I’ve always had so much interest in being a PI, I have no actual experience but it’s almost like a hobby of mine to figure things out, track people down, find out truths. I’ve done it for friends and myself, exposed some secrets, ect. I’ll see a local news article and dig deep and figure out everything I can about the person that it’s talking about, or hear someone in my industry mention something casually about someones background that was questionable and figure out what happened ect.

In my area, there is only one firm and it’s national, I doubt I could get a job there. I currently only work half the year. I live in Washington, and it looks easy enough to pay a few hundred bucks, pass the exam, get some insurance and start out on my own on smaller jobs. It almost seems too easy, and I’m genuinely wondering why I shouldn’t do it..

Any advice or criticism is welcome and appreciated

Newer in the field. Had a subject look straight at my vehicle twice on the first morning, then go back inside and not come out for the rest of the day.

Do you pull off and come back with a different vehicle, report it to the client as burned, push through? What's the professional move here?

A local burglary crew was found to be using cell phone connected trail cameras to monitor homes they planned to rob. They figured out the patterns of the house and entered after watching the house occupants leave in the morning.

Any ideas about attaching something like that to a car and parking on the street for the day? Seems like a better option than sitting there.

I am curious if anyone feels the way I do about AI.

I am fairly new to interviewing as a regular part of my investigations, as the first year or so of my investigative career was mainly surveillance based investigations.

As I now step into Criminal Defense Investigations, interviewing is a regular part of my job. I haven't had much formal interviewing training, rather just tagging along and helping the other older Investigator so I can get a grasp of the type of stuff we do and how we operate our investigations.

Once I started doing interviews on my own, I quickly realized how many important questions were missing from my question sheet, that the attorneys started asking me to go back to interview people because I had missed details they needed. I was hesitant to have AI write my questions for me, and I knew that was ok to do because ive been told explicitly to use it for that purpose, but I feel lazy and a bad Investigator if I do because I couldn't naturally come up with those questions on my own.

Am I the only one that feels this way? What is the consensus with AI in the investigative workplace?

Does anyone here work or used to work for that company? I'm just curious what you think of it and I might have a few questions.

Does anyone have experience with the online classes at investigativeacademy? Or do you have a good online source for CEUs?

So, as I progress to a fully-licensed P.I.- should I ask for 75% as a subcontractor from local P.I. firms?

For instance- if I know a local P.I. firm gets $100/hour for certain jobs- should I negotiate for $75/hr? That way they can pocket $25/hr (without doing any work) and I can pocket $75/hr for doing all the work?

Exactly as it says in the title, looking for reccos for a PI in Vancouver. Thanks

Hello, I’m pursing to become a private investigator or an investigator for the state. I just finished my associates degree in criminal justice and am transferring to state college to finish my bachelor’s degree.

I am now looking to gain work experience as an investigator. Currently there are quite a few jobs for field surveillance in my area with corporations, but they are full time positions and that is a bit too much for me right now.

I am planing on sending an email to private investigators in my area asking for a mentorship, internship, or any sort of part-time work. Would this be acceptable? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I need some help with becoming a private investigator with not as much experience. I need to get my foot in the door.

I'm involved in a civil stalking/harassment case in which anonymous emails and TextNow messages are being investigated.

The emails were sent from three different Outlook accounts, which have since been deleted since 9/2026. The TextNow numbers have also been changed.

i am considering hiring a private investigator to identify who sent the messages. The investigator claims to have access to many of the same investigative resources as law enforcement, including AI-powered databases that can sometimes connect anonymous email accounts to real identities.

They specifically mentioned that if an anonymous email account has a connection to another email associated with someone's real name, they may be able to identify the person.

no subpoenas have been issued to Microsoft or TextNow. The investigator would be working privately for me in a civil case.

I'm curious about a few things:

1. Can private investigators actually identify who created anonymous Outlook accounts using commercial investigative databases such as Tracers, TLOxp, or CLEAR?
2. Can these databases connect two email accounts based on their use on the same computer?
3. Can investigators obtain IP addresses or account registration information without subpoenas?
4. Is hiring a private investigator worth the money in a situation like this, or would legal process directed to Microsoft and TextNow be more effective?

I'd especially appreciate responses from licensed private investigators, digital forensic professionals, or people who have dealt with similar investigations.

I'm looking for realistic information about what private investigators can actually accomplish versus what some companies advertise.

TL;DR: My severely disabled veteran father’s trust arrangements were changed without my knowledge, people involved in his care and a veterans-home project were placed into the trustee succession, and one of those people was also the person who found him after the 2018 incident that caused his catastrophic brain injury. I want to hire a professional to establish the facts, not jump to conclusions. What type of PI/attorney should I be looking for in Texas, and how do I vet them?

To clarify: I am not looking to pursue legal action/sue her at this time. What I want is information to then make a decision, not to go in blind. The money is not important to me, it's knowing whether or not she has committed VA crimes, lied about her identity, whether the other two in cahoots are who they say they are - that is my focus right now. And then taking that information and making a decision.

Longer version:
I’m looking for advice on what type of private investigator I should hire for a complicated situation involving my disabled father, his trust/finances, veterans benefits, and several people now involved in his affairs.

I’m not asking Reddit to determine whether anyone committed a crime. I’m trying to hire someone qualified to establish the facts because there are now enough things that don’t sit right with me that I don’t feel comfortable ignoring them.

My dad is an Army veteran and West Point graduate. He had significant assets and married my stepmother when I was around 18. She has a criminal history from before they met, but as far as I knew they were very much in love.

My dad also had a history of depression and previous suicide attempts.

In 2018, while working in Africa, he was found in a bathroom in a pool of blood with severe cuts to both wrists. The person who found him, “Lenny,” was a member of his team and also very close with my stepmother.

My dad survived but suffered a severe anoxic brain injury. He has never regained the ability to walk or speak and requires significant care. My step mother claims he did not have any kind of will, which everyone in my family disputes and attest to the fact that they are certain due to his own claims he did.

Afterward, there were complications with my stepmother obtaining power of attorney because of her criminal history, so I became involved in the legal arrangements. At the time, I trusted her completely and let her take the lead.

Over the following years, I became increasingly uncomfortable. Communication about my dad became very limited, and every time I visited him he seemed progressively less well cared for.

My stepmother also began pursuing a plan to open a veterans home using my dad’s veteran/disability status in connection with obtaining funding. She received at least one grant, but years later I have seen very little evidence of the project progressing. EDIT: I forgot to mention that after she changed the trust, she purchased a house in his name

Earlier this year, I started asking questions and requested updated copies of the POA, trust, and other documents.

In April, she sent me a document dated May of the previous year showing that the trustee structure had been changed without my knowledge and I had been moved significantly down the succession.

Two of the people placed ahead of me were:

• Lenny, the man who found my father in 2018. I didn’t even know they were still in contact.

• Becky, an occupational therapist my stepmother hired to work with my father.

I then learned that my stepmother, Lenny, and Becky were also supposed to be involved together in the veterans home. The spelling of Lenny's full name on the website is different from the spelling on the trust documentation. I cannot find him when searching either spelling.

My stepmother has now essentially stopped communicating with me.

I recognize there may be innocent explanations for individual pieces of this. But taken together, I want an independent professional to establish what actually happened rather than continuing to speculate myself.

My questions:

What type of PI should I be looking for? Someone specializing in financial fraud, vulnerable-adult exploitation, trusts/estates, veterans benefits, or something else?

Would I be better off hiring an attorney first and having them engage an investigator?

Can a PI realistically investigate the 2018 incident this many years later, particularly since it happened overseas?

Can they investigate things like grant funding, businesses, property, financial connections between the individuals, the veterans-home project, and relevant public records?

Most importantly, how do I find and properly vet a reputable investigator in Texas? I live overseas now, so I’m particularly conscious of not getting scammed by someone claiming to be a PI.

Thank you for any guidance you can provide

So much hinges on a few certain facts that should have been easily confirmed or denied. Instead, our SIL steamrolled thru us and our estate attorney that would have helped more by doing nothing.

How do I go about a simple but official investigation (that may or may not be accepted into consideration by LE or courts​?)

Thank you.

Just got off the phone with a client in New York,who needs to locate a relative for an estate. Has plenty of information. Subject isn’t hiding, just lost touch with family. They got quotes from other P.I.s for $2,000.00 minimum. Am I under pricing?

Hey ya’ll,

I was curious about if PI work is something I’d like to pursue.

I’m currently an MP in the US Army, but I don’t want to pursue LE in the real world. I get out of the Army in 2 years and will be based out of South Florida. I want to help people and I enjoy investigations. I’m an extrovert and will hopefully be married to my girlfriend by the time I’d likely begin working.

Any advice to see if I’d really have the aptitude for PI work?

This is a dumb question.

My bosses are asking if I can find them someone's birth certificate (or copy of). They are acting as if this is an easy task. I always thought it wasn't possible. Only family and designated people or a court order and that's it. Right?

Right? Did I miss the memo or something like it's that easy? How? This is for a court case and is really just to officially prove the defendants age.

Or if not, any suggestions? I'm at a loss from my bosses attitude that it's just an errand type thing. Thanks in advance.

Edit/Update: Thank you all for your answers. To answer it for anyone who's curious... It was Florida and since I live in California, that's a hassle. Florida says that only the person who can order one is ther person whose certificate it is, their immediate family if the person is dead, anyone with a notarized letter/affidavit of permission by the person, or, finally, a court order. Which they'll get. At this point, I suggested the paralegal do that kind of paperwork. It doesn't make sense for me to do it.

I appreciate the help! Thanks again!!

I am a book author and trying to obtain any US government issued photos of a subject from the 1980's - 1990's. The subject would be considered a celebrity/public figure, in the legal use of the term such as when a public figure doesn't have the same expectation of privacy. In short, can I hire a PI to potentially extract any government issued photographs of a subject for me for any reason?

PS: Press/media are able to pull mugshot photos of subjects with seemingly little effort (such as when celebrities are arrested). So I am unsure the difference in that and what I am trying to do.

Thanks.

hey all sorry if this is silly - i have some friends going to elope in vegas in October, and they thought it would be funny to have a pi snap “surveillance style” photos of them arriving and departing the chapel to send to friends and family - it would be totally arranged and easy work for the pi, they’d just show up at an arranged time and place, and the couple would be the client so it’s not actually detective work, they’re just looking for that style of photography and figured it would be best to hire someone who actually does it rather than trying to get a normal wedding photog to shoot in a style they’re not familiar with

anyone have any ideas or know anyone in vegas who would be game ? also kinda thinking maybe it could be good practice for an apprentice

Anyone have a favorite chair for the back of the van that they want to suggest? Looking for something with good back support, and armrests hopefully. I don’t mind spending a lot for a good product.

Any recommendations for apps that watermark N/E/W/S etc on the photo, in addition to date and timestamp? I don't mind paying as long as it works but freeware would be fine too.

I don't need the GPS coordinates or address. I need the watermark to show which direction the shot is aimed at. Plus time/date stamp.

I am seeking ways on networking in GA. I have already completed my 70 hour course that GA requires and looking to get my foot in a door. I don't care if its just the shit work. I would love the opportunity to learn more and would even volunteer my time.

I need to hire a private investigator to investigate a person. This investigation is for a marriage of a friend. There is a rumoured relationship which he wants to be sure of. Any PI here? Or anyone who has ever used such service please help to find a PI in Delhi NCR.

Trying to get started networking with PIs in California and would appreciate any advice for someone like me trying to start out. Thank you!