A private investigator's tricks of the trade

PI Mall, a website for private investigators, caters not only to professionals, but regular folks who want to do some spying in their free time.

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

April 21, 2010 — CSO —

In 1993, Private Investigator Joe Seanor had wrapped up employment stints in the CIA and the Department of Justice, and was looking for something new in his professional life. He launched PI Mall, an online private investigation database, with the intent that it would serve as a central place for those in the PI industry to go for information, and to list their services for those who might be seeking to hire. It was a need that was lacking as public exposure for PIs was almost unheard of at the time.

Today, advances in technology, and the stresses of life, have made PI Mall not only the longest running site of its kind, but also a popular destination for many people who want to find out how to become a "Citizen PI," so to speak. Members of the public with no formal investigative training are coming to Seanor in droves to buy tools and get tips in order to do their own sleuthing in instances such as a spouse's suspected infidelity.

See our slideshow that features the spy tools that PIs use for sleuthing

Seanor, who also runs PI Classroom, a website for investigative training resources, spoke with CSO about the changes in the PI industry, why so many now feel the need to spy on loved ones, and what they are using to do it. (Read Brandon Gregg's tips for effective covert surveillance)

CSO: Your site has been around since 1993. What's changed from those early days?
Joe Seanor: When we first started out, our primary interest was in the private investigator community. People in the PI business didn't know about the web, or advertising. We were the resource at that time. But we've become not just a PI resource, but a public resource,too. We get calls from people, private citizens, day after day who have seen the website and they say they want to do some kind of investigation on their own. They'll usually ask "You have this equipment, will this help me out?" I can definitely say in the last year or so, I'm getting far more inquiries from the public on how to do this stuff on their own.

Why do you think that has happened?
The impression I get from all the private investigators I talk to is that it's the economy. When the economy started tanking, their businesses tanked, too. But after about six or eight months of that, business started picking up. Now investigations are focused more on the spouse issues, the divorce cases. On my end, my calls from people who want to check on their spouse has easily increased 100 percent in the last several months. I get three or four contacts a week. Before I was getting these kinds of inquiries maybe once every other week.

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