Digital detectives share their online tricks

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- We know by now that what you post online can come back to haunt you, especially when applying for a job.

But you too can become a digital detective following the bits and bytes people leave as breadcrumbs to help figure out if strangers really are who they say they are.

To be clear, a lot of the information we put online is relatively safe, encrypted or behind a firewall that keeps the bad guys out.

But you might be surprised to know how much about you is available to anyone who wants to find it.

And, while that may sound scary, there are some tools that, when used the right way, can prove invaluable.

From online banking, to online dating, to the minute by minute Facebook chronicling of our day, we live our lives are lived more and more online.

And we put a lot of our lives "out there", wherever "there" may be.

Cynthia Hetherington knows where to look.

She is President of the Hetherington Group, a kind of digital detectives whose job is to find out more about people using only what she finds online.

She says you can and should do the same, whether you're meeting strangers through dating apps or hiring babysitters to watch over your kids, trust doesn't have to be so blind anymore.

First, she says, use the basics, easy to get information.

"Which anyone can find with Google or Bing, or any easy open network," Hetherington said.

But then, dig deeper.

Hetherington says LinkedIn is a goldmine of biographical information that people publicly post.

"LinkedIn is an advertisement. Look at me," Hetherington said.

Here, you can find people's publicly posted resumes. Did they go to college? Where have they worked? In short, are they who they've been saying they are?

"We get background information, things he's involved in, interested in," Hetherington said.

Another tool is called Tweetails.

Through this site, you can search for a person's Twitter handle and find out what they tweet about most often and how they speak when they think no one else is listening.

Hetherington also relies on a website called Tin Eye.

Through this portal, you can grab someone's Facebook or Twitter profile picture and find out where else that picture may appear.

"The search engine will go out and look for instances where that picture has been used other than the site that you got it at," Rob D'Ovido, a fellow digital detective, said.

D'Ovido says that can be useful to find out if someone has an active profile on any more nefarious sites or any unsavory connections.

To that end, both Hetherington and D'Ovidio say even a locked Facebook profile can yield a ton of information.

"Who are they friends with? Who are they talking to?" Hetherington said.

Even if you can't see someone's page, you can often see who their friends are, and find out how they're connected. If that sounds creepy, the experts say it should not.

"I haven't crossed a line and done any hackerish stuff. You don't have to," Hetherington said.

Because the information is public and available and, they say, the more you know, the better off you are.

"The average consumer would be smart to go, and be proactive, and look at what's out there," D'Ovidio said.

And that also applies to you.

The experts we talked to say you should also use all of these tools on yourself to find out what others can see about you.

Now, the Hetherington Group has put together some more tips for you, including how to better secure your Facebook page.

LINKS:

Facebook Privacy Tip Sheet

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