I had one client, an older gentleman in Singapore, who had been scammed out of over £150,000 by a woman he met on an online dating site.
Some of these scammers are very good. They build relationships over months and they go after vulnerable people. I think everyone has an Achilles heel and everyone can be scammed.
These scammers go on dating sites because that’s where the Achilles heel is. People want love.
The client came to me with information and I did a background search and all the information was clearly fictitious. I couldn’t find out who was behind the scam but I said to him: “None of this is real, the person you are talking to is probably either a criminal gang or someone in Nigeria”.
And he just wouldn’t believe me.
I now specialise in technical surveillance counter measures (TCSM), more commonly known as bug sweeping.
I invested £30,000 in the equipment you need to do it. I’ve done sweeps for multi-billion-pound finance companies. But there’s also a domestic market.
With the rise of spy shops, you can buy a £100 extension lead with a listening device built into it. I find them in people’s living rooms, next to their bed, even years after the couple has separated, those devices are still there.
It’s usually when a couple divorces and the man wants to control his soon-to-be ex wife.
I got a call from one client a couple of years ago at Christmas.
She said: “I’m at the end of the garden, I’m talking to you because I think there are listening devices inside my house. My husband and I split two years ago and I’ve turned the house upside down multiple times looking for these devices.
“I’ve been to the police but they say that they can’t do anything without evidence. I’ve fought with myself before calling you. I might just be paranoid.”
I told her I’d be there the next day.
Within 10 minutes, I found the first device. He had bugged five rooms of her house. She had had counselling in that house about the breakup of the marriage and he’d heard everything.
He was just a horrible, controlling person. The police ended up raiding his new house and found that he was doing the same thing to his new girlfriend.
I’ve been told many times by women who have been in terrible relationships that I’ve changed their lives. Those have been the best jobs.
When someone rings up a private investigator, it’s normally because something very serious is going on in their life. To hear how you’ve helped someone through that situation is very rewarding.
I come into the office at 9am and I’ll spend my days talking with various clients and organising work.
You never know what a day will look like. I took a phone call a month ago and the following day I was up in Scotland on a four-day surveillance job for a client.
I love and hate that aspect.
I’ve got a wife, a little boy and a dog and it can be hard being away from them, but I do love working for myself. I give everything to the business. I probably work 10 times harder than I did as an employee but I think the job gives so much more as well.
When you’re starting out as a private investigator, the salary is about £30,000.
Then the world’s your oyster if you are well connected and working for the right people. The typical investigator will probably make £60,000 a year.
The hours can be anti-social. You’re working a lot of evenings and weekends.
If I want to put someone under surveillance, I’ve got to drive across the country to wherever they live while they are sleeping so I can be in position for when they get up and then I’ve got to follow them around the whole day and often into the night.
I’ve worked 20-hour days before. I think that’s why the work suits ex-military and ex-police people – you’ve got to be prepared to put the hours in.
We do have our limitations. I am bound by the law.
People ring me up and ask if I can hack into a CCTV system or hack a woman’s phone and of course I say no. I need to vet the people who call me.
If someone says: “Can you find this woman for me?” I have to find out more about the situation. Has this person run away from you because you’re a woman beater?
But there are unscrupulous private investigators out there who would take that work on, no questions asked, just thinking about the money. It’s an unregulated industry and there is a dark side.
But I love it. I don’t think there’s any better job. It’s just so interesting.
I grew up in a little village in the middle of England and this job has opened my eyes. I see more aspects of human nature than I would have thought possible.
I’ve met so many different people and seen so many different ways of life. My emotional intelligence has gone up exponentially.
I tell my clients: “always trust your gut instinct”. Doing what I do, I’ve had to rely on it so many times and it hasn’t let me down.
As told to Isolde Walters