Person Investigation

Last modified: Thu Oct 26 2023 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

OSINT Reconnaissance

Accounts in Social Media & Other Platforms

The target person may use some social media. So first check if the account exists in each platform.

  • Facebook
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Threads
  • TikTok
  • X (formerly Twitter)
  • YoutTube

Google Dorking

Assume the target person named John Smith.

<social_media> john smith
<social_media> jsmith
<social_media> j.smith

# add the year of birth
<social_media> john1999

For example,

facebook jsmith
reddit jsmith
twitter jsmith

IOSINT (Image OSINT) for Account Pictures

If the person sets the picture as user profile or posts, we can investigate the information about the image using IOSINT.
Also, we might be able to get hints from information reflected a picture as below:

  • Brand of clothes the person wears.
  • Scenery reflected in the person's eye, cup, glass, etc.
  • Numerical values such as dates reflected in a picture.

Older Account Pages

Using WayBackMachine, we can gather older information about the target person in each platform.

In WayBackMachine, search the following URLs.

# Reddit
http://old.reddit.com/user/<username>
https://www.reddit.com/user/<username>

# Twitter
https://twitter.com/<username>