A recent news story has been following the conviction of a self employed financial advisor in Wigan who managed to siphon off around £85,000 from his unwitting victims. Professional theft like this is unfortunately quite common, and it can be very hard to detect until it is too late. If you have an accountant or financial advisor, or if there is anyone else to whom you have entrusted your banking details or allowed to help you with the running of any aspect of your banking life, it is a smart idea to hire a private investigator. 

A private investigator will be able to perform discreet and detailed background checks on anyone who has been entrusted with this type of sensitive information about your finances. If they turn out to be squeaky clean, then you have a huge deal of peace of mind. If it turns out that something dodgy is going on, a timely private investigation will be able to nip those shady dealings in the bud before your money becomes irrecoverable.

Professional thieves in the world of finance often work by using their knowledge of victims' bank details to siphon money off from their accounts. Or, they may simply charge vastly exaggerated amounts for work they have done, or bill clients for work that was unnecessary or never completed in the first place. In the case of this crooked advisor from Wigan, who has just been jailed for five years, he was using clients' cheque books to write out large cheques to himself and even changing wills so that he inherited further money fraudulently after elderly clients died.

Perhaps you are not worried about yourself, but have an elderly relative or vulnerable friend who has just taken on a new financial advisor. Here it can be a very good idea to take data protection into account and, having talked about it with your friend or relative first if possible, getting some checks done on their accountant or financial advisor. What it costs to hire a private detective is nothing compared to the amount that greedy fraudsters want to take from you.