Services
De Winter Investigations
Observation
If you want to obtain a definite answer about a certain situation, persons or goods, you can call on a private investigator. This may include geographic locations of goods or behavior of a person who is out in the open. Temporary observation and reporting through sensory perception, photography and film and video camera can provide insight into a situation that needs to be clarified. A private investigator is not legitimized to conduct a structural observation of a person, with respect to privacy legislation.
Anti Stalking Measures
According to Dutch law, stalking is described in article 285b of the Criminal Code. It is about individuals seeking contact while this is undesired by the other that the stalker wants to get in touch with. Stalking also is being physically in the personal proximity of someone who is not (or no longer) served by it. It can be seemingly innocuous things such as telephone, email, messenger contact, letters, postcards or flowers at your home address or office. This kind of situations usually stop after a while, or after a so-called “formal harrassment warning” has been written to the stalker, by you or a legal representative. In an exceptional case it may be that the attacker continues to hinder and limit someone in everyday life to such an extent that this causes an oppressive and frightening situation. We are then talking about serious matters such as following, waiting for you at frequented places, professional or social sabotage or even threats to you, your loved ones or colleagues. Stalking can only be dealt with by the police if reported, but it must be demonstrated that the stalking is a persistent and long-lasting situation. In these cases, you can engage a private investigator to collect evidence, resulting in a file on the perpetrator that can be reported to the police. In this way, the police can take concrete legal steps to stop the stalking.
In case of immediate danger to your physical well-being, life, or that of someone in your vicinity, always call 112!
Cyberstalking / Scamming
In recent years, the phenomenon of cyber-stalking has increased, partly due to multiple forms of social media and messenger software, and the apparent anonymity of the internet. Teenagers and young adults are a vulnerable group for online stalkers when it comes to lover boys, grooming (sexual advances on minors by adults), but also persistent bullying of, for example, fellow students, colleagues or ex-lovers. Extortion by means of threat of making public sensitive photo/ video material can be used by a cyber stalker to get what he/she wants. Scamming is a tactic used to steal money or goods from people under false pretenses. It usually concerns relatively small amounts so that little can be done legally. Mostly, the offices of scammer groups are located abroad, even on a different continent. With the help of a cybersecurity specialist, De Winter Investigations can put a stop to cyber stalking and gather evidence for reporting to the police or Interpol.
Missing persons
When people go missing, especially minors, it is necessary to take immediate action. This is to narrow the time window of the missing person’s movement, and to keep the options for the investigation uncluttered. It is important to check with whom the missing person last had contact, where and when this happened, in what way and the reason for that contact.
Marital conduct and relationship issues
All romantic relationships and marriages go through happy and difficult times. If you suspect that your partner is having an affair outside the relationship with you, you can obtain confirmation of your suspicions. A private investigator can observe situations and gather factual evidence of the situation.
Domestic violence and abuse
Unsafe home situations affect your entire daily life, at work and at school. If your partner, parent, guardian or even child abuses you physically or emotionally, there is domestic violence. Even if this has been going on for a while, this is not a normal situation, and this is not your fault. This situation also applies if you suspect that your nanny, neighbor or relative is a threat to your children and other family members in your home. Honor-related violence also takes various forms, which are not limited to cultures and national borders.
A private investigator can help you by collecting and recording evidence of the assault, such as photos of your person and installing film cameras and microphones in your home.
If you call 112 and your threat is in your immediate vicinity, and the conversation must remain secret, ask the 112 employee to deliver a pizza to your address or location, for example, and continue to confirm this. The 112 staff are trained for this type of situation and will provide you with further assistance.
Watch the video of RTL Nieuws – Slachtoffer huiselijk geweld verzint truc om 112 te bellen here.
Since 2020 you can also use the code word “mask 19” at your pharmacy if you do not have a telephone.
Theft
If you suspect that movable property or money has disappeared (systematic and persistent), you can also engage a private investigator in addition to the police to investigate the facts. De Winter Investigations can also conduct an audit in the financial data and accounting to reveal embezzlement.
Fraud
If you have the idea that you have been scammed, or that you are being scammed, you can engage a private investigator. This may concern (online) purchases, rental contracts, insurance claims, and payments already made that are ultimately not covered by an agreed service. The private investigator can investigate the case and gather evidence of the suspected fraud, and prepare a report to file with the police.
Background research
As an employer, do you need more information about your applicants and employees? A private investigator can find out more information about a person’s background to a certain degree, and if desired conduct an interview with the candidate. A background check may also include verifying a curriculum vitae and professional letters of recommendation.
Art authentication and tracing
As a collector of art or antiquities, you can request confirmation of the authenticity and provenance of your collection or object. As an archaeologist I have worked for many years as a valuation expert for auction houses. I can prepare a report for you confirming the provenance and value of an item, and possibly a family tree of ownership. You can also engage me as a private investigator in the case of the theft or missing of art objects.
Identity research and genealogy
If you want to obtain a definitive answer about your ancestors, or the ancestors of a third party, you can engage me as a private researcher. A genealogical research can consist of online family tree research, and consulting municipal and church registers. A private investigator can also provide information about the true identity of a person who may have adopted another.
Occult affairs
Not only in film or on television there are groups that impose and obligate themselves and others in the group with certain beliefs and rules of life. These kinds of groups are organized in such a way that a healthy and sane person has the idea to join them, and to follow the group in the specific belief. Popularly, these are cults and sectarian groups that are on the fringes of society, often in some degree of isolation from everyday social life. If you suspect that you or one of your loved ones is the victim of an non-benevolent group, you can engage a private investigator to help you or the person in question get out of this situation. If you are personally confronted with threatening symbols of an ideological, religious, spiritual, or cultural nature, you can of course also call on my services as a private investigator.