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!
This week, we provide a valuable list of Business and Due Diligence Resources for OSINT investigations.
Business & Due Diligence Resource: aaei.org
The American Association of Imports and Exports (AAEI.org) defines itself as the premier trade organization representing U.S. companies engaging in global trade. The website contains a list of global links including links to global or regional organizations, foreign governments and trade references. Some links will be valuable for research, while others will be valuable for investigations such as the link to Exports and Controls list, which directs you to the Bureau of Industry and Security by the U.S. Department of Commerce. There, you can find lists of parties of concern including a denied persons list and prohibited entity list.
Business & Due Diligence Resource: BBB.org/scamtracker
Conducting due diligence on a fraudulent company for your client? Your client may not be the only one who was victim to an illegal scheme or fraud. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a popular resource for business reviews and complaints. Not as well known is the BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker). Search a company or keyword in the United States and Canada and you may find others who have reported the company. Scam types include advanced fee loan, fake check/money order, identity theft, and phishing. Scam reports contain the date reported and victim postal code. A victim postal code can be useful to compare with the postal code of your client to determine if the company’s victims are in the same area or are spread out.
Business & Due Diligence Resource: Dnb.com
Dun and Bradstreet (dnb.com) allows for free searching of their greater than 125 million current and historical business records via their website, where, in the upper right-hand corner you will see Company Search. By indirect, the company owner may be Hetherington, but the company name can be Wizard Productions. You may find a second business for an investigative subject that you didn’t otherwise identify or know about. From here, we always recommend checking your public records vendors: TLO, CLEAR, Accurint, Tracers, etc. Many of them sell the same report for much cheaper than purchasing the report from D&B.
Have an OSINT tip for us? Contact us, and we will consider reviewing it in future posts!
Hg’s 2021 Back to School Training Packages
We open our arms to cooler weather, leaf peeping, children’s voices on playgrounds again, and a discounted offer to our colleagues and followers! Check out our expertly curated and always available training content to help you hone your tradecraft skills. Our themes this fall are Social Media Investigations, OSINT Skills, Due Diligence and Business Intelligence, and Dark Web Skills. We have designed the packages to include a combination of recorded and upcoming live webinars along with our Data2Know newsletters that provide timely and detailed information on how to navigate the ever-changing digital world as analysts and investigators.
We appreciate you and hope you find our fall offerings just what you need to further hone your open source skills!
~ The Hg Team + Hg Pups
**All discounts will be applied until October 1, 2021.
