IDENTIFICATION OF VONAGE PHONE NUMBERS

By Robert Scott, P.I.

VOIP phone numbers present a special challenge to investigators and skiptracers. A person with a VOIP phone number, like those from Vonage, could be physically located anywhere in the world - despite having an area code that suggests otherwise. Unfortunately, there is no single trick or database for identifying whether or not a phone number is in fact a VOIP line. But with the assistance of investigators from around the country, it's now possible to determine if a phone number is from Vonage - the largest service provider of VOIP in the U.S.

When run through publicly available phone company identifier websites like fonefinder.net or phonevalidator.com, Vonage numbers don't come up as "Vonage" as the company uses subcarriers for its phone connections. To try and determine which phone carriers these might be, a request was put out on investigative listserves asking members who positively, absolutely knew a phone number to be a Vonage line to send it in. The results were as follows:

Focal Communications 60%

Level 3 Communications 30%

XO Communications 10%

So, when using a phone company identifier website like phonevalidator.com, if one of these carriers comes up, there's a good possibility the phone number is from Vonage.

Robert Scott is a Los Angeles-based private investigator and author of "The Investigator's Little Black Book." Reprint permission.

NEW P.O. BOX LOCATOR SEARCH ANNOUNCED!

Black Book Online, the free search site for investigators and skiptracers, has launched a unique new search engine that finds the physical location of a post office that corresponds to a P.O. box address.

"The most obvious use of the search is for locating witnesses and skips who are using a post office box for their mail," says private investigator and site creator Robert Scott. "People typically live close to their P.O. box for the sake of convenience. An investigator looking for someone will often have multiple possible addresses developed through public records and commercial skiptracing data. Knowing which address is closest to the P.O. box can be significant."

Scott says the search engine is the first of its kind and was built with data obtained from the post office. "This could have been built long ago, but no one else thought of it or cared to do it. The post office does have a post office locator on its website that will work based on a zip code. The problem is, some zip codes have multiple post offices in the zip code. For example, in Los Angeles, there's one zipcode with four post offices. Our search engine is able to tell the user which of the four the actual P.O. box is located at."

The P.O. box search has also been integrated into select search results at SkipSmasher.com, Scott's restricted-access website for professional investigators and skiptracers.

For the free version of the P.O. box locator, visit the main page at Black Book Online, located at www.BlackBookOnline.info.

DIGITAL COPIERS SECURITY RISK?

By Robert Scott, P.I.

Photocopiers can now be added to the list of items leaking personal data, according to the Sharp copier company. The company recently released a security advisory warning that the hard drives on many photocopiers are storing scanned documents -- long after actual copies have been made.

Does this mean that a person who stops by the corner copy shop to copy his income tax form is at risk of his personal information being compromised? Or that anyone with access to the company office machine after hours can do some unauthorized intelligence gathering?

This story was widely circulated on Internet news sites and elsewhere recently. I wanted to learn if this was really true or just an Internet myth, so I made a trip to my local copy shop. There were two basic types of copiers. A Xerox Docucolor and a Canon ImageRunner. I couldn't get anything out of the Xerox. On the Canon, after exploring the various menus and submenus I found my way to a "recall" option where the last three items printed were still available! I picked one and it started printing out 60 copies of an actress's resume! Apparently, that's who had been on the machine before me! So, is there a security flaw on some digital copy machines? Apparently so!

Robert Scott is a Los Angeles-based private investigator and author of "The Investigator's Little Black Book." Reprint permission.

SKIPTRACE SEMINAR.COM LAUNCHES!

SkiptraceSeminar.com, the new website from Robert Scott, has just launched! The site is for any skiptracer with less than two years of experience or any skiptracer with more experience who never developed a solid foundation on how to skiptrace.

SkiptraceSeminar.com is three hours long and is available online 24/7. The introductory cost is just $15. It's hosted by Robert Scott, P.I. -- author of "The Investigator's Little Black Book" and creator of the websites BlackBookOnline.info and SkipSmasher.com. For full details, please visit:

www.SkiptraceSeminar.com

NEW PHONE VALIDATOR WEBSITE LAUNCHES!

Investigators and skiptracers seeking to learn if a phone number is a landline or a cell phone can now use our new free website at:

www.PhoneValidator.com

The site also allows users to automatically run the phone number through directory assistance and Google to develop new leads.

RESOURCES:

Black Book Online: Free Database Searches!

P.I. Directory: Need a P.I.?

P.I. Licensing Directory

SSN Validator - FREE!!!

Phone Validator - FREE!!!

SkiptraceSeminar.com

Best-Seller!!!!

Click the Cover - Get Your Copy Fast!!

New e-Book!

Learn How to Skiptrace! Click Book Cover for Details!