Digging for dirt....

Ok...first of all this probably isn't the proper forum but what the hey....I gotta start somewhere.

I'll try to keep this short and to the point. A dear friend of mine runs a non-profit animal rescue service. I've known the woman for more than 25 years and believe me, she could be a poster child for the Humane Society. This past Monday a woman drove almost 600 MILES to accuse my friend of "dog-napping" a Maltese. Even though my friend is able to PROVE that the animal that she rescued came from a local shelter 3 months before this woman "lost" her dog, the woman will not accept the fact that her dog is not here and has begun to smear my friend via the local media. Is there a way for me to run a "background check" on this person to see if there is any history of mental unstability or arrests? Google has provided me with a small amount of info, just enough to get me started provided I could find the proper database to search. I've got a few friends in the law enforcement field that I can get assistance from, but I really hate to call in those favors if there is an alternative method for me to get this information. Any help that you geniuses out there can throw my way would be greatly appreciated. If you're bashful about posting, by all means feel free to PM me.

I've seen some of these "background checks" on the web. Dunno if they are legit or not...

http://www.***************gateway.com/
What offices, and etc to contact. I'm going to have to play around a bit on this one...

If you looking for more of the criminal background check route... have a look at
http://www.***************gateway.co...INAL%20HISTORY

NetDetective:
http://www.netdetective.tv/investigate_software.html

http://www.background-checks-systems.com/ is an example of a pay service.

I don't know if those will be of use to you... but worth a shot.

I'll get back to you about that PM I sent you...

Screw websites and crap like that.. if she's gone after your friend, tell your friend to get an attorney who has the right to ask the police for an official background check... and since she telling lies about him/her, your friend has the right to file a lawsuit in civil court for improper presentment of character or whatever that law is called...

Or you can just use some of those links phish dude just posted...

:-\ has a good point. You might (if you haven't already) have her contact a lawyer and the authorities. They might not disclose this info to you... but what can you do with this info anyway? You can give it to them... but they can get the same info at the snap of a finger.

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Originally posted here by :-\
Screw websites and crap like that.. if she's gone after your friend, tell your friend to get an attorney who has the right to ask the police for an official background check... and since she telling lies about him/her, your friend has the right to file a lawsuit in civil court for improper presentment of character or whatever that law is called...

Or you can just use some of those links phish dude just posted...

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Already taken all of those actions....this thing REEKS of a libel suit waiting to happen. The problem is that a reputable establishment will be damaged when the local paper comes out tomorrow....and of course if any retraction is printed in the future it will be buried so deep in the paper that nobody will see it. Newspapers don't like to admit it when they screw up. My line of thinking is that IF this person has a history of mental instability or criminal activity that we can discredit her story via the local media and restore my friends reputation. Fighting fire with fire, so to speak.

Perhaps a letter to the editor disputing the (mis)information in the story, but not disclosing that you are a personal friend.
Also... many attorneys subscribe to background check services and will have more convenient accesses than us 'commoners'. Who knows, after the story breaks, an attorney may step up to assist 'pro bono'.

tee

How about her going to the same media as well offering her side of the story, the media should want this if its that big to publish. Her character in the town should stand up as well. She is in the buisness of helping animals so she should have good standing with people. Perhaps threatening the person with a suite dealing with character defacement and buisness loss will send her packing...

Just a random thought

Don't know if it helps any, but you can do a credit check on a person.

I've actually used one of those sites where you pay them 15 bucks and they look up stuff about this women. All I can say, is make sure you get a reputable one if you do it.

Your best bet is to do like :-\ said and go through a attorney.

If its worth enough to you, hire a private detective. I know that sounds corny, but Forbes did a article about how $500 can get you criminal history, credit history, credit cards and Social Security numbers from a private detective.

Stupid question but if the animal in question was "neutered", then usually they are "chipped". Has the owner asked for the "chip" to be checked or got any other identifying material (usually animals, at min, are "paw printed" especially if they are of a pure breed)?? I would think a vet or even the shelter should be able to check this information. It strikes me as extremely odd that someone would go 600 miles to pick up an animal without proof would be odd.

As for the smear campaign, retalitory actions wouldn't be helpful, IMHO and might do more harm than good. If this person is smearing your friend in public, a court order to desist should stop that (freedom of speech is ok up to the point it reaches libel, etc.). Harassment laws may also help. A visit with the local prosecutor might be worthwhile to see if there are other methods of remediation for this.

i used NetDetective once to see what i could find out of my self around the internet and is just a program that is a search engine nothing really fancy but i think that www.google.com made a better job that NetDetective. It also gives you links to the FBI and addresses were you can write to get information.
Ask for favors instead;)

I agree with MsMittins,

He who throws dirt loses ground.,.

but sitting back and watching the show is not a good idea.. so Know thy enemy, get this information so you know your opponent.. Check your Defences.. check that she has a zero case.. check if the dog hasn't been "Chipped" , check if there is anyother way to identify the animal, to ahve the ammunition to protect your friend..

There must be more to this, than a dog picked up at random.. is there any links between the two ppl, partners ex-partners, childeren, employment even the organisation it self..????

As was commented 600 miles is a long way.. but some animal lovers are loopy enough.
some times the hardest legal opponent is a loopy person who .. is stupid, but not dumb.. and cant be classified as insane..

cheers

Loopy yes but how would someone who is 600 miles away find out about someone else adopting an animal that "might" match the description of theirs? This is the part I don't understand. I have three cats. If one got lost I'd be looking locally in Toronto, not going to Montreal to see if they showed up there.

And why not MsMittens? Cats can run like hell.. :D

But after asking a few of my close sources, I found out that most cops if asked correctly will do a free background check if the conditions are right.. so I mentioned this and and I was told that without a doubt, if presented in a serious manner, cops would immediately help you out...

MsMittens, one flaw, Shelters check, by default if the animal is 'tagged', so if it really is from a shelter and she was able to adopt it, it's safe to say its not tagged by conventional methods.
Only proof she could supply would be Photographic, which with Animals is very weak at best.

- Noia

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Even though my friend is able to PROVE that the animal that she rescued came from a local shelter 3 months before this woman "lost" her dog

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My only thought is that, if this is true - and she can 'PROVE' it... Then take Pak's suggestion and have her take that info to the same media along with 'her side' of the story - and possibly take it a little further and have her use an attorney to present that proof as a case for libel if the media prints the faulse accusations...

Thats my 2 cents anyway,

RRP

All the media has to do is insert the word "allegedly" into their story and they have pretty well covered their asses as far as libel is concerned...a sad but true fact of life. They have been offered the proof and have refused to even view it. As for having the dog scanned, that will happen Monday morning...as soon as it and it's new owner return from a trip out west. By then, of course, the damage will have been done.

man i am not joking around here but i think that some of the people who own dogs are a little bit insane. Last year when my mom was driving me to my school a dog walker attacked us. Dont laugh because i am not joking. this crazy bitch dog walker accused us of going to fast (we were going 20 miles per hour on a 25 mile per hour road) and that we could have hit her dog. She was on the side of the road walking her dog when she thought that our car might damage her oh so precious dog...so what does she do? this phsyco bitch throws her body in front of the dog so that if my mom were attempting to hit her dog (which she was not :)) we would end up running into the lady first and killing her, but her dog would be saved due to the fact that the phsyco dog walker lady's dead body would land on top of the dog and protect it. Well it turns out that we were no wheres near the dog or the female dog walker but she decides to run out in front of us to protect her dog so we naturally stop the car not wanting to kill a possibly mentally retarded human being. The dog walker then starts to swear at us and smashed her coffee mug against the hood of our car (musta been decaf...that **** can make anyone go insane :)) and runs over to my mom's open window and throws her coffee on my mom and tells her that we were *******s for almost killing her dog. Well my mom wasnt to happy about this so she drove away and called my dad who works for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and immedietly 5 crusiers are dispatched to catch this bitch. Anyways long story short they never caught her and i have never seen the dog walker again...she probably killed a little girl who was trying to pet her lame dog and now is tucked away in some metal institution.

Anyways this is a true story i swear it but my point is that some of these dog walker/dog owner people are pretty hardcore about their pets. I think that if there was a law suit your friend would easily win since she has real proof and in court photos normally arent enough and a photo of some dog defiently wont convince the judge that she previously owned the pet. The media thing is a problem though, and i think a quick lawsuit would be an easy way to get it all over with. Sorry for my post, it was a funny story and i thought it belonged here :)

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Loopy yes but how would someone who is 600 miles away find out about someone else adopting an animal that "might" match the description of theirs?

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you and me both.. there is as I commented something missing in the story.. a jilted lover, ex partner, pissed off work mate, an even loopier relation.. there is a link but it isnt in the immediate information..

I think I have read too much Agatha Christie..

Cheers

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Loopy yes but how would someone who is 600 miles away find out about someone else adopting an animal that "might" match the description of theirs?

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www.petfinder.com

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Originally posted here by White_Eskimo
i think that some of the people who own dogs are a little bit insane.

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Grrrrrrrr Woof Woof Woof Woof Snarl Snarl Grrrrrrrr

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Originally posted here by White_Eskimo
my point is that some of these dog walker/dog owner people are pretty hardcore about their pets.

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It's no fun being a dog, I should know, Grrrr Woof Woof

I am not sure how big your balls are but if i was deadset on it , i would collect as much info as possible on the mark ,full name, employer ,associations,schooling...... Then start stalking ,pick a large detective agency from a large city and use their name when calling this persons friends and family(very in your face, people are stupid and easily intimdated by an authority figure though) ,pretending to be doing a employee background check is another good info collection scheme (best used on indirect associations, old neighboors and such As people will lie to protect people close to them) , pretend to be an old friend from college (gotta be subtle and have good background info but can be very effective)..... Eventually this person is going to hear about all these calls from detectives, phony prospective employers and old school friends and will likely be very intimidated/worried/confused. Even if you find no useful dirt it will probably scare the lady off. As long as you don't impersonate anyone from the goverment there is nothing that can be done to you for it. The great and always brilliant Fravia+ has some good tips also http://www.searchlores.org/cgi-bin/s...mal&sort=score
(much of it it web based but still applicable to the real world)
If you are very deadset on ending the problem , calls to the marks employer/family demanding the money she owes the crack "you sold her" and stuff like that (i will leave it to your imagination for others) can really get someone thinking and worrying about other things than her lost dog she thinks she found..
Pre emptive PR is also something to consider if you wish to stay defensive. If you know someone in the PR field talk to them , they are real *****ers and know the system(which is a big part of the battle)
Ohhh the naughty, naughty things you can do so easily, its a damn good thing there are not to many devious, smart and vengeful people out there.

:-/,

I tried to hit you with green dude. The attempt generated this error"javascript:void(0);"
I tested a few of the other posts in this thread and thier antipoint pop-up windows worked fine. Ask rioter(he knows php well) or jupmed about it. That may be the answer to your sig question. Maybe peeps have tried to give you green and they get the same error?


edit**Sorry Framework..I see this issue is known**edit

*Moved From Miscellaneous Security Discussions at allenb1963's request*

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Originally posted here by LarrySmith
:-/,

I tried to hit you with green dude. The attempt generated this error"javascript:void(0);"
I tested a few of the other posts in this thread and thier antipoint pop-up windows worked fine. Ask rioter(he knows php well) or jupmed about it. That may be the answer to your sig question. Maybe peeps have tried to give you green and they get the same error?


edit**Sorry Framework..I see this issue is known**edit

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Nothing to worry about.. thanks for the thought but give your greenies else where...

you may not be able to stop the story being printed at such a late point but what about having a friendly word with someone in the paper's offices see if you can't get a small area on the same page as the story for an advertisment put a link to company site etc

dont mention the actual alegations at all - but make sure people are able to go and see not your friends side of the story but rather the good work being done - people will respond better to cutesy pics of rescued animals etc than to tit-for-tat allegations

plus if your friend is seen to be rising above it all like it doesn't bother her then she will come out looking alot more sane than the 600mile drive woman

v_Ln