How to Improve
Investigations in Online
Classifieds
Hosted by: Allen Atamer
LTAS Technologies
1-647-892-6477
www.harmari.com
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Allen Atamer
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MIT graduate 2001 (S.M.)
10 years experience in artificial intelligence, text
mining and software engineering
1 US and 1 Canadian patent in my name
8 years in the aerospace industry
Personal motivation: 2 daughters
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CraigsList & Online Classifieds
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Cheap, effective way to reach many people with
your product/service
Many postings to investigate – sometimes
thousands per day
Anonymous nature of listings, limited validation
of personal information
CL hides behind the law when questioned*
* S230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996
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Illegal Activity
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Auto crime / Auto fraud
Child prostitution
Unlicensed Contractors
Weed / Drugs
Fraud / 419 scam (King of Nigeria)
E-Fencing stolen merchandise
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Free Monitoring Tool - RSS
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CL provides RSS feeds free
Limited utility
lack of prioritization
 Information overload for > 5 feeds
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Webscrapers
Database
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Cost about $50 - $500 off the
shelf
Crawl a single page to many
destinations
Limited utility
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No clustering of similar postings
No clustering of phone numbers
No cleanup / filtering /
prioritization of data
Page 1 2 3 4 5
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The quick brown fox
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the lazy dog
Page 1 2 3 4 5
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Hand-Bombing Tip
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Repeat ad that keeps coming up over and over?
Use the - prefix
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Auto Crime - Reporter
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Curbstoners – sell salvage title / grey titling vehicles
list bogus private sale ads in CL: “for sale by owner”
EXAMPLE:
416-527-4626
2010-10-25
1998 VW BEETLE TDI DIESEL
2010-10-10
2000 VW JETTA GLS "NEEDS BODY
WORK"
2010-10-23
2003 Honda Accord, Auto, One owner, No
accident, Private Sale
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Auto Crime - Reporter
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Receive report compiling and separating list of sellers
Instantly identify high-profile sellers without searching
Sample Excel file below:
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Auto: Investigator
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CL limits display of postings
Only 7 days old for major cities
 Typically 30 days old for smaller cities
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Additional matching against historic data up to 1
year old
“TGTBT” price rank EX. 2009 Acura for $9k,
where average is $11k+
“TGTBT” mileage rank  odometer spinners
(felony)
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Auto Example: 2005 honda accord
CURBSTONERS TEND TO
PUT THEIR PRICES ABOUT
$1-2000 BELOW THE GOING
PRICE …
THE RESULT?
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!
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The “Game”
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Career Criminals adapt when they feel the heat
Move their ads to another website
 Obfuscate phone number in ad
 Change cell numbers often
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We can meet the challenge
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Harmari can analyze all major classifieds
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Craigslist, AutoTrader, Kijiji, Backpage, (more coming)…
Future development
You need a long-term internet investigation partner to be one step ahead
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Automation benefits
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Text cleanup (spelling, decorations, acronyms,
abbreviations, synonyms)
Automated License Plate Recognition (50-70% accy)
Duplicates filtered out (97% duplicate-free reports)
Merges info from similar listings
Posts/data are stored on our server for 3 months
Reporting allows you to prioritize the leads
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By region, number of posts, price, posted date
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Breakdown of postings
Deleted/flagged
0.1%
Private Listings
39.3%
Junk listings
9.9%
Duplicate listing titles
10.6%
Listings without
phone number
21.5%
Curbstoner Listings
18.6%
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Find the phone number
Obfuscated numbers foil the Reverse
Lookup Search
Harmari Engine is 98% accurate in
retrieving such phone numbers
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Spot the difference
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The Competition
Requirement
Hand-bombing CL Harmari
Effort required
High
Effectiveness
Low
Coverage
Limited
Low – Excel
compatible report
High – prioritized
list of suspects
Complete
Cost
Your time
$ next slide
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Auto: Reporter Pricing
Price per Month
Level
Posts/ Day
Example
CL
CL, BkPg
CL, BkPg,
EbayCL
3
0-500
Omaha,
Louisville
$350
$650
$800
2
500-1000
Cleveland,
Detroit
$650
$1050
$1300
1
1000+
NYC, LA
$950
$1400
$1700
Prices are negotiable!
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Product Line and Features
Reporter
Investigator
TODAY
TODAY
bi-weekly
weekly
postings stored offline
a
a
Analyze live data
a
a
Available?
Database updates
Analyze historic data
Price and mileage filter by
make/model (Auto)
up to 3 months
a
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NEW! CL Reverse Lookup
Matching Live
And Historic
Ads
Try it out
for free!
Enter Phone
Numbers
Here
* Limited to Auto
FSBO + Skilled
Trades section
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Proactive
Excel Report
Delivered
Weekly
Report Divided Up
Amongst
Investigative Team
Avoid Hand-Bombing
Each Ad; Saves Time
Reactive
1. Receive Tip
Or Complaint of
Internet ad
2. Search the phone
number on Harmari
3. Gather evidence
against the Perpetrator
-website
-office location
-false advertising
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Show Excel File
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Case Study - OMVIC
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Subscribed since August
Reports delivered monthly
TGTBT modifications
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Raw mileage number rather than
ranking
Below Market Value (Yes/No) instead
of 1-5
CL ads
---- ----- - - -- - --
Dealers
DB
Harmari
Engine
Triage list
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Inappropriate dealer ads vs. true
curbstoners
Marketing
Investigations
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Case Study – Virginia HEAT
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Currently in evaluation phase
Sample report for Tidewater, VA area
Report for Craigslist with 243 phone numbers listed
Out of 28 phone numbers with 6+ vehicles, 7 were
found to be unlicensed dealers
Report can be “very useful to the Virginia State
Police, local LE, DMV, MVDB and other State
Agencies for investigating curbstoning, vehicle
crime and fraud, unlicensed contractors, fencing
merchandise, prostitution, etc.”
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Future Development
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Image Analysis – Stolen / Altered / Geo-tag (
see Blog on website)
Tipline / Complaints DB Integration
Email / Voice Agents
Auto Flagging Ads for Removal
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Next Steps
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Free quote specific to your needs
Free sample data for your review
LTAS Technologies
www.harmari.com
1-647-892-6477
Email: info@harmari.com
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