Whenever we’re asked if a private investigator can tap a phone, we always respond that we can’t because we don’t break the law. But did you know a UK PI can help you retrieve deleted files from mobile devices? If you bring us a phone, tablet, or laptop, make sure you have the password. A PI can recover deleted photos, videos, call logs, text files, and SMS messages
Catching Cheating Partners with Device Analysis
Often, we find that someone who has been unfaithful to their partner will be cautious enough to delete incriminating evidence. It can be challenging to prove that someone is cheating if they’ve deleted the texts that would otherwise be a smoking gun in the case.
If the device belongs to you, a PI can conduct a digital analysis with file recovery software. Usually, mountains of data are recovered in this process, most of which is irrelevant. We’ll painstakingly trawl through it to make sure that we don’t miss anything. We compile all the relevant information into an analysis report, which will be organised and easy to understand.
Other files that we can recover include emails, receipts, photos, and videos, all of which could point to signs of an affair.
Recover Deleted Text Messages from Your Company’s Phone
If you’ve supplied your employee with a company phone, you might later have reason to suspect they’ve been abusing this privilege. If you think that your employee has been fraternising with competitors or using company property to conduct illegal activity, it’s crucial that you get proof.
A good private detective can use their digital toolkit to determine whether your employee has misappropriated company property. Proof of this is usually grounds for immediate dismissal. On the other hand, without proof, dismissal can be a lengthy, complicated process.
Defend Against Sabotage
If your company uses Google Drive or OneDrive to store files, you could be at risk of sabotage. A rogue employee could permanently delete essential documents from your devices. Prevention is better than cure, and keeping regular backups of important documents is good practice. However, this advice is of little comfort to those who have fallen victim to this practice.
We have methods to retrieve data that has been maliciously deleted from cloud storage. If you’ve fallen victim to attempted sabotage like this, all is not lost. Get in touch with a PI and see how they can help you.
Beware of Third-Party Apps
Particularly on the google store for android devices, many third-party apps claim to be able to retrieve deleted files. Most of the time, these don’t work, and they don’t work as advertised the rest of the time. Typically, they’ll claim to be able to retrieve data from your android phone when they actually serve as file backup systems. They are only able to recover text messages from the installation of the app.
What’s even worse is that these apps leave your data vulnerable to interception. These apps require you to connect your phone to their server in an insecure way. In general, it’s a bad idea to grant the permissions they require, especially to companies you aren’t entirely confident will protect your privacy.
Encrypted Messaging Apps
Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and some messages on iPhones use end-to-end encryption, so recovering these files is more of a challenge. Unfortunately, neither we nor law enforcement can recover the contents of these messages. Still, we can provide you with their meta-details, including when the messages were sent and to whom.
Private Investigations UK offers digital investigation solutions to businesses and individuals anywhere in the United Kingdom. Over the past 15 years, we’ve perfected our strategies for gathering information from digital devices, and we’re constantly adapting our methods as security technology advances. For a free 30-minute phone consultation, give us a call on 0800 002 0898 or contact us another way.
