Lesson series: Due Diligence Essentials
Verify Before You Connect: A Step-by-Step Guide to Vetting Individuals
Learn directly from a Certified Fraud Examiner and seasoned Detective who teaches you the step-by-step basic OSINT techniques to vet individuals, ensuring you make confident, fraud-resistant decisions.
Welcome to our Vetting Course Series!
These courses are built to help everyday people, just like you, feel more confident when looking into a business, charity, or individual. You’ll learn simple, practical ways to use free tools and resources to spot red flags and make smarter decisions. While these lessons give you a strong foundation for doing your own basic checks, you’ll also understand when it might make sense to call in a professional for more complex situations.
While the techniques in these courses are practical and drawn from real-world investigative experience, it’s important to keep this in mind:
- No Guarantees: There’s no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to spotting fraud. What you uncover depends on the situation, what information is publicly available, and how confidently you apply the steps you've learned. These methods are powerful, but they aren’t foolproof, and not every red flag will show up in every case.
- Intended Use & Ethics: The methods shared in these courses are designed solely to help protect you from fraud, deception, and misrepresentation. They should never be used for illegal activity, harassment, stalking, or any behavior that could be considered unethical or harmful. Our mission is to empower you to make informed, responsible decisions, not to invade privacy or cause harm.
Think of this course as your starting point, a strong first step toward becoming a more informed, secure, and proactive consumer. With these tools, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself, ask the right questions, and recognize when something just doesn’t sit right.
What's included?
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly will I learn in these vetting courses?
You’ll get a practical, step-by-step guide to vetting businesses, charities, and individuals. From doing quick online reputation checks and verifying professional licenses to analyzing websites and digital behavior, you’ll learn how to gather and interpret key details. You’ll even discover how to use AI to support your process and, most importantly, how to pull it all together to spot red flags and make confident, well-informed decisions.
Does this course provide in-depth OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) training?
Not quite. These courses are built for everyday users, not investigators or professionals in need of advanced OSINT certification. While we introduce some OSINT fundamentals and tools, the focus here is on practical, accessible methods that help you do quick, high-impact due diligence on your own. No complex techniques or expensive software required.
Is this course suitable for beginners with no prior investigative experience?
Yes, absolutely. These courses are designed for everyday users, with step-by-step guidance that makes even complex vetting techniques easy to follow. While we don’t use real-life case examples (to respect privacy), the methods are based on real investigative training and field-tested experience. You don’t need any background in investigations to benefit, just curiosity and a desire to protect yourself or your business.
Are the tools and resources mentioned in the course free to use?
Yes! Most of the tools we cover are free and publicly available, think search engines, government databases, and online directories. You won’t need to buy special software or pay for subscriptions. That said, a few resources we mention may offer paid upgrades for deeper access, but the core techniques in the course rely on free tools that anyone can use.
Can I access the course content after completion?
Absolutely! Once you enroll, you will receive lifetime access to all course lessons and materials.
These courses are designed to be a permanent reference toolkit that you can revisit whenever your situation shifts or a new challenge arises. There are no hidden fees or expiration dates. You are free to review the materials and refresh your understanding of key strategies as often as needed.
Do you help with investigations?
Yes, I’m a licensed private investigator in the State of Tennessee and a Certified Fraud Examiner, and I’d be glad to assist. If you need professional help reviewing a case or conducting an investigation, I offer those services separately from the course. This isn’t included in your course enrollment, but if you’re interested, I’m happy to discuss next steps and rates.
For more in-depth guidance on filing fraud reports, you might also explore my paid course on how to file an effective police report for fraud, a great option if you're looking for detailed reporting support without the need for a private consultation.
For more in-depth guidance on filing fraud reports, you might also explore my paid course on how to file an effective police report for fraud, a great option if you're looking for detailed reporting support without the need for a private consultation.
Where can I find this guide on filing a fraud report?
If you need help filing a police report after experiencing fraud, check out my course Report for Results: A Step-by-Step Guide to Filing Fraud Reports. It walks you through the entire process of what details to include, how to avoid common mistakes, and how to help your report get noticed. You'll also get a detailed fraud report form to help organize your case clearly and professionally.
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