Old-school tenacity

Digital analysis and search apps are invaluable. But nuanced interviewing, with an eye to discerning audiences, can yield solid evidence.

As a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, I saw my fair share of fraud cases, especially while working on the Washington, D.C., Metro Area Fraud Task Force in the early 2000s. In those days, the threat of identity theft was beginning to rise, and we were in the post-9/11 era of looking for suspicious transactions that could lead to cracking down on terrorist financing.

While many of the cases I worked were interesting and resulted in federal charges and convictions in identity theft; mail, wire and bank fraud — and other financial crimes — one of my most memorable cases I worked came about in the years after I left the Secret Service.

Guise of the minivan mom fraud examiner

At the time, I was married to another agent and living in Albany, Georgia. We had two young daughters, and I stayed at home with my girls. However, like many former agents, I itched to get back into investigations, so I applied for a part-time paralegal position at a local law firm.