Question 1

How is forensic identity-theft investigation different from credit monitoring?

Accepted Answer

Credit monitoring tells you when something has already happened. Forensic investigation works the other direction: trace how your information was obtained, identify which accounts and devices were compromised in the chain, document the attacker's footprint with evidentiary artifacts, and produce a report law enforcement, regulators, and civil counsel can act on. Credit monitoring is a useful safety net but doesn't help you understand or prove what happened.

Question 2

What can you actually find in an identity-theft investigation?

Accepted Answer

Source of compromise (data breach exposure, account takeover, physical mail theft, insider, malware, phishing), timeline of unauthorized activity, accounts opened or accessed under your identity, devices and IP addresses associated with attacker activity, dark-web exposure of your credentials and identity documents, and where applicable, attribution clues (geographic patterns, infrastructure links, naming reuse). What's findable depends on the case; we tell you the realistic discovery scope on the first call.

Question 3

How much does an identity-theft investigation cost?

Accepted Answer

You have two ways to work with us. Run the investigation yourself in the SleuthX tool for $995 once — lifetime access, with usage metered from a prepaid balance you top up anytime. Or have our team do it for you in a done-for-you device package: $2,000 for one device, $5,000 for three, $7,000 for five, each including the $995 lifetime license. Multi-account or business identity theft beyond a package (synthetic identity, EIN takeover, tax identity theft, complex multi-institution fraud) is scoped per case at a flat $400/hour, with no multipliers. Sliding-scale pricing is available for elder-fraud and financial-loss survivors — that conversation happens on the first call.

Question 4

How long does an investigation take?

Accepted Answer

Focused single-vector cases: 2-3 weeks from intake to written report. Complex multi-account or longstanding cases (synthetic identity built over years, business identity theft with regulatory exposure): 4-8 weeks. Where there are statute-of-limitations or insurance-claim deadlines, the timeline is structured around those.

Question 5

Will the investigation help me recover money I lost?

Accepted Answer

The investigation produces a documented evidentiary record that supports recovery claims — bank fraud disputes, FTC identity theft affidavits, IRS Identity Theft Victim Assistance, civil litigation against responsible parties, and insurance claims. Recovery itself is handled by your bank, attorney, or insurance carrier; we don't directly recover funds, but we provide the documentation that makes recovery claims much harder for institutions to dismiss.

Question 6

Can I file police reports, IC3, or FTC reports based on your findings?

Accepted Answer

Yes — and the report is structured to support those filings. Findings are presented in a way that maps to FTC IdentityTheft.gov affidavits, FBI IC3 complaint structures, and local-police identity-theft report templates. Where federal jurisdiction applies (interstate wire, federal-tax-related fraud), we can also produce a referral package suitable for FBI Cyber Division or USPIS depending on the vector.

Identity Theft Investigation

What this service does

What we will not do

How an engagement begins

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Why this work matters

Quinnlan Varcoe

A confidential, structured engagement.

Confidential Consultation

Scoped Engagement

Investigation and Findings

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