As investigators, we are often asked to find social media accounts. Social media accounts can provide a wealth of information about a person, such as lifestyle, location, interests, and behavior.
Unfortunately, we often receive only minimal identifying information to search for these accounts, such as an individual’s name, which then limits our ability to find accounts and connect them to the target subject. Common names make it difficult to determine if an account belongs to the correct individual. Also, not all social media accounts display the subject’s actual name. Some individuals choose screen names or use other means to hide their true identities. Consequently, we often need multiple pieces of information—in addition to a name—to match an account to the subject of our investigation.
To give your investigator the best chance of finding the target subject’s social media accounts, consider providing as many of the following pieces of information as possible.
Email Addresses
Email addresses, or variations of them, are often used as usernames for social media accounts. Some accounts list the account owner’s email address.
Photos
Photos of the subject are extremely helpful as most social media platforms display some sort of profile photo. Even photos that do not show the subject’s face can still be helpful. Photos of family members, pets, vehicles, or property all have the potential to help us link accounts to the target subject.
Employment
Some social media accounts make direct references to a subject’s employment. Even indirect references—such as following or making comments about a company, or posting a photo taken at a company office or event—can be useful.
Location/Address History
As with employment, some accounts make direct references to a subject’s current or previous addresses. Even when they do not, a subject’s social media activity can be reviewed and compared to their known address history. Photos, likes, check-ins, and follows can indicate locations, and many individuals tag their posts with location information.
Date of Birth
Date of birth provides information about a subject’s age. For example, if we find multiple accounts that share the subject’s name, we can target our efforts to review accounts with content that is consistent with the subject’s age. Also, even if the target subject does not post age-related identifying content themselves, accounts can still be linked to a person when other connections post birthday wishes on or around their actual birthday.
Phone Numbers
Some social media accounts list or can be linked to a subject using their phone number.
Friends/Known Associates
Accounts connected to those of a target subject (friends, followers, etc.) can also be an identifier. Sometimes it is easier for us to find the social media accounts of a subject’s friends or associates, and then scan those accounts for social media accounts that may belong to the target subject.
In addition, sometimes the accounts of the target individual are private. Even if we find the account, we are unable to review their posts. However, their posted content may be publicly viewable through accounts belonging to their friends and connections.
Miscellaneous Information
Sometimes small or seemingly insignificant details can help us match a social media account to a subject. We have had frequent success matching an account to a subject because we knew the individual’s interests. For example, one of our target individuals had a particular interest in white water rafting, which led us to a potential account. Another time we received the name of the subject’s high school and identified one of their social media accounts using a photo of the person in the school’s football uniform.
The widespread use of social media makes it a valuable source of information for investigations. Finding social media accounts, however, is not always a simple or fast process. Sometimes it takes many pieces of evidence to confirm if an account belongs to a specific person. Providing as much information as possible about the target subject greatly increases the chances of identifying their social media accounts.
Known Social Media Accounts
Also, do not forget to provide any known social media accounts and usernames for the target subject. Reviewing known social media accounts may provide us with many/all types of the information mentioned above, increasing the probability that we find other accounts for the target subject.
