Beacon Network Investigations, LLC

Our investigation teams have a well-deserved reputation of excellence in providing accurate, current and comprehensive results for our clients. Often, more than one area of expertise is required with certain matters. BNI provides that depth of service.

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Warmest wishes to you and yours this holiday season and for a prosperous, healthy and peaceful 2022! Lina M. Maini, on behalf of the entire BNI team

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Interviewing A Sexual Harassment Complaintant

Interviewing A Sexual Harassment Complaintant

When interviewing a potential sexual harassment complaint client, understand that this is an emotionally trying situation for her. Approaching your client with compassion and without judgment is helpful in obtaining the necessary information to determine the truthfulness (versus perception) of the allegations and viability of the case from the outset. Once you’re potential client is comfortble…

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Subheader: The Various Webs and Law Enforcement Happy Thanksgiving 2021! ================================== Holiday reading: Subsequent to last week’s post regarding the use of geo-fencing and keyword logging warrants by law enforcement agencies, several readers asked me to define the various webs, i.e., the open, deep and dark webs, as well as how they relate to l.e. monitoring of potential…

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Geofencing And Keyword Logging; The New Warrants

Geofencing And Keyword Logging; The New Warrants

Geofencing and keyword searches Privacy experts are now contesting law enforcement’s two newest tools- geofencing and keyword logging. These technologies are used, respectively, to track activity within a specific geographical area (from a single home to a large neighborhood) and, to monitor specific keyword input. Combined, these two activities provide law enforcement with access to the…

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How To Minimize Your Digital Footprint

How To Minimize Your Digital Footprint

Managing your digital footprint (At all times in this review, we are referring to U.S. digital presence. The European GDPR law and rules – the right to be forgotten, aka the right to erasure – will be covered in a future post.) Every day we see articles and advertisements claiming to help you “delete your digital footprint”. We’re not here to sell you anything – we provide you with the facts…

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Mandatory Area Code Changes Effective October 24, 2021

Mandatory Area Code Changes Effective October 24, 2021

Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Becomes Effective on October 24, 2021 for Multiple States/Area Codes; 988 Becomes Available Nationwide on July 16, 2022 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted “988” as a new 3-digit number to be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline, starting July 16, 2022. Wireless customers may dial either 988 or…

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Current Status Of Passport Operations

Current Status Of Passport Operations

30 September 2021 From the U.S. State Department: Passport Applications and Renewals: What to Expect: Effective September 23, routine service can take up to 16 weeks from the day an application is submitted to the day a new passport is received.Expedite service (for an additional $60) can take up to 12 weeks from the day an application is submitted to the day a new passport is received. These…

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9/11, A Personal Account

9/11, A Personal Account

Lina M. Maini, Log Book, 9/11/2001 Rarely do I publicly recount my private experiences but this somber week, with the 20th anniversary this Saturday of the 9/11 attacks on our country, I feel moved to share a small portion of a very personal memory of that day with you. Above, I’ve embedded a photo of one of my first pilot training log books. The very first entry in this logbook: 2001, 9/11. I…

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Coming Soon- America's Social Credit System

Coming Soon- America’s Social Credit System

Social credit score Early in January of this year, several web giants unveiled pilot programs in what effectively could become a soft social credit system before 2030. By way of explanation, China’s social credit system (in effect for seven years now) is a combination of government and business surveillance that gives citizens a “score” that can restrict the ability of individuals to take…

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Companies Not Licensed or Appointed By Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers

Companies Not Licensed or Appointed By Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers

August 6, 2020

(This week’s Beacon Bulletin article is reprinted with permission from its author, John Darer, President of 4structures.com, with whom we’ve worked with extensively in uncovering many underlying issues with numerous structured settlement resells.)

Baker’s Dozen of Companies Not Licensed or Appointed By Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers Who Can’t Set Up A Structured…

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UPDATED: 2020's Best Spam Call Blockers

UPDATED: 2020’s Best Spam Call Blockers

In this week’s Beacon Bulletin, we’ve updated our 2020 spam call blocking apps list as many of these apps have upped their game in helping us restrain robocall interruptions. Our favorites (in no particular order):

Robo Shield Robo Shield combines an array of phone security features to create an organic spam blocking and phone security approach.

TruecallerOne of the best free options, with…

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State-by-State Travel Guidelines: COVID-19 Update

State-by-State Travel Guidelines: COVID-19 Update

As the United States continues to attempt to rein in the coronavirus spread while simultaneously re-opening the economy and travel, each state has implemented its own rules on top of federal guidance.

With regard to travel, below is a state-by-state breakdown of the current travel policies in place. (Please check your departure and arrival states and those in between that you may have to pass…

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Soft Mask Facial Recognition Technology Is Here

Soft Mask Facial Recognition Technology Is Here

With more people wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, facial recognition developers have accelerated their efforts in adapting their technology to recognize individual faces (including iris identification) through facial coverings.

According to GCN:

In April, researchers posted an image dataset to GitHub featuring 1,200 Instagram selfies. They tagged the images to…

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Passport Operations In Response To COVID-19

Passport Operations In Response To COVID-19

April 30, 2020

(Information as of April 15, 2020 to date)

Because of public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, effective March 20, the U.S. State Department has limited U.S. passport operations. Unless you have a life-or-death emergency, you should wait to apply for or renew your passport until they resume normal operations. 

What if I have an emergency and need to get a passport…

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Think It's A Money Scam? Verify Through the BBB's Scambuster

Think It’s A Money Scam? Verify Through the BBB’s Scambuster

A new decade brings fresh hope, palpable promise of good will and prosperity, and, new scams. Unbelievably, the emails from wealthy – but currently unemployed foreign royalty –  imploring your help in transferring millions to the United States via your bank account – for which you shall be richly rewarded – are still rolling in and, people are still literally buying into this hoax. But, today’s…

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Better Business Bureau's Scambuster And Fake Businesses & Charities Lookup Sites

Better Business Bureau’s Scambuster And Fake Businesses & Charities Lookup Sites

A new decade brings hope and promise, and, new scams.  Unbelievably, the emails from wealthy but currently impoverished royalty imploring your help in transfer millions to the United States via your bank account, are still rolling in and people are still literally buying into them.  But today’s scammers have evolved just as surely as has personal information gathering…

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CoronaVirus Outbreak Can Leave You Stranded In A Foreign Country

CoronaVirus Outbreak Can Leave You Stranded In A Foreign Country

  January 27, 2020  The deadly novel (new) coronavirus, originating in China, has spread  to countries across the globe.  Travelers need to be aware of travel advisories and, the very real possibility of not being allowed to leave their host countries if suspected of infection or, the overall restriction of travel in and out of the impacted areas.

As of the date of this article, the following…

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