Ethos Blog

Help your vendor help you

I have a friend named Kris. Kris spent most of his professional life as a DJ—the radio kind, not the ecstasy-riddled rave kind. Years ago, Kris was offered two passes to an exclusive Prince concert. Kris accepted and invited a blind date with a penchant for partying...

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Schedules: Recognize and Capitalize

My wife Jen is a math teacher. She is also an avid runner. On weekdays during the school year, she wakes up at 4:15 a.m. (As do I, thanks to our freakishly loud alarm clock. Then it takes me an hour to go back to sleep—on a good day. But that’s another story.) So my...

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Swing for the fences with pre-surveillance scouting

If you run in certain circles, the start of Major League Baseball season brings the inevitable re-telling of romantic tales honoring both diamond heroism and failure. Whether from the lips of legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully or your own father, you’ll never...

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Ethical Objectivity

As an educator prior to my transition into the risk mitigation field, an emphasis on ethical standards has never been far removed from my professional protocol. When updating with friends and family, I was surprised to sometimes encounter a different response than I...

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Quality Attracts Quality

I’m a journalist at heart. Always have been. As a kid in New Jersey, I started my own sports publication. The content featured baseball standings and stories based on Mets games I’d seen on TV. I subsequently worked for our town’s twice-weekly newspaper, earned a...

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Brand Protection Requires Action

As a service provider, we are often asked to define brand protection and the most important aspects of a good brand protection program. A quick online search yielded the following well-meaning, textbook definition from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary: Brand...

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Fact or Fiction: Busting Myths Ethos Style

Fact or Fiction: Only lousy investigators get burned (caught) by claimants. Answer: False. The quarterback sneak is clearly football’s most basic play. Snap the ball. Plow forward. End of story. Right? Wrong. In reality, the sneak features a multi-layered plan of...

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The importance of the investigative report

Having worked in the risk mitigation industry for over a decade for various companies, I’ve seen my share of investigative reports. In performing quality control that involves reviewing investigative reports, I can safely say that the quality of these reports can...

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The truth about Drone surveillance cameras

One of our clients recently called me and asked if we offered drone surveillance. I laughed at first thinking the client was joking, but she was dead serious.  She told me that a few surveillance vendors had recently sent her marketing emails touting their drone...

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Do unto others, and use your inside voice

I was recently sitting in the O’Hare airport in Chicago when a pre-recorded message came over the speaker system. What sounded like a kind woman stated, “Please remember to cover your mouth when coughing and when sneezing.” I immediately laughed and thought to myself,...

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Improvise and Thrive

So the Little League World Series is in full swing. And once again, I’m hooked. As someone who’s spent half his professional life as a sportswriter, I thoroughly enjoy this event. Truly, it brings back great memories. During my days with a scorebook and reporter’s...

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The 360-Degree Approach To Fighting Fraud

When every physical and mental resource is focused, one’s power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.”  - Norman Vincent Peale    In order to significantly impact fraud, it is essential to formulate a solid, comprehensive approach. After all, you don’t...

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Be your own Sleuth – But don’t cross the line

"The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution." – J.K. Rowling Thanks to the Internet, there are thousands of informational resources available that if you are so inclined allow you to handle some of your own...

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Got Fraud?

In order to submit a fraud referral it’s important to have good understanding of what fraud truly is. In some cases you may have a claimant abusing the system, but this does not necessarily mean they are committing fraud.  Fraud is commonly understood as dishonesty...

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Seasonal Surveillance…What a Feeling

When people ask what I do for a living, I explain that I work in risk mitigation. More often than not, I'm met with a quizzical look followed by the question, "So you're an attorney?" To avoid an extended narrative detailing the industry ins and outs, I generally...

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Serpico, the wise king, and the BP oil spill

One of my favorite movies growing up was “Serpico.” Starring Al Pacino, it’s a true life story about a New York police officer, Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose corruption in the police force. Serpico was an honest cop trying to do the right thing, but he...

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There is no such thing as a free lunch

I was speaking with one of our clients recently. He mentioned that he received an email from an investigative company that was offering surveillance services for free if they failed to obtain results.

In the advertisement, results equated to obtaining videotape documentation of the claimant.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek, said client asked me if Ethos could make him the same proposal. He laughed, of course, fully aware of the slippery slope involved here.

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Ethos Risk Services | T: 866-783-0525 | F: 866-695-9645 | email: info@ethosrisk.com | P.O. Box 55246 | St. Petersburg, Florida 33732 | www.ethosrisk.com