How do I go about tracing an individual?

[prand]

Short story. I would like to trace a person, who is most possibly in France, with just a name and mobile number.

Not having a need to use one before, is this something a Private Investigator can do quite easily?

As this is a sensitive matter I'm not going to post info up here.

[porcupineprince]

Call the number and ask the person where they are?

[moosepig]

[TheCarpetCleaner]

porcupineprince said:

Call the number and ask the person where they are?

[branflakes]

prand said:

Not having a need to use one before, is this something a Private Investigator can do quite easily?

I used to be private investigator. Finding someone who has moved overseas is a pain in the arse but not impossible. WHat else do you know about this person? Is he/she originally from France? Is the mobile on a contract or pay-as-you-go? Is it registered in this country or France? What do you know about their family and friends? Do they WANT to be found? Are they of, er, dubious moral character? Do you know their full name, DOB, previous address, employer, previous employer etc.

[moosepig]

Are you sure you have the right name?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[bigTee]

branflakes said:

I used to be private investigator.

How come you stopped?

[Monki]

Maybe try something like facebook? And again if you know friends of the individual you can maybe find them and gather information.

As much as I hate social networking sites, they can prove useful

[tossbag]

http://www.pipl.com/

[branflakes]

bigTee said:

branflakes said:

I used to be private investigator.

How come you stopped?

It's actually a very boring job.

[Silent1]

bigTee said:

branflakes said:

I used to be private investigator.

How come you stopped?

he hasn't it's a cover story

[Gylen]

I used to be a PI in Hawaii and whenever i had to track someone down, I used to just pootle over to my pal Rick's club in the Ferrari and get him to make some discreet enquiries. Worked a charm. Maybe worth a try?

[branflakes]

Silent1 said:

bigTee said:

branflakes said:

I used to be private investigator.

How come you stopped?

he hasn't it's a cover story

Shhh!

[captainzep]

branflakes said:

bigTee said:

branflakes said:

I used to be private investigator.

How come you stopped?

It's actually a very boring job.

<in style of child reading from a card>

What was your favourite disguise?

[Tyre Smoke]

Gylen said:

I used to be a PI in Hawaii and whenever i had to track someone down, I used to just pootle over to my pal Rick's club in the Ferrari and get him to make some discreet enquiries. Worked a charm. Maybe worth a try?

Weren't you hampered somewhat by a film crew following you everywhere?

[prand]

branflakes said:

prand said:

Not having a need to use one before, is this something a Private Investigator can do quite easily?

I used to be private investigator. Finding someone who has moved overseas is a pain in the arse but not impossible. WHat else do you know about this person? Is he/she originally from France? Is the mobile on a contract or pay-as-you-go? Is it registered in this country or France? What do you know about their family and friends? Do they WANT to be found? Are they of, er, dubious moral character? Do you know their full name, DOB, previous address, employer, previous employer etc.

Useful questions. Facebook and Google were of course my first point of call, but don't supply me any info on this individual. This person's history is shady, to the point where I'm not even sure their name is bone fide, but I have some solid background details when they were in the UK, which might be good enough to get going with.

Branflakes, If you were doing a "locate a person" check, how much would I expect to be paying?

[Carfiend]

A big roll of tracing paper and one of those giant novelty pencils?

[Neil_H]

Tyre Smoke said:

Gylen said:

I used to be a PI in Hawaii and whenever i had to track someone down, I used to just pootle over to my pal Rick's club in the Ferrari and get him to make some discreet enquiries. Worked a charm. Maybe worth a try?

Weren't you hampered somewhat by a huge moustache?

[selwonk]

http://www.pipl.com

[M400 NBL]

Phone him/her, and in Nigerian accent tell them that you will tranfer £25k into their account if they give you their address.