INVESTIGATIVE DUE DILIGENCE
OUR PROCESS
A lot of companies offer low-cost investigative due diligence services. But, all they really do is type a subject’s name into a search engine and send you a printout of the results. These data dumps are essentially useless to anyone looking to make a sound investment, lending or hiring decision.
By contrast, over our 16 years as a leader in the field, we have developed a unique process of identifying and gathering highly-relevant data you can trust when making strategic business decisions.
Our seasoned team of former journalists and editors oversees our background investigations and captures the results in our signature BackTrack Report. Although tailored to meet the particular situation, all our investigations consist of the following steps:
Credentials Verification
If you’ve ever tweaked your résumé a little too much, then you know that these kinds of documents can be filled with errors and exaggerations.
When conducting a background investigation, The BackTrack Report verifies the subject’s educational and work credentials through former employers, schools, regulatory bodies and other sources.
If someone is willing to lie or exaggerate on their résumé, it begs the question: What else are they willing to lie or exaggerate about?
Litigation Searches
Would you like to know if the subject of your investigation has ever declared bankruptcy or been arrested, convicted of a crime or involved in a civil lawsuit?
Litigation searches are essential to The BackTrack Report's investigative due diligence process. Our litigation staff culls and reviews federal and state civil, criminal and bankruptcy court records in all jurisdictions where the subject has lived and worked. We always go beyond online searches to include manual searches that fill in online coverage gaps.
We’re keenly aware that a matter settled out of court can still have merit. So, we also retrieve court records to verify the exact nature of the legal matter in question. And, to spare you the embarrassment of acting on misguided assumptions, we take the time to ensure that the matter really pertains to the subject of the investigation, as opposed to another person with the same name.
News Searches
You can gain important insight from news coverage on the individual or entity you’re investigating. The BackTrack Report includes the results of thorough searches of multiple news databases so you can know what people have said publicly about your subject.
In addition to conveying public opinion, news searches reveal information about job titles and employment dates and can help identify people your subject worked with – people who, in turn, can be excellent sources of information.
Corporate and Regulatory Record Reviews
How many companies is the subject of your due diligence investigation currently affiliated with? How many boards of directors does he/she serve on? What firms did he/she leave off of the résumé you’re considering?
The BackTrack Report's extensive search of corporate and regulatory records provides a thorough picture of the entities your subject currently works for or was affiliated with in the past. It also discloses if he/she was sanctioned by a regulatory body, such as the SEC or FINRA.
Interviews
When people you’re looking to hire, lend to or invest with provide you with a list of references, these contacts are carefully hand-picked. So, it’s unlikely that they’ll be entirely open and forthcoming when interviewed.
That’s why, as part of our investigative process, we identify a range of people who previously worked with the subject, but aren’t included in his or her reference list. You can reach out to these contacts yourself or our investigators can interview them on your behalf.
Written Reports
As the final step in our investigative due diligence process, our editorial staff of former journalists and editors evaluates the information collected and details our findings and conclusions in our signature BackTrack Report.
Presented in an easy-to-read format, this comprehensive report allows you to access pertinent information on your subject without wading through tons of extraneous data.
You can download an overview of Data Dump Firms vs. The BackTrack Report. We’ve also assembled some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) about our process and services for your information.
For additional information, please contact us.