Hi-tech gear used to catch unfaithful Bay lovers

TAURANGA men and women are turning to technology and private investigators to help them find out if their partner is being unfaithful.
Cheating partners are using technology like Facebook and iPhones to help them form new relationships, but modern tools like GPS and hidden cameras are also helping the scorned spouse catch them out.
Vivienne Jarvis of Angel Private Investigations said people were having affairs with strangers they met online.
"You have to think, is it appropriate if you are in a relationship to chat to people online? What does it lead to? It depends on what your boundaries are.
"Things like Facebook and Friends Reunited, that kind of thing, have definitely impacted [on the number of affairs]."
Internet dating and cellphones have been around as long as the company has. But the popularity of new technology such as iPhones and BlackBerries had meant it was easier for people to get online and cheat.
"They don't need to be sitting at a computer, it's all on their phone."
Tauranga relationship counsellor Les Simmonds said the internet had had a "huge" impact on the number of people having affairs. Mobile phones and societal changes, such as travelling more for work, had also had an effect.
"I definitely think more people are having affairs now than they did 30 years ago.
"We are living in a very changed world, so the opportunities are greater.
"The internet has a huge impact on relationships that I don't think we will ever come to grips with.
"It provides a huge number of opportunity for people to find another partner. Those opportunities just haven't been available [in the past], but they are available now."
New technology has offered suspicious husbands and wives new methods to keep tabs on their partner.
Ms Jarvis knew of people who had placed GPS devices and recording devices in their partner's car, and "spyware" on their computer to monitor emails and websites. But as a private investigator, she had to be careful not to breach privacy laws.
"I wouldn't wish to compromise myself because of the Privacy Act.
"If the individual wished to use something like that, or a recording device, it's up to them.
"It's not quite like in the movies, when you are planting devices here, there and everywhere."
At Angel Private Investigations, surveillance is the biggest part of the business. Ms Jarvis said it was her job to follow the client's partner, sometimes early in the morning or late at night.
"If they are supposed to be at the gym, are they at the gym? If they are supposed to be at work, are they at work? If their partner goes away for the weekend, where are they?"
The Ohauiti business can have three or four clients at any one time, with some as far away as Whakatane. Some jobs involve a few hours surveillance, while other clients spend thousands of dollars to get the dirt on their partner. And women are just as likely to cheat as men - the business has equal numbers of male and female clients.
But women were usually "much more on to it" when it came to detecting their partner's cheating ways. Arthur Twyford, of Tauranga-based private investigation and security firm Twyford & Associates Ltd, confirmed that he too had both male and female clients concerned about cheating spouses.
Other private investigators based in the Bay of Plenty said they did not focus on domestic problems. Indepth Forensic specialises in insolvency, forensic accounting, and fraud investigation.
Private investigator and former police detective Peter Hikaka, who worked on the Siegfried Newman case, said he did not work on catching cheating partners.
At Angel Private Investigations, the most common request was to check out a suspicious number which the partner had been calling.
"They find a number on their mobile phone and want to know who it is," Ms Jarvis said. "That's how it all starts - with that little number that shouldn't be there. They want me to find out who that belongs to."
Being "glued" to their mobile phone is the most obvious sign that someone is having an affair.
"It's such a giveaway. Usually he comes home from work and leaves it on the bench, and suddenly it's by his side all the time.
"It's turned to vibrate, and he takes it to the toilet with him. Women do the same.
"They say 'I'm not stupid, what are you doing?'. [But] the guilty will deny, deny, deny."
While people who suspect their partner is cheating want proof, they hardly need it - Ms Jarvis said the suspicion was confirmed in "100 per cent' of cases.
"When people ring me, I'm usually the last resort. They are at the end of their tether. They are usually very anxious and nervous when they ring."
Often the partner had been told by family or friends about the cheating, but they wanted to hear it from a neutral source.
"Sometimes they really don't want to be helped. "They basically know the truth themselves, and I can confirm that for them, but they still really don't want to know."
Mr Simmonds, who is the clinical leader of Relationship Services Whakawhanaungatanga Bay of Plenty/Gisborne, said trust was a big issue in relationships.
"If you don't trust someone in your relationship, regardless of whether that trust is warranted or not, it's a problem and you should be getting counselling."
Mr Simmonds said hiring a private investigator was one way to get peace of mind. "If they have approached the person [about the cheating] and not received a satisfactory answer, I guess it's one way to find out."
 
CHEATING SIGNS
Subtle change in appearance
Sudden new interests or hobbies
Glued to the mobile phone
Paying a lack of attention to the partner, or at the other extreme showering them with attention.
Changes in the bedroom