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Investigation Evaluation

Investigation Evaluation

February 13, 2017

BCC/395 - Contemporary Issues and Futures in Cybercrimes

John Kane

Joel Rodriguez

University of Phoenix
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Investigation Evaluation

Investigations are extremely important in any criminal case whether it is regular

crime or cybercrime related. Today we will be going over and explaining the logistics of

conducting a corporate investigation and the options available to law enforcement as well

as identifying the various types of corporate violations and the policy considerations in

enforcement.

First off, the main point of an investigation is to gather all of the facts and

information available to you. However, it is possible that the attorney or jury outside of

your organization may look closely and scrutinize the investigation that was conducted.

For example, when an investigation is done, the individual or investigators responsible

for the investigation may have to look back and remember everything about the

investigation and they may have to go back into their notes to re-read what happened.

Most of the time investigations are done, but they don’t go to court until later on

sometimes months or years later. That’s why it is so important to make sure that all

information is gathered, collected, and can be recounted so you can look back and know

what you investigated and can tell a judge and jury everything you know about the

investigation. Sometimes a person’s well-being depends on the investigation that was

done so it is really important that you do it and you do it well and document everything.

When you are investigating often times you may write cryptic messages to

yourself that you may understand twenty four hours after the investigation, but try two

years later or more. You may forget what you wrote and then it could be detrimental to

the failure or success of the investigation. Many times the attorneys will scrutinize your
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Investigation Evaluation

decisions or how you speak especially if you don’t have your story together about the

investigation. That’s why it is so important to have everything together. Even if you jot

down all the important information about the investigation and use your own cryptic

messages, etc. and then go back the next day and really make sense of everything then it

will be easier to look back on if you are organized and ready for trial two or three years

later.

As an investigator you have to understand that when interviewing victims, the

person may feel victimized or in shock. In both cybercrime related crimes and crimes that

are committed in person, victims often feel violated which could cause them to forget

some key information and therefore hinder the investigation. It is very important to

interview them several times, but also make them feel comfortable. If they are not

responding to what you are going over the first time, you should tell them it is okay and

get back to it later. Sometimes after the shock value goes away the witness or victim is

able to better remember what happened more clearly and can give better detailed

information.

Sometimes witnesses and victims may feel that if they come forward and talk to

law enforcement or cybercrime investigators that they will be hurt or retaliated against.

They may feel intimidated by the questions and therefore either lie or forget information.

It happens a lot if you are investigating say a murder. Someone may be a witness to the

murder, but maybe they were only a witness because they were in the area buying drugs.

They may have nothing to do with the actual murder itself, but they may feel intimidated

and not want to tell the truth because they were doing something illegal themselves. In
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those situations, often times the murder will supersede the importance of a drug deal, so it

is important for the witness to not be scared and come forward with all the information

that they know so that they can help with the investigation. Another scenario could be

fraud online. Maybe someone allows their friend to use their address to send a package.

At the time, they may not have known that their “friend” was asking them to send the

package to their house because they were purchasing something online with a stolen

credit card, so they may not want to come forward and help the investigation because

they allowed them to send the package there. However, law enforcement and cybercrime

investigators are not looking for that type of information. They want the person who used

the stolen credit card.

A major part of investigations is the interviews. A good way to conduct

interviews is to have two investigators interviewing one person. This is important

because it is hard to do multiple efficient things at once. One investigator should talk to a

witness while the other writes down notes from the interview. It doesn’t matter at the

time of the interview if the notes are not perfect, but what is important is to go back into

those notes that same day or the next day so it is fresh in your mind and possibly retype it

in more clear and concise sentences so that when you take the investigation to court in the

future you will remember exactly what was said and done. Also, it would be helpful to

notate body language especially in situations where there is cybercrime involved. Most of

the time, people who commit crimes through computers have excellent lying skills over

the world wide web, but their personable and face to face lying skills for lack of a better

term are very poor. It will help in the future once you are in court to help put away

criminals in this investigation.

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During investigations it also would be helpful to have different investigators

conduct interviews with witnesses and suspects. Sometimes certain people have a knack

for certain details and can pick out when certain individuals are lying over others. In

these types of investigative environments, organization is key. Keeping organized can

benefit investigators in any scenario. It is important to keep your evidence and your notes

in line so that when the day of the trial does come you can review and answer everything

with ease. Sometimes if an investigator is not organized and prepared the jury may think

that mistakes were made and a guilty person can be let off and perceived as innocent even

if they are not.

There are many different types of corporate violations and the policy

considerations in enforcement. The different types of corporate violation can include, but

not be limited to health care fraud, computer fraud, bankruptcy fraud, telemarketing

fraud, credit card fraud, and many more. There is also embezzlement and blackmailing.

All these types of fraud and violations need to be taken very seriously and

investigated just like any other crime. Often time’s people think that these types of crimes

are not as serious because usually they are committed by successful business people and

it’s not a person in a mask holding people up at gun point. However, in reality this is

much worse because usually these people have to gain your trust before they can really

mess up your financial status and even your life.

White collar crime is a big problem and it is governed by the general principles of

criminal liability. White color crime requires a bad act, criminal intent and causation.

When dealing with white collar crime, often time’s people will pleas insanity,
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intoxication, and incapacity, etc. This is their way out, but it is important to be thorough

in your investigation so that these types of criminals can no longer get away with ruining

people’s lives the same way that a regular street criminal would.

All in all, crime can be anything, but the way you investigate it is everything.

Being organized and thorough is very important and probably one of the most important

things you can do in a criminal investigation whether it is cybercrime related or a regular

crime committed on the street. Criminals are set free each and every day due to someone

being sloppy with their investigation. It is important that you review and interview

suspects and witnesses and do your best at keeping all documentation so that when you

go to court you are well prepared and ready to let everyone know (judge, jury, attorneys)

that you have investigated and are ready to make the criminal pay for their crimes.
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References

Thompson, J. (2017). How to Conduct an Effective Investigation. Retrieved from

http://www.cio.com/article/2438806/risk-management/how-to-conduct-an-effective-

investigation.html

The Types of White Collar Crimes. (2017). Retrieved from http://public.getlegal.com/legal-info

center/white-collar-crime/