Things Have Really Changed...Including Surveillance Investigations
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There was a little bit of humor to start Keith Elliott’s session, “Investigations and Surveillance in Today’s Landscape,” at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. In a bit that, initially, felt like it was really happening, you could see Elliott rustling around behind the stage curtains when he was announced by the ACFE’s Jason Zirkle.
Jason: “Keith, good morning. The audience is all yours.”
Keith Elliott, from behind the curtains: “Uh. Jason?”
J: “Yes?”
KE: “Can you – can you come here for a second?”
J: “Give us a second.” (Jason walks behind the curtain)
KE: “There’s people out there.”
J: “Yes.”
KE: “But it says virtual.”
J: “No. Remember, we talked about this? It’s hybrid, so we’ve got in person and we’ve got virtual.”
KE: “But I thought it was virtual.”
J: “No. No, there’s going to be a big crowd out there.”
KE: “Alright. Let’s go.”
Elliott emerges onto the stage with the now-omnipresent virtual work attire look: business on the top, party on the bottom. He’s wearing a coat, shirt and tie, but, if you look waist-down, he’s in a pair of swim trunks and flip-flops.
The sketch – which is now confirmed to be a joke and not real – was Elliott’s segway into how things have changed so much since the start of the pandemic. The business on the top, party on the bottom look is all too common across virtual work meetings around the world.
Just as those things have changed, so has surveillance in fraud investigations. Elliott is the CEO of Reed Research Investigations in Toronto which investigates long-term disability fraud, short-term disability fraud, health and workers’ compensation fraud. He explained that, at the start of the pandemic, his firm had to cancel physical surveillance operations and put files and investigations on hold. Business at the firm went down to 10%.
Thankfully, the business was deemed an essential service, so the team could keep going even when Canada went in and out of subsequent COVID lockdowns. Elliott says digital technology helped us all remain connected, and he says stay-at-home orders meant just that: the people he was surveilling were actually at home.
Elliott says surveillance operations were turned on their head a little with the pandemic. He found his firm was using some of the “bad guys” tools – things like:
Spoofing, which he says his firm used to utilize their resources to represent someone the “bad actors” would want to engage with. Spoofing is done with apps like Hushed or SpoofCard, or blind line service, where numbers are changed.
Tracking devices or key finders, like Tile and Apple AirTags. However, Elliott encourages you to check your area’s laws to make sure it’s okay to use these devices for surveillance.
You’re probably thinking: Why would physical surveillance – watching people move around – need to be done if not many people are moving around during the pandemic? Well, there are some advantages to doing physical surveillance during a pandemic.
Less traffic helped investigators conducting physical surveillance keep up with the people they were watching. On the downside, this could also be taken as a disadvantage, since fewer cars on the road created a situation where there wasn’t much cover for investigators.
The long lines of the earlier days of the pandemic were an advantage for Elliott and his firm. Remember: his team investigates potential fraud in disability and workers’ compensation cases. Standing in long lines for a long period of time would be something people with physical issues may not be able to do, so that created ripe conditions for catching people in the act.
More people were outdoors or taking side jobs, which provided more opportunities for physical surveillance.
More barriers and benefits to physical surveillance during the pandemic include:
Surveillance being more difficult to set up. Elliott recommends having a cover story in case neighbors of those being surveilled have problems with you parking at or near their homes.
Masks: They’re advantageous for investigators because now they can be covered up and disguised. They pose a disadvantage, however, for investigators trying to positively identify the people they are investigating.
Access to locations were limited.
People got stuck out of country.
Insurance requirements.
However, the pandemic times we live in now and the pandemic times we lived in the spring of 2020 are dramatically different. Elliott says investigators need to keep all these things in mind. Other things we should consider include:
PTSD/COVID fatigue/malaise
Massive layoffs/restructuring
Opportunistic claims/lawsuits
People not wanting to return to work.
All these things will continue to change the landscape of fraud investigations – and even fraud schemes – so be sure to stay on your toes.
And, in case you were wondering, yes, Elliott delivered his entire presentation in the suit/tie/trunks/flip-flop ensemble.
My, how times really have changed.
