Conducting Social Media Investigations for Claims Assignments

More than 5 billion social media users exist worldwide, posting about their activities, work, hobbies, and lives. This creates a treasure trove of information that an experienced investigator could use to confirm or challenge a claimant’s report. 

But sifting through that many accounts, across dozens of platforms, with varying levels of publicly available information, can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Adjusters can rely on trained investigators to conduct social media investigations to confirm claim details while ensuring the evidence is obtained swiftly, ethically, and in compliance with industry best practices. 

Why Conduct a Social Media Investigation? 

A 2024 Pew Research Center report found that YouTube is the most widely used social media platform among Americans, followed by Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok, respectively. The popularity of these platforms, and users’ willingness to share photos, videos, and text updates with friends and followers, means a digital trail could exist to support or negate statements included in a claim. 

Investigators conducting a social media investigation will review the subject’s digital presence, social connections, and online behavior using specialized techniques like Online Social Intelligence and various technological tools. These probes can uncover critical pre-loss and post-loss details during the verification of a claim, providing an adjuster with ample detail to decide how to handle a claim. 

A trained investigator conducting a social media investigation will provide an in-depth search into publicly available information across multiple platforms to help an adjuster verify claims details. 

Online profiles could help determine if the subject’s lifestyle is consistent with their claim, or if they still have or use items reported as stolen or damaged. Because these posts typically include a date and timestamp, investigators can verify the timeline of events related to a claim and potentially uncover information such as pre-existing injuries or damage. 

For example, an adjuster sought help from VRC Investigations to look into details related to a workers’ compensation case. The claimant cited bilateral wrist injuries and alleged they couldn’t function in their daily life. Through social media investigations, the VRC investigator discovered the person’s side work as a jiujitsu instructor who was training to become a mixed-martial arts fighter. Several public posts documented him putting weight on his hands and wrists, doing pushups, and other movements at the time of his reported injuries that contradicted the claim. 

That particular case ended with a claim determined to be fraudulent, but not every social media investigation will produce potentially incriminating evidence. The approach can also substantiate a claim, which is equally as helpful in ensuring an adjuster settles a claim accurately and fairly. 

How to Ethically Conduct a Social Media Investigation 

Even if they use social media themselves, adjusters should know the ethical guidelines before trying to do their own social media investigation. They are similar to other ethical codes that investigative partners should use for surveillance or other forms of evidence gathering. Investigators must stay on top of trends and changes to current social media platforms, as well as the introduction of new ones. 

Plus, they must also understand the complexities of privacy settings, aliases, and how the algorithm itself can make a digital inquiry more difficult. 

Investigators only review publicly available information (unless a court order has been received), document findings with screenshots, follow company policies regarding social media investigations, and are aware of privacy laws across jurisdictions. 

As part of a public search, investigators can look at location tags for posts that might link the subject to the incident location—or another one at the reported time. Some users’ content is automatically geotagged. Event-specific hashtags are also an avenue to pursue. That could look like #carcrash plus the location of the collision. 

While social media investigations can provide a wealth of information, anyone trying to search must follow privacy rules as well. Using a personal profile or creating a fake account to send a friend request, or hacking into the account, could jeopardize an investigative organization’s reputation or the admissibility of evidence should the case go to court. 

Authenticating and Documenting Social Media Evidence 

Locating the social media evidence is only one part of the process. Because of the short-life span of some social media posts and the ability for users and administrators to edit or remove content, documentation and verification are key. 

Evidence must be authenticated beyond just matching the name and photo to a claim. 

Investigators will begin by reviewing the claimant’s social media accounts—it’s possible they posted about the incident themselves. Once all relevant, publicly available posts have been examined, the search expands to friends and followers.  

Additional evidence could be found on community or local news groups where the incident occurred. But an organization’s guidelines should be consulted before joining a group that’s set to private or requires members to have a direct connection to the area. 

Public newsfeeds and community groups can contain timestamped evidence that supports or contradicts reported claim information. 

Investigators should know that when performing social media investigations for their clients how far back to go has to be considered. The best approach being to focus on posts within 24 to 48 hours of an event. 

Saving full copies of these profiles at the time of the investigation preserves evidence should the subject of an investigation attempt to erase their online history.  

Screenshots and screen recordings help document the date and time of a post, when the investigator located it, and the context of the post. Timestamps, URLs, and account information should be visible and saved separately. In some instances, directly downloading images or videos might be an option. Original files maintain the highest file quality and include more precise metadata. By documenting their process, investigators are able to show their clients how and when they found evidence.  

Social Media Investigations vs. Full Surveillance 

Some claims require a full suite of investigative services, while others can be handled with social media investigations. This method can be more cost-effective and may prevent the need for surveillance or enable more strategic planning of next steps. 

A social media investigation could be more appropriate when little is known about the claimant or if the claimant lives in a location that is not conducive to surveillance, such as a downtown apartment in a major city or a remote rural area. 

A full-scope surveillance effort can include criminal and public records searches, social media and background checks, in-person surveillance, and more. This deep of an investigation can involve more complex cases and, if needed, can be requested following an initial social media investigation.  

Because of the proliferation of publicly available information on social media platforms, beginning with a social media investigation can be more cost-effective to confirm the facts of a claim. 

VRC Investigations’ experienced investigators follow privacy laws and industry best practices to ensure all social media evidence is obtained through appropriate methods and can hold up in court should the need arise.  

If you’re ready to enlist VRC Investigations to provide social media investigation, submit an assignment today. 

Alpine Intel’s content is meant to inform and educate readers using general terms and descriptions. They do not replace expert evaluations that determine facts and details related to each unique claim.