It’s not always easy to catch a cheater. You may have your suspicions that your spouse or significant other is stepping out on you, but finding actual evidence can be challenging if your partner is careful about covering his or her tracks. However, if you are determined to discover the truth about a suspected infidelity, there are ways to do it that can make well-hidden tracks visible once again.
Look for Indirect Evidence
Even if you are unable to find direct evidence of your spouse’s suspected misbehavior, you may be able to find evidence that your spouse is working hard to keep secrets. Certain apps on your partner’s phone are a dead giveaway, since their entire purpose is the keeping of secrets and the facilitating of naughty behavior. An app called Tiger Text automatically deletes your text messages after a period of time that you set yourself. An app called Vault Stocks hides pictures and videos, even providing a fake interface of stock and financial information for people who don’t have the access PIN. And nothing could be a more obvious giveaway of a spouse’s cheating or intention to cheat than the Ashley Madison app.
Old-Fashioned Private Investigator Can Still Be Useful
It may be a cliché, but hiring a private investigator can still be an effective way to discover whether your spouse is cheating on you. Uncovering infidelity has long been a staple of the field of private investigation, and many PIs are experienced and professional when it comes to this kind of work. Private investigators need to be licensed, so it is always important to check that a PI you are considering for hire has a license to work in your state. Different investigators may be able to offer different services; some may simply be able to perform the kind of extended surveillance that you do not have the time or anonymity to perform, while others may use forensic tools to help gather evidence about your significant other’s activities.
Digital Forensics Can Discover Internet, Phone History
In this day and age, we are surrounded by devices that store different bits of information about our activities. Digital forensics is all about gathering information from these devices, be they computers, telephones or GPS devices. The process of gathering forensic evidence from these devices can be as simple as reviewing the information that is stored in them, or as complicated (and sometimes expensive) as recovering data that have been carefully deleted. Frequently, people who are concealing a secret such as a long-term affair will overlook certain devices when covering their tracks or try to hide things that they don’t want deleted in less obvious places. For example, a cheating spouse might delete the text messages in which they arrange an assignation but neglect to delete the navigation route from the GPS. GPS information can be easily overlooked by someone concealing an affair because it does not seem to be such an obvious sign of guilt as explicit messages. Or, a cheater might remove incriminating pictures from a phone or digital camera, but store them on a USB device where they hope a spouse will be less likely to come across them. When employing digital forensics to gather information about your spouse, it is important to consult a lawyer or knowledgeable private investigator to make sure that you are not violating the law. For example, on a shared computer there should be no legal obstacle preventing you from gathering any information you can, but on an individual computer, your spouse may have a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
