Skiptrace

Skiptracing (also skip tracing) is a colloquial term used to describe the process of locating a person's whereabouts for any number of purposes. A skiptracer is someone who performs this task, which may be the person's primary occupation. The term comes from the word "skip" being used to describe the person being searched for, and comes from the idiomatic expression "to skip town," meaning to depart, perhaps in a rush, and leaving minimal clues behind for someone to "trace" the "skip" to a new location.

Skip tracing tactics may be employed by debt collectors, bail bond enforcers (bounty hunting), private investigators, attorneys, police detectives, or as a part of any investigation that entails locating a subject whose contact information is not immediately known.

Method

It is done by collecting as much information as possible about the subject which is then analyzed, reducted, and verified. Sometimes the subject's current whereabouts are in the data, but is obfuscated by the sheer amount of information/disinformation. More often the data will be used to identify third parties that might be able to assist the process. This is where the job becomes more than mere research since one must be very diplomatic in order to get information in this manner without compromising the situation. A common tactic involves calling or visiting former neighbors, employers or other known contacts to ask about the subject, sometimes under false or misleading pretenses. In most jurisdictions this deception is legal.

Criticism

Controversy is sometimes raised in connection with the industry, due to persons selling pirated information under false pretenses. Such persons are not recognized by the professional community; they are ostracized and often hunted by legitimate companies in an effort to protect the industry's reputation.

One example of this type of scenario would be an unlicensed "company" selling cell phone numbers or records to anyone with money. This is obtained by the abuse of social engineering/pretexting methods which are normally used by enforcement agencies for the common good when information can not be acquired more direct means. Cell phone data should be legally acquired by the use of a subpoena.

Most often recognized outside of the industry by phone calls placed to individuals that fit the profile of a person being searched for (e.g. same first initial and last name, address or city and state)

Depiction in Art and Media

Skiptracer, a photograph by The Blackbird on Flickr.