This week, I teach you a very important fundamental of doing pretext and include a bonus tip for those of you who are already pretty good at pretexting and a private investigator pretext example.
The fundamental thing is when you’re doing a pretext, you need to think about what’s the single most important piece of information you’re trying to get.
In other words, when you go into a pretext, you say, “If I can only get one thing, what is it that I really need to get?” and structure your pretext around getting that one piece of information.
Private Investigator Pretext Example
For example, it could be an address that you need, You might call up a business or an organization that you believe has that person’s address and pose as the information technology department, and you might say something to them along the lines of, “This is Joe of over at IT and we’re not getting any information from your computer system this afternoon, have you been having any problems with it?”
And of course, they’re going to say, “No, everything seems fine on this end.” And you say, “Well, I’ve got a test subject I want you to punch into the computer. We’re going to see if it comes up properly.” And you give them the name Joe Smith, (or whatever your subject’s name is) and they type it in. They’re going to say, “It came up.” And you say, “What address came up with it?” And they’re going to say, “Well, 7300 Main Street.”
Alright, now you’ve got your address. You’ve got your key piece of information.
NOTE: I’m not a lawyer. I’m not telling you what’s legal or not legal. You should always keep it legal.
I also want to point out that I just glazed over this pretext here. Don’t try to use this pretext if you don’t know the other fundamentals and important things that are involved! I’m just using this incomplete script as an example to show how you need to concentrate on the one piece of information you need.
Side Note: This book isn’t about pretexting, but is very, very useful for people in the security and investigative professions! Check it out!
Pretext Idea
BONUS TIP: How can you squeeze out a little bit more of information?
Things are going well. The person on the other end of the line is convinced that you are Joe from the IT department, what other information can you get at this point?
And here’s the bonus tip… miscall the information. When they give you the address, for example, miscall it back to them. When they say, “Oh, we got an address of 7300 Main Street,” you say, “Hmm, we’re showing 7200 Main Street. What came up for phone number?” And they’re going to read out the phone number.
But notice how “reading back” to them a little bit of a “miss” on the information, that does two things:
1. It makes it seem like you’re seeing the information as well. That builds credibility. It shows you’re simply “verifying” what they’re bringing up, you’re not asking for anything new.
2. The fact that “your information” is off a little, gives you the excuse to pull a little bit more and see if there’s other information that you can get as well.
Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye,
Private Investigator (Ret.) &
#1 Best Selling Author
P.S. – Oh by the way… people online lose their minds when I teach these secrets. They say, “Oh, you’re a liar! You’re lying! That violates the 8th commandment! How do you call yourself a Christian?” If you’re concerned about that…
1. Good! You should be. And…
2. Check out my video and blog post on lying. There I talk about what is lying and the ethics of lying. If that’s something that concerns you (and it should), check out that podcast.