Does EXCALIBUR handle cases outside of Florida?

Yes. While headquartered in Gainesville, we maintain active investigative hubs and rapid-response capabilities in Colorado Springs, Columbia, and Santa Fe to support high-stakes litigation and corporate matters.

Are your investigators trained in FBI interview techniques?

Yes. Lead investigator R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent. Our team utilizes advanced rapport-building and deception-detection techniques to obtain admissible statements nationwide.

January 24th, 2023

1/24/2023

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KEEPING KIDS SAFE IN AN UNSAFE WORLD

Today’s article is going to go over some tips for trying to keep your children safe in a world that is becoming more unsafe with each passing day. Not to be an alarmist, but these common sense ideas can make the difference between tranquility and disaster.

Make sure your kids are taught to never admit strangers, under any circumstance, into the home whether or not you or another adult family member are home. They should be taught to never open the door to a stranger, even if they look like they are friendly and just may be selling something. Have them go to a door if there’s a knock/ring and ask anyone on the other side what they want or need. They should respond to any conversation with, “My dad is upstairs on a business call, but I’ll make sure he knows you’re out here.” They can then go out of ear range of the front door and call a trusted neighbor to come over and assess the situation if a parent isn’t actually in the home.

Teach your children local emergency phone numbers, primarily 911, and make sure younger children memorize their name, address, and parent's phone number.

Make sure your teenagers truly understand that they should never meet with anyone they do not know, especially someone they met on the Internet. Monitor their online activity if you suspect anything and even if you don’t! Many of parents have been shocked to learn that their straight A student is corresponding with what their child thought was a fellow teenager, but who turned out to be a 45-year-old pedophile. Teach younger members of your family not to open mail or packages.

Go over how to answer the telephone with your young children and teach them not to give our information such as their address, whether or not an adult is home, their names, etc. Play-act this with them, as practice is the best teacher at a younger age.

Teach your children that it’s okay to say no to strangers, especially adults. Go over the different scenarios that pedophiles use to prey on your kids. Ploys such as “I’m looking for my lost dog” or “Can you help me find my little boy/girl” are two such approaches a pedophile will use. Once again, play-act is the best teacher of this.

Have an escape plan should your children need to exit the residence in case of emergency. As I’ve written before, have drills, both during the day and in the middle of the night, so they’ll know exactly what to do should a real emergency ever occur.

Make sure your home Wi-fi network is secure. Having a whole house Wi-fi network allows kids to get on the internet from anywhere in the house making it harder to know what they are doing on their computer, mobile telephone or gaming system. Put a rule into affect that all computer use must be done in a common area of the home where you can see what they are doing. Not that you have to stand over their shoulder at all time, but a quick surprise peak can be very revealing. Also, go back and check their history of websites they’ve visited. This is very easy and can be found on any browser in use today.

Teach your kids, once they are old enough, the importance of safety when using social networking sites. In my opinion, no kid under the age of 15 has any business being subscribed to ANY social network. I’m sure you’ll hear that all of their friends are on Snapchat or Instagram, but don’t cave to pressure. There will be plenty of time in the future for them to waste countless hours on the internet! When they do reach an appropriate age for social networking interaction, teach them not to use their full names, birthdays or addresses on their profiles. The less personal info the better and caution them about mentioning any vacation plans on their social media sites, posting any identifiable locations, vehicle information, etc. and not to “check in” using some of the popular features of many of the social media apps.

Monitor. And I do mean, monitor, your kid’s online game activity such as the type that occurs on platforms such as Xbox Live. These gaming systems allow them to interact with friends from all over the country and, in fact, the world, but they can also expose them to online predators. Many pedophiles have been discovered to use these systems where they masquerade as young teenagers in attempt to gain the trust and confidence of actual children. Once they’ve gained their trust, it’s not long before they are convincing the child to meet in person somewhere.

Install software that allows you, the parent, to block access to websites. Google has a free option where you can block keywords in searches and I strongly recommend implementing that on all of your computers. Search is the gateway to finding websites on the internet you’d rather them not find.

Implement a family rule that says only a parent can download ANY thing from the internet. Many of the games, music and other software that is out there to tempt an unsuspecting child contains spyware and other types of malware that can infect your entire system and lead to identity fraud and worse.

Let me know if me, or any of the investigators here at EXCALIBUR Private Investigation, can ever be of assistance to you.

Lee Walters
President
352.409.8900; 719.208.4088; 505.208.6400; 803.806.7800

About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.

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January 17th, 2023

1/17/2023

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4 SCAMS THAT MAY, OR MAY NOT, BE HAPPENING

Scam article by Private Investigator serving Florida, South Carolina, Colorado and New Mexico

Every once in awhile I get something that hits my email inbox that makes me smile and which has just enough truth in it that quite possibly, and I emphasize quite, may be true. I can’t imagine that any criminal is smart enough, at least none that I’ve dealt with in 30+ years, to think of these ideas for which the email warned me about. Some of these are also a little dated. Take a look at see if you agree. Could this really be happening?

1. THE LONG-TERM PARKING SCARE

The story goes that someone left his or her car in the long-term parking in San Jose, California, and while away from the car, someone broke in. Using the information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the person's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. If you are going to leave your car in long-term parking, you should NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. A simple answer to this? Either lock this information in the glove compartment, or leave it in a locked box in the trunk.

2. THE GPS SCARE

So the story goes someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green, which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS, which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish, and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. My answer to this one? First, why are you still using a GPS? There’s something called Waze or Google Mpas you can download on your cell phone and never have to use a GPS again. And same goes for using the built-in GPS in your new car. Don’t put an address in there and label it as home, just in case there’s a really smart car/house thief in your part of the country.

3. THE CELLULAR TELEPHONE SCARE

An unknown lady had her purse, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her significant other, from a pay phone telling them what had happened, and they say, "I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago." When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got ahold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of the lesson:

a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....

b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.

c. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet "family and friends" who text you.

4. THE PURSE IN THE GROCERY CART SCARE

A lady supposedly goes grocery-shopping at a local store and leaves her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart while she reached for something on a shelf... wait till you read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she reported it to the store personnel. After returning home, she received a phone call from the store to say that they had her wallet and that although there was no money in it, it did still hold her personal papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet, only to be told by the store manager that they had not called her. By the time she returned home again, her house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves knew that by calling and saying they were with the store, they could lure her out of her house long enough for them to burglarize it.

My answer to this one? Keep your wallet and/or purse attached to you or under the bags most of us take to the store these days, in Colorado you’re now charged ten cents a bag if you don’t bring your own, and don’t take anyone’s word who calls you. Always hang up, find the number on your own, and call the location back. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I worked in law enforcement how someone would tell me anything I wanted to know, just by me saying I was so-and-so from whatever agency you want to say you're from.

Stay safe!

Lee Walters
President
EXCALIBUR Private Investigation
352.509.8900; 719.208.4088; 505.208.6400; 803.806.7800
www.excaliburlegalsupport.com

About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.

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