Theft act investigative methods are applied when investigative concealment techniques appear to be ineffective. Theft act investigations are activities that focus on the direct investigation of the fraud act. The most common types of such investigations are invigilation, surveillance, searching computers for electronic evidence, and gaining physical evidence. When using these methods, it is important to ensure that innocent people will not be incriminated and suspects will not have any suspicion about being under investigation. The main aim of the theft act investigative methods is to gather sufficient evidence that will be used to conduct a powerful interview with a prime suspect. If a person is suspected of fraud, the theft act investigative pattern is created.
Surveillance is a careful watching of suspects who are unaware of the investigation. Three types of surveillance are electronic surveillance using CCTV, moving surveillance, which is following a suspect, and fixed-point surveillance that records events at a particular time and place. Invigilation is a variation of surveillance that involves a close examination of suspects during a specified period to ensure correct behavior. Physical evidence that is of interest to investigators is inventory, assets, substances, and traces. Searching for electronic evidence involves searching the suspect’s computer and other computer-related devices using automated procedures.