I often don't sit too close to my claimants home. I try to find a view from some other location so as not to arouse suspicion in their neighborhood. This also gives me the opportunity to watch more of their area for trends, such as which way the traffic goes if there is more than one possible direction. It also keeps me from getting burned prematurely or being noticed by the claimants neighbors.
One downside to insurance fraud investigations is that you typically wind up watching the same claimant multiple times. Such is the case with this individual. At the time I'm writing this I have been out on this claimant 8 days, not consecutively, over the last 2 months. I park in different places each time but I had found a nice little turn around spot in a nearby neighborhood in which I could see her house without going near her. So I used that same route just about every time I went out there.
I wrote here about being mistaken for the FBI in this neighborhood on a previous work day. I alerted work to this issue but since I wasn't even in the claimants neighborhood, they were not worried. I hadn't been burned. Fast forward to the last time I went out there.
I parked at a local church. I had already spoken with the lady who lived in front of it and we were on good terms so I wasn't worried about being there. The church people didn't seem to mind me being parked their either. I couldn't see the claimants house from this church but it was the best parking space around the whole area and, as needed, I could always drive my little circle and see her home.
I didn't believe my claimant to be home that day and so I hadn't done any spot checks. I sat there from 7 AM to around 1 PM. That's when it happened. A woman came walking down the street looking like she had a mission. She came up the road by the church, into the parking lot and walked straight toward me. I knew what was about to go down.
I rolled down my window and with the sweetest sounding southern hospitality she could muster the woman said "excuse me ma'am, but are you watching me?" I wanted to laugh. I really did. I had no idea who this woman was or where she came from but laughing would have been plain out wrong. Instead I replied "ma'am, I don't know who you are."
She proceeded to tell me that several people in the neighborhood had told her I was watching her house. She almost cried when she told me she was a single mom, separated from her husband and didn't even own a car. She was upset she couldn't go grocery shopping when she needed to and now that everyone thought I was watching her house, her husband wouldn't even come over and mow the grass! She went on and on and then she hit me with a good one. She insisted I had followed her around a Wal-Mart in a nearby town. I assured her I had never been to that town, much less followed her.
I think she figured if I wasn't watching her, maybe she could get some information out of me. She kept on talking. So I decided to take the bait...sort of. I told her I was following a man and my car was pointed in the direction that it was for a reason. She then started looking around the neighborhood at who all I could see - none of which were my claimant but only I knew that.
Then the woman left me with another comment. People in the neighborhood were watching me. She didn't have to tell me that lol. One of them had dang near wrecked his truck trying to see as much as he could inside of my car. Another had driven by me 5 or 6 times (though I don't know why because this same man had come up to me before and knew who I was and what I was doing there). The third
had driven by me a few times that day and a few a previous day, sometimes changing vehicles to try and keep me from noticing him. I noticed though lol.
A short while later, she finally apologized for bothering me and went back home. I then recounted the event to myself and thought about this. Her husband won't come over to mow the grass because they think someone is watching her house. This makes me wonder what he and she are both doing that they know about but don't want to get busted for?
If I've said it once, I'll say it 100 times. The people who come up to us worried they are being watched are the ones with something to hide. I've been out on my claimant 8 times now and she's not once realized I was there. So how is it this woman and a few others in the neighborhood are all sure they know who I'm watching? It's because they know who is crooked and I don't.
And guess what...I have to go back out on this same claimant at least one more time on this contract and they may just give me more time on her again in the future. LOL. I can only imagine what these people will say next. I'm not taking another car because quite frankly I'm not sure my other car will make it through the mountains where this person lives. I don't think the company would spring for a rental car either.
Showing posts with label People Watching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People Watching. Show all posts
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Neighborhood BusyBody
There's one in every neighborhood. That one person who takes it upon themselves to watch everything and everybody. They have this incessant need to know everything as if it gets them some level of respect. Which it typically doesn't. It gets them an unprecedented level of untrust. Still, they do seem to know a lot.
I was on this case recently watching a house in a predominantly African American neighborhood. I expected (which really is the problem lol) some older, middle-aged woman to be the neighborhood busybody. This is typical in most neighborhoods regardless of race or color. I was dead wrong. I'm not ashamed of that, this entire job is a constant learning experience so I went with the learning on this one.
So I parked at a church. I love these. The parking lots are rarely empty and most people just instinctively dismiss any new cars parked there as being visitors, etc. This church just happened to be in full view of my claimants home. It was perfect. I climbed into the backseat of my car and sat there for quite sometime before it got too stuffy in the car and I moved up front to crack the windows.
I sat there a few minutes enjoying the breeze. (My claimant wasn't home and so I wasn't too worried about being burned by the way.) Then I noticed that there were several people walking in the neighborhood and some were going to the store and other close by locations. I just sat there an observed the human behaviors before me. Then I noticed a young man, maybe in his mid 20's came walking from behind my car and across the parking lot. He looked at me and I just kept on about my business, being careful not to look in the direction of my claimant's home.
The young man came back through the lot again about 10 minutes later. That's when I got suspicious. It's not common for anyone to walk to the store twice in such close time frames. Another thing that complicated his actions was that it was raining. The area was under a tropical storm warning and here he is walking around in the rain to go to the store twice? He didn't have that much in either bag so I have trouble believing that he forgot something important the first time and went right back.
A few minutes later my claimant came home and purposely did some things that lead me to believe he was expecting someone to be watching him. I caught on quick though and I followed him very briefly and then turned another direction and doubled back to his house. When I got back to his house, he was already there which just verifies I was right in my initial assumption.
So I didn't turn down his road, I took another road and went to a nearby business. There I parked under a carport amidst other cars and blocked from his view by some heavy machinery. I had a small hole in which I could see his house. I sat there about 30 minutes when the same guy who walked by me twice earlier walked through this parking lot, looked right at me and went toward my claimants home.
Yeah now I know he's the neighborhood busybody. What I couldn't figure out is how he knew I was there. I know people talk and word travels quickly but this seemed rather fishy indeed. I had entered this area from a back road, hadn't passed my claimants home or the church and no one was around when I did it. There were also no houses in this area. I didn't like it....AT ALL.
I immediately began scoping out other places to park. Once you have one person watching you, there are bound to be more. Busybody types don't keep their mouth closed for long and I'm dead sure he had told other people - even possibly my claimant. Changing cars at this point in the game wasn't an option. I felt like my safety was compromised at this point.
But where does a girl go who needs to hide in plain sight in these circumstances? Simply getting into the back of my car was no longer an option. I couldn't sit to far away on this case because there were too many options for where he could go. Dilemma, dilemma. It's like a battle of wits with the players in opposite rooms. I had a paycheck at stake though so I did not want to be defeated.
I finally decided just to drive around a bit and see if I could find anywhere else that was feasible that wasn't on this block. That's the beauty of the neighborhood busybody. He/she sticks to their block. So it only takes a short move away and they stop looking for you. The trouble is, it's not always easy to find an inconspicuous place to park that has an easy exit. I'll be writing more about why you need those soon.
I was on this case recently watching a house in a predominantly African American neighborhood. I expected (which really is the problem lol) some older, middle-aged woman to be the neighborhood busybody. This is typical in most neighborhoods regardless of race or color. I was dead wrong. I'm not ashamed of that, this entire job is a constant learning experience so I went with the learning on this one.
So I parked at a church. I love these. The parking lots are rarely empty and most people just instinctively dismiss any new cars parked there as being visitors, etc. This church just happened to be in full view of my claimants home. It was perfect. I climbed into the backseat of my car and sat there for quite sometime before it got too stuffy in the car and I moved up front to crack the windows.
I sat there a few minutes enjoying the breeze. (My claimant wasn't home and so I wasn't too worried about being burned by the way.) Then I noticed that there were several people walking in the neighborhood and some were going to the store and other close by locations. I just sat there an observed the human behaviors before me. Then I noticed a young man, maybe in his mid 20's came walking from behind my car and across the parking lot. He looked at me and I just kept on about my business, being careful not to look in the direction of my claimant's home.
The young man came back through the lot again about 10 minutes later. That's when I got suspicious. It's not common for anyone to walk to the store twice in such close time frames. Another thing that complicated his actions was that it was raining. The area was under a tropical storm warning and here he is walking around in the rain to go to the store twice? He didn't have that much in either bag so I have trouble believing that he forgot something important the first time and went right back.
A few minutes later my claimant came home and purposely did some things that lead me to believe he was expecting someone to be watching him. I caught on quick though and I followed him very briefly and then turned another direction and doubled back to his house. When I got back to his house, he was already there which just verifies I was right in my initial assumption.
So I didn't turn down his road, I took another road and went to a nearby business. There I parked under a carport amidst other cars and blocked from his view by some heavy machinery. I had a small hole in which I could see his house. I sat there about 30 minutes when the same guy who walked by me twice earlier walked through this parking lot, looked right at me and went toward my claimants home.
Yeah now I know he's the neighborhood busybody. What I couldn't figure out is how he knew I was there. I know people talk and word travels quickly but this seemed rather fishy indeed. I had entered this area from a back road, hadn't passed my claimants home or the church and no one was around when I did it. There were also no houses in this area. I didn't like it....AT ALL.
I immediately began scoping out other places to park. Once you have one person watching you, there are bound to be more. Busybody types don't keep their mouth closed for long and I'm dead sure he had told other people - even possibly my claimant. Changing cars at this point in the game wasn't an option. I felt like my safety was compromised at this point.
But where does a girl go who needs to hide in plain sight in these circumstances? Simply getting into the back of my car was no longer an option. I couldn't sit to far away on this case because there were too many options for where he could go. Dilemma, dilemma. It's like a battle of wits with the players in opposite rooms. I had a paycheck at stake though so I did not want to be defeated.
I finally decided just to drive around a bit and see if I could find anywhere else that was feasible that wasn't on this block. That's the beauty of the neighborhood busybody. He/she sticks to their block. So it only takes a short move away and they stop looking for you. The trouble is, it's not always easy to find an inconspicuous place to park that has an easy exit. I'll be writing more about why you need those soon.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Bumming Lunch
This most is not intended to be judgmental or condescending or rude in any way. The word bum in the title does not imply anything about the person I'm referring to.
I was recently working a case in downtown Roanoke, VA. I was parked in the famed Center in the Square where you must move frequently to avoid parking tickets. Parking enforcment had already chalked my tire 3 times that day and I wasn't waiting around anywhere to get a fourth mark. They may start to wonder about me lol.
Just as I pulled up to my parking spot in the afternoon I noticed a man sitting by the power box on the corner. He had a small plastic bag with things in it that I didn't pay too much attention to. I had my window down and he asked me for $0.84. I'm not sure why but I said sure. Normally I would not give money to beggars but this is not a bad area of town and he looked like a friendly person. So I gave him $0.85. He said thank you and told me he was trying to get enough money together to buy something to eat.
At first I felt sorry for him but then I thought no, that's not an appropriate response. I've often heard stories of beggars who make more money asking people for change than they do at jobs and thus they do this sort of thing for a living. I wasn't worried if that's what this man was doing or not. I had already given him money and I was content with that. But I did observe him for a few more minutes until he got up and left the area.
Several more groups of people came by. He didn't ask a single couple (1 male and 1 female) for money. He only seemed to ask women with one exception. The last people he asked was a group of 1 male and 2 females. Both females gave him money and one even gave him a piece of candy. He was so happy and excited about the candy.
I watched him open the candy like he was a child who's mother had just let him have that one piece before dinner. He dropped the candy and then picked it back up and looked around to see who noticed. Then he got up and walked to another area of the square. I do kind of feel sorry for whoever he gets lunch from since they will have to count all of that change.
I was recently working a case in downtown Roanoke, VA. I was parked in the famed Center in the Square where you must move frequently to avoid parking tickets. Parking enforcment had already chalked my tire 3 times that day and I wasn't waiting around anywhere to get a fourth mark. They may start to wonder about me lol.
Just as I pulled up to my parking spot in the afternoon I noticed a man sitting by the power box on the corner. He had a small plastic bag with things in it that I didn't pay too much attention to. I had my window down and he asked me for $0.84. I'm not sure why but I said sure. Normally I would not give money to beggars but this is not a bad area of town and he looked like a friendly person. So I gave him $0.85. He said thank you and told me he was trying to get enough money together to buy something to eat.
At first I felt sorry for him but then I thought no, that's not an appropriate response. I've often heard stories of beggars who make more money asking people for change than they do at jobs and thus they do this sort of thing for a living. I wasn't worried if that's what this man was doing or not. I had already given him money and I was content with that. But I did observe him for a few more minutes until he got up and left the area.
Several more groups of people came by. He didn't ask a single couple (1 male and 1 female) for money. He only seemed to ask women with one exception. The last people he asked was a group of 1 male and 2 females. Both females gave him money and one even gave him a piece of candy. He was so happy and excited about the candy.
I watched him open the candy like he was a child who's mother had just let him have that one piece before dinner. He dropped the candy and then picked it back up and looked around to see who noticed. Then he got up and walked to another area of the square. I do kind of feel sorry for whoever he gets lunch from since they will have to count all of that change.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Truant Youngsters
I am starting to really enjoy people watching. It's become quite fascinating the things you learn by sitting back and observing people. I've become very observant of the things around me, regardless of whether or not they relate to my claimant.
One day on surveillance I was parked in a multiracial, working class neighborhood and it seemed everyone was parked on the streets. This made parking so much easier as I could readily blend in with the other cars and no one would think twice about me. Or so I thought.
On day one I noticed some unusual activity at the house I was parked at. This was not my claimant but instead someone elses home. Now, I was actually between two houses but this house seemed to be uncomfortable with my presence. I kept noticing the kids (one about 5 and the other a teen) looking out of the door randomly and at one point they turned on the porch light.
Shortly after all the school buses had ran for the morning I noticed a slow but steady trickle of teenagers coming to and entering the house. There was a high school within walking distance and a few I saw come from that direction. Over the course of the next hour about 15 kids walked into that house and I noticed the same teen from earlier checking on me once in a while. I had a gut instinct that something unlawful was going on in the house.
The next day I chose the same parking spot. It was the best spot, and probably the only one available that didn't stand out. Again the same thing happened with the kids looking out of the door and the light coming on. At least that's how it went until the buses left. Shortly after the last bus, the teenage boy came near to my car and told me he was concerned about me being parked there for the last 2 days and I told him I was working. He was satisfied and went back in.
The trail of teenagers started again for the morning, only this time there were only 6 or 7 that came to the house. About 2 hours after that started a police officer pulled up and parked behind me. He didn't have his lights on but I was still looking in my vanity mirror and praying he wasn't there for me. Regardless of how good the spot was, if I could see my claimant's home he could surely see me just the same.
The officer got out and walked up to the house. He knocked once on the door and then stuck a summons inside the screen door. This was an lol moment for me. I was sure then that the kids were all there skipping school and there's no telling what they were into while inside. Either way, my initial hunch was right and the residents in this home were up to no good.
Ironically, before the officer pulled away, my claimant left and I had to pursue him so I'm sure the kid thought I was there watching him until the police could get to him lol. Oops.
One day on surveillance I was parked in a multiracial, working class neighborhood and it seemed everyone was parked on the streets. This made parking so much easier as I could readily blend in with the other cars and no one would think twice about me. Or so I thought.
On day one I noticed some unusual activity at the house I was parked at. This was not my claimant but instead someone elses home. Now, I was actually between two houses but this house seemed to be uncomfortable with my presence. I kept noticing the kids (one about 5 and the other a teen) looking out of the door randomly and at one point they turned on the porch light.
Shortly after all the school buses had ran for the morning I noticed a slow but steady trickle of teenagers coming to and entering the house. There was a high school within walking distance and a few I saw come from that direction. Over the course of the next hour about 15 kids walked into that house and I noticed the same teen from earlier checking on me once in a while. I had a gut instinct that something unlawful was going on in the house.
The next day I chose the same parking spot. It was the best spot, and probably the only one available that didn't stand out. Again the same thing happened with the kids looking out of the door and the light coming on. At least that's how it went until the buses left. Shortly after the last bus, the teenage boy came near to my car and told me he was concerned about me being parked there for the last 2 days and I told him I was working. He was satisfied and went back in.
The trail of teenagers started again for the morning, only this time there were only 6 or 7 that came to the house. About 2 hours after that started a police officer pulled up and parked behind me. He didn't have his lights on but I was still looking in my vanity mirror and praying he wasn't there for me. Regardless of how good the spot was, if I could see my claimant's home he could surely see me just the same.
The officer got out and walked up to the house. He knocked once on the door and then stuck a summons inside the screen door. This was an lol moment for me. I was sure then that the kids were all there skipping school and there's no telling what they were into while inside. Either way, my initial hunch was right and the residents in this home were up to no good.
Ironically, before the officer pulled away, my claimant left and I had to pursue him so I'm sure the kid thought I was there watching him until the police could get to him lol. Oops.
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