Online Investigations: Adam4Adam, Ashley Madison, Grindr, OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, Tinder, and More

Law enforcement agencies across the nation are confronted daily with rape, robbery, extortion, and child exploitation cases that occured through online dating and casual sex 'hook up' websites and services. ONLINE INVESTIGATIONS: Adam4Adam, Ashley Madison, Grindr, OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, Tinder, and More addresses this problem and gives officers the tools they need to investigate and solve these crimes.

This book details what information each provider collects and retains including pictures, videos, messages, personally identifiable information, financial information, associated social media accounts, and location history for some of the most popular services.



This book contains all the tools needed to investigate cases involving online dating and casual sex sites including:

Search Warrant and Affidavit Templates
Technique for Tracing ‘Anonymous’ Users Via Email Addresses, Phone Numbers, Email Addresses, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, Metadata, and Reverse Image Searches
Service of Process Information (including utilizing Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties for foreign companies)
Data Rentention Periods for Deleted or Deactivated Accounts
“These apps are scary. Many of the kids at my school use these apps to ‘hook-up.’ They usually have no idea who the person really is. Rapes and robberies are not uncommon as a result of meeting up with someone for anonymous sex. This book has helped me understand what information is out there and how to get it.” -Detective, University of California Police Department

“I used the information in this book the same week I got it. My agency had a series of armed robberies where the victims had arranged to meet over a casual sex application. We were able to locate the female ‘bait’ and uncover the rest of the robbery crew before anyone got hurt or killed.” -Robbery Detective, San Francisco