We call them “Street Calls”, when prospective clients call asking us to conduct an investigation to obtain personal information about a competitor, significant other, business associate, casual acquaintance or family member. When we question the caller to determine what information they really want us to secure, it inevitably involves three specific areas; Bank Account Records, Tax Returns, or Telephone Account Call Logs.
While the callers may be straightforward and earnest in their requests, they are certainly naïve when it comes to the legal implications involved. We give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they’ve missed the memo, so to speak, and advise them that obtaining or even attempting to obtain the requested information is patently illegal. To validate our position, we’ll cite the Federal Statutes applicable to their requests as follows:
The Gramm- Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) protects Bank Account records for businesses and individual customers from any third party disclosure. There are strict prohibitions that allow access or sharing of account information under certain limited conditions. The Bank or Financial Institution must have ‘Safeguards’ in place to prevent or preclude dissemination of customer records through pre-texting or other devises or schemes to breach the information. All attempted violations are routinely reported to the FBI.
Tax Returns are confidential and protected under IRS Regulations. No one can access them unless the individual taxpayer provides specific authorization. Moreover, a CPA or Accountant is forbidden to provide tax returns to any third party unless authorized in writing.
Obtaining Telephone Records including Account Call Logs is a violation of Federal Statute(s) under the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 1996 (TRPPA). The Law covers land lines, long distance calls, cell phones, and VOIP (Voice Over Internet) systems. Violations of the law can lead to arrest and convictions leading to fines and a minimum of 10 years in Prison.
In addition to the above Federal Statutes, Most States have enacted legislation that protects individuals and businesses from unauthorized access to personal and confidential records by unauthorized third parties.
Clearly, No Legally Licensed Private Investigator will accept any assignment that could jeopardize his license and livelihood, or subject themselves or their firm to criminal prosecution, for the sake of obtaining confidential 3rd party records.
Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc. provides a complete range of private investigator connecticut, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. To know more about it visit our website: www.jenningssmith.com
