A Private Detective or Private Investigator (PI) is a person who conducts investigations, usually for a private citizen, business, or organization. They also can work for attorneys in civil cases or criminal cases on behalf of a defense attorney or a client. Many Private Investigators work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious insurance claims for that company. Some Private Investigators also are hired to search for evidence of adultery or other illegal conduct within a marriage to establish grounds for divorce or child custody. Within the Private Investigation Industry nation wide adultery or other socially unexcitable behavior by spouses and partners is one of the most profitable activities investigators undertake.

Private Detectives also conduct process serves, background checks, skip tracing, and locating of missing persons. Many agencies across the country specialize in one particular field of expertise. For example, some PI agencies deal only in skip tracing, others may specialize in surveillance, and still others may specialize in bug detection which is the locating and disposing of unwanted forms of electronic surveillance often found in corporate espionage or personal eves dropping cases. Some of the other many specialties a PI might have is Fraud Investigations, Personal Security or Bodyguard details, and Computer Forensics to name a few. » Read more: Role Of Modern Private Investigator