Chasing IP Addresses & Emails

There has been alot of interest this week in chasing IP addresses and email information. Just wanted to lend some help.

An IP is an address on the Internet. Just like an address on the street. When you type in a web address you see letters. Computers see the numbers. The IP numbers are issued to certain networks. IE Yahoo, Google, Comcast, etc..

Emails can be traced by the headers on the emails. Headers contain IP addresses of the networks that they go through.

If you look further you can even get latitude and longitude of the network that was logged on to where the email was sent from.

Once you trace down the network, if you have a legal need or warrant you can track down the user name that was logged on and possibly a residence address. Now remember, if you log on from an air card you could be anywhere.

Check this website for help on tracing emails and IP addresses. They have made this pretty much dummy driven. It will also give you information on masking who you are so that you can hide your location.

http://www.ip-adress.com/ipaddresstolocation/

I would like to wish everyone a Safe & Happy New Year!! See you on the other side.....

Patrick L. Baird
Private Investigator

Federal Study Questions the Accuracy of Sex Offender Registries

A federal study has questioned the accuracy of information contained in sex offender registries which according to the US Justice Department are often inaccurate and incomplete, thus undermining the public's knowledge of such criminals.

Federal investigators determined that the national sex registry is lacking information on 22% of state level sex offenders. They are regularly absent of SSNs, DMV info and basic addresses.

"As a result, members of the public will not have the information they need to assess the threat posed by sex offenders in their communities," the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General cautioned.

As sex registry information becomes more widely accessible via the Internet, investigators are still concerned about the databases used to monitor the nation's 644,000 registered sex offenders. There are also those questions about whether the stigmatizing registries go too far.

For example, an advocacy group called Texas Voices is trying to change that state's sex-offender registration requirements so that they don't cover so many crimes. Other critics contend that Congress lacks the constitutional authority to require sex offenders to register anew when they move into new states.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy of Montana ruled last June, when he struck down the requirement "Tracking sex offenders may enhance public safety, but any effect on interstate commerce from requiring sex offenders to register is too attenuated to survive (constitutional) scrutiny"

Multiple registries have sprung in the last dozen years. The FBI maintains the National Sex Offenders Registry, and all 50 states maintain their own registries. However, they differ.

California leads the nation in registered sex offenders, with about 114,000. This is more than twice the number of sex offenders registered in Texas or Florida, and ten times the number registered in North Carolina. California allows searches by proximity to parks or schools. Florida allows the public to search for e-mail addresses used by registered sex offenders. North Carolina locates sex offenders by "longitude and latitude."

Some state registries aren't yet compatible with the national FBI registry. Some state files were rejected because they lacked information that the national database requires. Sex offender records are "inconsistent and complete," investigators concluded

"Neither law enforcement officials nor the public can rely on the registries for identifying registered sex offenders, particularly those who are fugitives," investigators noted.

Occasionally, officials kept warrant information out of the national crime database to avoid the expense of extraditing undesirable fugitives. "Some communities do not want fugitive sex offenders returned to them, even for prosecution," the investigators indicated, adding that "we also were told states may not want to reveal that there are a large number of fugitive sex offenders in their jurisdictions."

Under a 2006 law, states have until 2009 to meet new sex-offender registration standards. The investigators aren't completely critical in their new 110-page report assessing progress in tracking sex offenders. They lauded the US Marshals Service for increasing investigations and arrests of fugitives. In 2007, that agency conducted 2,621 fugitive sex offender investigations as opposed to 390 in 2004.

At any rate I am glad we have this registry to complain about, while it may lack 100% accuracy it is a valuable tool for reference purposes.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Patrick L. Baird
Private Investigator

The Web's Largest Database of FAQ's

"QueryCAT is the web's largest database of frequently asked questions. QueryCAT searches the web for FAQs, automatically extracting questions and ranking the answers to help you find the information you are looking for"

Very interesting search engine -- it claims to be the web's largest database of frequently asked questions. Just type in your question, and you'll be given a list of sites that purport to answer those questions. I ran a couple of searches, and it works pretty well -- although there were some completely irrelevant results that I had to skip over. Still, this is an interesting way to find out the answers to your questions.

Enjoy....

Happy Holidays!!

Patrick L. Baird
Private Investigator

John Walsh's Dedication Revolutionized Missing Children Searchs

The recent naming of the killer in the Adam Walsh case serves as a reminder of the progress John Walsh has made in the way missing children cases are handled, according to the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI).

After his 6-year-old son was kidnapped and murdered, John Walsh became an activist and helped to put missing children's pictures on milk cartons, created fingerprinting programs, and improved security at stores and schools.

In 1984, Walsh co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which serves as a resource for law enforcement and raises public awareness of missing children. NCMEC has aided in the recovery of more than 112,900 children, according to its Web site.
The television program "America's Most Wanted," hosted by Walsh, has helped to capture nearly 1,000 fugitives during the past 20 years, according to the program's Web site.

The creation of missing person units at police departments and an FBI database for missing children are also attributed to Walsh's work.

In 2006, President George W. Bush signed a law called "The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act," which tracks and apprehends convicted sex offenders who disappear after their release from prison. The law was signed twenty-five years to the day that Adam Walsh was murdered.

We are all thankful for what John Walsh has done for the plight of the missing child.

Happy Holidays!!

Patrick L. Baird
Private Investigator

Hollywood Private Investigator Receives Jail Time

Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator with a string of Hollywood clients, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of wiretapping and racketeering, among other charges.

Pellicano had previously been convicted on 78 charges, including wiretapping, racketeering and wire fraud. In addition to jail time, Pellicano has been ordered to pay a $2 million fine.

His trial gripped Hollywood, with testimony from the likes of Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone.

Here is an example of a good PI that got greedy.

Happy Holidays!!

Patrick Baird
Private Investigator