an online investigator. There are hundreds of thousands of surface, deep, and dark websites, but which are most pertinent to your unique case? Do you know how to utilize Google to its full potential? With new social media platforms coming online at a rapid pace, capturing leads and evidence in social media networks is more complex than ever. Do you know the latest tools of the trade?
Hg’s OSINT Tips of the week provides you with the latest intel how to be most effective in our tradecraft. We are always looking for new tools, so don’t hesitate to let us know if you have one you’d like reviewed in a future post!
Enjoy!
LEGAL: classaction.org
Classaction.org is an online consumer information resource to help people know and assert their legal rights. To locate a current list of open lawsuits and investigations, ClassAction.org has a list of cases that are actively being filed or cases that are being investigated. When deciding types of cases to review, choose from such categories as consumer fraud, defective drugs, overtime, and securities. The website provides the necessary tools for people to understand their legal rights while keeping them aware of trending litigation. For example, following a new trend in debt collection, debt collectors are contacting surviving family members to collect on a deceased relative’s debts. Surviving relatives, however, are generally not obligated to pay the debts of family members who have passed away.
MARKETPLACE: searchtempest.com
Need to track down stolen items that may go up for sale on an online auction site? SearchTempest.com allows you to search in the geographic area in which you think it will sell—or set it to the entire world, for that matter—and run the search (including eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist, if you like). At the Results page, go to the upper righthand corner and click the “Feeds for This Search” button. You will be prompted to save an .OPML file. Save the file to your desktop and then drag the saved file into your MS Outlook folder named “RSS Feeds.” If anyone sells your item online via eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist, you will be alerted immediately via the feed.
HEALTHCARE: legitscript.com
Founded in 2007, LegitScript.com is a credible company whose vision is to inform businesses, governments, and the public about which commercial entities and products are legitimate and which are not. Legit Script allows you to check website legitimacy and healthcare product legitimacy on their home page for free; it performs a search against their database of dietary supplements, designer drugs, pharmaceuticals, and other healthcare products and websites. Their product lookup will classify the product as a yellow, orange, or red flag, if the product should not be marketed or sold. Aside from their free tool, the pharmaceutical industry uses Legit Script’s services for certification, brand, and merchant monitoring. According to their Website, they are used by 60 countries and more than 15 languages.
Have an OSINT tip for us? Contact us, and we will consider reviewing it in future posts!
Are you an analyst or investigator looking for advanced OSINT & SOCMINT training? If so, check out Hg’s webinar series on social media investigative training, where you can attend live sessions and receive CEUs or watch previously recorded sessions to beef up your investigative skills.
