1. Locating Missing Persons

Using social media, public records, genealogy databases, old forum posts, and leaked data sets to trace individuals who have gone missing voluntarily or involuntarily.

Useful OSINT Sources: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, 192.com, genealogy forums, pastebin leaks.

2. Online Brand Protection

Identifying counterfeit sellers, unauthorised retailers, or misuse of trademarks across e-commerce sites and social media.

Useful OSINT Sources: Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Instagram shops, WHOIS domain lookups.

3. Employment Background Checks

• Verifying claimed qualifications, previous employment, adverse media exposure, and potential reputation risks during recruitment or due diligence.

Useful OSINT Sources: LinkedIn profiles, Companies House records, news articles, court records.

4. Fraud and Financial Investigations

Tracing fraudulent activities such as investment scams, impersonations, or online fraud networks.

Useful OSINT Sources: Court listings, financial regulatory announcements (e.g., FCA UK), scam warning websites, public breach data.

5. Organised Crime and Network Mapping

Mapping associations between individuals and groups, identifying common contacts, and tracking assets or property linked to criminal networks.

Useful OSINT Sources: Social media friend lists, public vehicle ownership data (where permitted), real estate listings, and leaked datasets.

6. Threat Intelligence and Cybercrime

Identifying hacking groups, phishing campaigns, or threats against a company/individual via monitoring forums, the dark web, and social media.

Useful OSINT Sources: Open forums, dark web indexing tools (e.g., Ahmia), Telegram groups, security breach notifications.

7. Protest or Extremist Group Monitoring

Monitoring protests, activist networks, or extremist groups for potential security threats or intelligence gathering purposes.

Useful OSINT Sources: Twitter hashtags, activist websites, forum discussions, video livestreams.

8. Asset Tracing (Personal or Corporate)

Tracking real estate, vehicles, businesses, or offshore holdings linked to individuals.

Useful OSINT Sources: Land Registry data, Companies House, yacht registries, online auctions.

9. Litigation Support

Finding historical posts, deleted web pages, or public statements that could be relevant in court or corporate disputes.

Useful OSINT Sources: Wayback Machine (Internet Archive), Google cache, news archives.

10. Online Reputation and Risk Monitoring

Tracking what is being said about a company, executive, or public figure across blogs, review sites, and media.

Useful OSINT Sources: Google Alerts, Trustpilot, Glassdoor, social media listening tools.