An Australian private investigator has lifted the curtain on her fascinating career, including the one surprise request she often receives.
Sydney woman Amy Elliott, 29, launched her own boutique firm National Inquiry Agency three years ago and shared the most common types of jobs she completes for clients.
Speaking to 9Honey, Elliott says some people might assume private investigators only tail cheating partners in films – but she actually does this for a living.
“We definitely do that… It’s a pretty standard and common request from people,” Elliott, a mother-of-one, reveals.
“There is sometimes a myth with private investigators that we just do infidelity work, it’s not all we do but, yeah, we do it.”
It’s not just spouses who suspect their partner of cheating who call on Elliott for help.
She also receives plenty of requests for people wanting to find out if their online lover is secretly a con-artist.
In the digital world, it is worryingly common for vulnerable Australians to fall victim to romance scams. Elliott sadly sees this all too frequently in her day-to-day job.
“We do a lot of romance scams,” Elliott explains. “They will kind of already know, when they engage me, that it is likely a scam.”
“They’ll just want that verification, because they’ll be so emotionally involved and sometimes actually in love with that person. They’ll need someone who is not biased to tell them ‘Hey, this person doesn’t actually exist’.”
Elliott shared a checklist she completes when first investigating someone she suspects is a scammer.
As a young woman working a discreet and often-dangerous job, Elliott says there is always an element of risk.
While she works hard to ensure she never puts herself in the line of fire, there are some scary situations.
“I do go into unsafe situations in order to get intel from my clients, which is the nature of the job,” she says.
“I might go somewhere I’m not familiar with or am in the dark, or there could be people around who, if they know what you’re doing won’t be too happy.”
During the last three years, Elliott says she has been chased by people, pets and once even an angry sheep.
Elliott also spoke to 9Honey about her experience tracking missing persons ahead of Missing Persons Week last month.
Article Source: HONEY.NINE.COM.AU
