"Holiday Let" Down

Be on your guard when booking a holiday let or you could become the victim of organised fraudsters, is the warning issued today by Bluemoon Investigations.

Private Investigator Annie Murphy of Bluemoon Investigation explains how she has seen an increase recently in the number of holidays maker who arrive at their holiday destination to find the apartment they had booked, simply does not exist or if it does, that they do not have a legitimate booking.

Fraudsters will advertise property at attractive rates for holiday rental in the classified section of national and regional newspaper as well as online. The fraudster will often advise anyone who responds to the adverts that he is a member of a respected profession, with his own successful business; this is intended to instil confidence in potential victims. There is often a fake website set up specifically for this scam and victims are given the website address. At face value the websites appears to be a genuine business but really just comprises of information lifted from genuine websites in the same sector.

It is only when the victims arrive at their holiday destination which may be many weeks or months after they made the payment to the fraudster, that they realise this is just a scam. They are then in the unenviable position of having to secure accommodation, if they are actually able to do this, at such short notice, it more often than not results in having to pay a huge premium.
“Just this week we became aware of a family who fell foul of one of these trickers and paid €500 for a week’s accommodation in Puerto Banus for their teenage daughter, who flew out there earlier this week” explains Annie.” Fortunately she already had friends in the area with whom she could stay with, others however will not be as lucky”.

“You can protect yourselves from these tricksters by always booking accommodation through a reputable outlet or through recommendation from families and friends” Annie advises “Avoid booking through classified adverts or from online adverts unless you already know someone who has booked that accommodation before with no problems and only ever make credit or debit card payments through secure websites. If in doubt at all do not make the booking or hand over any payment and if a deal seems too good to be true then it probably is”.

Can Your Marriage Survive an Affair? Seven Questions to Ask Yourself

It depends on what you mean by 'an affair' - can your marriage survive? If cheating were only limited to a spontaneous and discreet scratching of an itch, if you could just bottle the whole experience and leave it where you never need to see it again, then YES. Only problem is that the itch often becomes a 'rash'!

A generation ago, roles were clearly defined: men were the providers and women were the home-makers and child-rearers. Financial and social dependency and lack of opportunity predisposed us to fidelity. Today, we are independent and fully 'out there' (and don't forget our partners are working with fully out-there women too). There is NOTHING inevitable about fidelity. It becomes a decision we have to make over and over in life. It is important to remember that our emotions are not driven by logic and that it takes bravery and lots of hard work for a marriage to survive an affair.

Here are seven important questions, the answers of which will determine the likelihood of a marriage surviving an affair:

1. Is the one who cheated making excuses for what happened?

2. Does the one who cheated understand the hurt they've caused?

3. Is this an isolated event or a pattern? Is there a pattern of flirting/setting up situations which could lead somewhere?

4. Does "I'm sorry", mean "Sorry I did it", or 'Sorry I got caught"?

5. If they can't understand why it's such a bum thing to have done, you can't begin to rebuild trust. Are they willing to start again and start clean? This means cutting off all contact with that person.

6. Is cheating 'normal' for the one who messed around - something close friends and family have a history of?

7. If your relationship survives this, and it happens again, will you survive a second round of hurt? If not, think very hard about whether to make the effort.

So, is your marriage in trouble? You are not alone - thousands of people worldwide, are experiencing the same problems. Start saving your marriage right now and go to the link below and give your marriage the best possible chance of long term success.http://www.save-mymarriage.info
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Schooling

Polygraph Tests

Polygraph tests, commonly known as “lie detector” tests are becoming increasingly more popular in Ireland, but what is a polygraph test and in what circumstances are you likely to require one?


Polygraph Tests

The polygraph, which is in effect a medical instrument works by tracing changes in a person's physiological conditioning – changes in the autonomic nervous system- during questioning. These changes are recorded directly on to the polygraph charts so that they can be reviewed.
A polygraph examination usually takes between two and three hours from beginning to end, and consists of three different phases; pre-test interview, collection of charts, and analysis of charts.

The first part, the pre test interview, usually takes the longest time to complete. During this stage the examiner will explain how the polygraph works. He will then discuss the specific issue and develop and review all the questions to be asked on the polygraph test.

The subject is then attached to the polygraph. The set of questions, which was developed during the pre-test interview, will be asked three or four times. During this stage only the examiner and subject will be present.

Once the examiner has collected the charts he will review and analyse the results before giving a decision as to the subject's truthfulness or deception


How accurate are Polygraph Tests?

It is estimated that when carried out by a person who has been properly trained using a validated technique, the results are between 95% and 95% accurate. Polygraph test are an established fool proof way of establishing whether a person is being deceptive.


Is it possible to “beat” the polygraph?

If a person engages in behaviors in order to distort the polygraph tracings, it becomes evident to a trained examiner
Beating the polygraph," says Dr Louis Rovner, a noted scientist and polygraph expert in Los Angeles, California "is impossible for just about everybody." The polygraph is a scientific instrument which records physiological changes in our bodies. Polygraph examiners are trained to look for subtle abnormalities in these changes as a person answers a series of questions. The changes, he says, are involuntary reactions that occur in our bodies when we are not being truthful. "In order to beat the test," he says, "a person must use his central nervous system to override the involuntary activity of the autonomic nervous system, and he must do it on cue, every 25 seconds or so." Given the anxiety of a typical polygraph subject, it is extremely unlikely that anyone could successfully fool a competent polygraph examiner.


In what circumstances are Polygraph tests used?

There are a wide range of scenario’s where polygraph tests have been used. Annie Murphy of Bluemoon Investigations comments that Bluemoon clients have requested polygraph tests relating to marital infidelity, fraud, theft, pre-employment screening, family disputes, domestic abuse and truth verification.
Polygraphs can also be used where accusations of sexual abuse have been made. In fact the U.K Probation services in nine areas are taking part in a three year trial of polygraph session on sex offenders. Paedophiles and rapists are having to take lie-detector tests in a bid to stop them re-offending. They must take regular tests as a condition of their release from prison and could be sent back to custody if they refuse as a breach of parole.


Evidence

In most European jurisdictions, polygraphs are not generally used by police forces. However, in any lawsuit, an involved party can order a psychologist to write an opinion based on polygraph results to substantiate the credibility of its claims. The court weighs the opinion like any other opinion the party has ordered. In most cases, polygraph tests are voluntarily taken by a defendant in order to substantiate his or her claims.

If you would like to arrange a Polygraph Test please contact Annie Murphy at Bluemoon Investigations.