10 Ways of How to Ditch or Avoid a Private Investigator

There are many different ways on how to ditch or avoid a private investigator should you be under surveillance by one. I will share with you a variety of ways one would avoid a private investigator from a private investigator’s point of view.  Please note that your safety is of the utmost importance as I share these suggestions.  Inevitably you are responsible for your own actions and private investigator advice will assume no liability for actions on your behalf that is illegal or place yourself in danger or other in danger.   Your safety is my primary concern as you continue to read.  

Why Would a Private Investigator Be Following You

Private investigators don’t make it a habit to locate or follow someone without being paid to do so by a client.  If you suspect someone is following you and is likely a private investigator, there is a good chance you might know the reason already whether you would like to admit it or not.

If there truly is no reason for a private investigator to follow you then maybe the person you suspect is a private investigator is not a private investigator at all.  So be very careful and let the authorities know you are concerned about an individual to they can investigate the matter.

Generally speaking, private investigators are hired for the following reason but not limited to this small list:

• Insurance investigation (workers compensation, disability, etc.)
• Child custody 
• Divorce
• Employment-related
• Locating witnesses
• Missing person

If your personal situation matches any of these, the person or people you suspect following you may be a legitimate concern in regards to possibly being a private investigator.

How to Know if You are Being Watched by a Private Investigator

Before we get started we need to establish if you really are under surveillance by a private investigator. By clicking on the title of this section you can read more in detail about signs a private investigator is watching you but here are a few things to look for.  Please note that an isolated event listed below may not be enough reason to be concerned but a combination of events generally speaking or especially on the same day could give you good reason to think a private investigator is in the area.

If you receive unusual phone calls

There are plenty of scam calls that happen to landline phones and cell phones these days. No one can escape them.  But if you answer the phone and speak to someone where the conversation or reason for the call doesn’t seem legitimate, log this event away in your brain.  It doesn’t mean a private investigator is looking for you or following you that day but it could potentially be a hint in combination with other events.

An unfamiliar person comes to the door

If an unfamiliar person in your neighborhood walks around and knocks on doors, this could be an indicator that a private investigator is in the area.  Investigators generally speaking will talk to neighbors and even knock on your door to find out information that could be useful for their investigation. 

An unfamiliar vehicle parked in your neighborhood that is tinted

People visit your neighbor but if you see a tinted vehicle parked in an unusual position, especially if you can see someone in the vehicle, this might be a private investigator. Now be careful, not every tinted vehicle with someone in it is a private investigator. 

An unfamiliar vehicle follows you out of your neighborhood

It could be a coincidence or it could be a sign someone is following you. This really depends on your neighborhood and if any of the things previously mentioned.  

What to do if a private investigator is following you

Always be safe as previously discussed earlier in this article.  To read more about this click on the title of this section.  It’s a crazy world so always do what you feel is safe.  Whether it is a private investigator or someone else following you, I would always recommend calling the police.  If you are looking to ditch a private investigator

How to Ditch a Private Investigator

Again to preface this section, do what you feel is safe at all times.  As a private investigator myself, I have been caught many times over the last nearly 20 years.  I know where I went wrong, or where the person I was following went right in determining I was following them.  It is probably much easier to catch, ditch, or avoid a private investigator for many reasons than it was when I first started in the investigation industry. So here are some suggestions for ya on how to ditch or avoid a private investigator.

Have a video surveillance system

A video surveillance system will allow you to document vehicles driving in the vicinity of your home.  I personally have video cameras around my entire home for various reasons but most importantly to document suspicious vehicles or individuals in my neighborhood. As a matter of fact, nearly my entire neighborhood is armed with video cameras so if my camera doesn’t catch something, theirs usually does. 

A video camera system allows you to piece together information if you suspect a private investigator is looking for you or following you.  You don’t have to be home and looking out your windows at all times to piece the puzzle together. The video camera system does all the window watching for ya. 

Knowing when a private investigator is in the area with this technology allows you to make decisions that are in your best interest.

I am partial to the RING security camera system for many reasons which include:

The power supply can be via solar

Before I used the solar power connector, every couple of months  I would have to climb on a ladder to remove the batteries from the Spot Light Ring System, charge them, and then reinstall them. With a solar power adapter, I never have to manually charge my surveillance cameras and they don’t have to have hard-wired power. 

Ring Spot Light Camera

I have the Ring Spot Light Camera which has a sensor that turns on the spotlight if someone gets close to the range of my camera. This can be a huge deterrent for individuals getting a little too close to your home, office, or wherever you have your camera installed.

You can Monitor Your Cameras Live From Your Phone

Whether you are traveling and want to check on your home, or you are home and want to see who is at your front door, you can do all this from your phone.  

When I am traveling away from my home I check on my exterior cameras as well as my interior cameras to see if anything has changed.  I have even checked on my cats to make sure they are doing ok.

You can Talk Through Your Cameras

Many of the Ring Cameras allow you to talk through the microphone and speaker.  If someone you don’t know comes to your door, you can talk to them through the camera whether you are home or not. A private investigator will never know if you are home or not. 

It has an alarm (Manually Turn it on)

If something is happening around your home you can tap on the alarm and a blaring alarm noise will go off drawing attention to your home from neighbors. This should scare away a private investigator or anyone for that matter if they get too close to your home.

It Records Activity Automatically 

Another great feature is it will record automatically if vehicles drive by your home or if someone comes within range of your cameras. I have mine set for 30 second recording time.

It Stores Recordings

For a subscription, which is very inexpensive in my opinion, it will store any video it has recorded in the cloud. So if you are looking to see who has been driving by your home, you can check on the archived records.

The Ring Camera system does even more and I will do a full review someday but until then, I recommend picking one up for your home. You may find another camera system that suits you best but this is one I can vouch for personally.

Click Here To Purchase the Ring Spot Light Camera System on Amazon

Click Here to Purchase Ring Solar Panels

Let them know you are aware of their presence

If you make the private investigator aware you know that you are being followed (if surveillance is being conducted on you), then they should pull off the surveillance. Again, always do what you feel is safe but many times folks have made it very clear to me that they knew they were being followed by waving at me or by following me.  I am not making a recommendation for either but I can say that I pull off surveillance cases if either of these things happens. 

I have pulled off surveillance cases even when the person doesn’t make it obvious they know I am following them, but I still know that they know.

Pull Over

Always make decisions in a safe manner but some folks will pull over to the side of the road if they feel as if someone is following them.  A private investigator will have to make a decision as to try to pull over as well or to keep driving by you.  Depending on the location, the private investigator is likely to drive right past you.  That will give you an opportunity to drive in a different direction than you see the private investigator drive.  Pulling over in a safe location can also give you the opportunity to call the police should you feel you need to do so.

Make Your Social Media Private

Social media has been an incredible asset for investigators not only to identify what folks look like but to see where they are, where they are going, or where they have been.  

If you haven’t already done so, make your profile setting on your social media private so only your friends and family have access to what you share on those platforms. 

In addition, do accept any friend invites to those platforms. I make it a general rule personally not to friend individuals I am conducting an investigation on but that doesn’t mean another private investigator might not try. 

Drive a Vehicle That is Not Registered to you

Driving a vehicle that is not registered to you is not a permanent solution to ditching a private investigator altogether but it may throw them off at the moment, especially at the beginning of an investigation.  Private investigators generally speaking are looking for license plates that are registered to the individual they are conducting surveillance on especially early in the surveillance efforts.  altogether but it may through them off at the moment, especially at the beginning of an investigation.  

Park Within Your Garage

Parking your cars in the garage makes it a bit more difficult to determine whether you are home or not.  A private investigator might not sit on surveillance for the entire day if they can not determine if you are home or not. 

Don’t Answer Your Door

We have talked about parking in the garage and for the same reasons not answering the door will make it difficult for a private investigator to determine if you are home or not.  This will apply to answering the door to strangers or even if a neighbor drops by.  If a private investigator is close enough to your home, they will see you, and the door opens if you answer for someone you do know.

Don’t Answer Your Phone

Not answering your phone makes it difficult for a private investigator to determine if you are home or not. And if they can’t determine that, in many cases won’t continue surveillance efforts for very long on that day.  This isn’t always the case depending on the investigator and type of investigation. But if you feel already that a private investigator is following you or looking for you, this might be a good thing to adopt.

Don’t Have Anything in Your Name

Private investigators have access to a variety of information to help them identify who you are, folks that are associated with you (friends and family), and even to some degree what you own. And when I say that, I am talking about your house, vehicles and even your phone believe it or not. 

If you don’t have things in your name it will be harder to locate your whereabouts.

Good private investigators can do a variety of things but one of the best things is to piece information together.  Give a private investigator less to piece together and it will be harder to locate and conduct surveillance on you.

What I Would do if Someone if Someone Was Following Me

Call the Police if you think you are being followed

Ya, see a theme here? Not only for your safety do I want you to call the police but if the police confront the investigator, the investigator will likely pull off the surveillance at least for that day. They may be back however on a future date in a different car and in a different location.   If you want to leave your residence and you are concerned the private investigator will follow you, wait until the police officer arrives at the investigator’s vehicle, and then depart the area. They won’t be able to follow you.

Final Thoughts That I Hope You Will Read

Private investigators are information collectors.  They aren’t there to cause you harm. They do their best to go unnoticed when conducting surveillance. They do their best to find you using all legal means possible.  If you have an insurance claim the investigator is trying to gather the information that confirms your claim is legitimate or if it isn’t. The investigator does not make the decision on the claim, they only gather the information for someone else to make an informed decision. 

If a surveillance investigator has been hired, there is usually a good reason. You probably already know that reason. 

Living a life where you have to look over your shoulder because you are trying to get over on an insurance company, the company you work for, or any other below-the-line sort of thing is just not a great way to live.  I couldn’t imagine having a cloud over me like that. I couldn’t imagine having to hide all the time.  

This might not apply to you and I hope it doesn’t. If it does, there might be a lot of things going on in your life and I pray you find peace and closure in all that is happening. 

I am not advocating for any tactic one way or the other that I shared. I can only share what I know to make things hard for investigators like me.  Always use your best judgment and always do what you feel is safe to do.