From luxury cars to jet-set selfies, these young, rich socialites inspire envy and derision in equal measure. Unfortunately for them, their glamorous Instagram feeds are inadvertently causing a good deal of stress for their affluent parents.
A new report has revealed that investigators are increasingly using social media as evidence in their efforts to track down and seize assets subject to seizure in court proceedings, and valued at tens of millions of dollars.
A number of leading cybersecurity firms revealed that social media was utilized in up to 75 percent of their litigation cases, from billion-dollar divorces to asset disputes between oligarchs, reports the Guardian.
Evidence directly acquired from social media, posted by the self-obsessed offspring of the super-rich, has resulted in the seizure of multi-million dollar jet planes and luxury yachts.
Detailing the investigation process, Daniel Hall, a former lawyer turned corporate investigator, explained that social media could be used to map a target’s family and business networks. The metadata in an Instagram post, for example, could be used to identify their location, and a Facebook ‘like’ or tag could lead to a proxy company.
Cybersecurity investigator Andrew Beckett laid out a divorce case in which his firm found that the husband had hidden assets valued at millions of dollars using a similar method in regards to the digital activity of the couple’s children.
“We monitored social media, particularly for his children, who were in their 20s, and found a lot of posts from the same geo-tagged sites,” Beckett told the Guardian. “Cross-referencing that with land registry and other similar bodies overseas, we found half a dozen properties that were registered in the name of this person.
“We were able to go to the court with a list of assets that we conservatively estimated at $60 million, which the court then seized until he settled the amount that had been ordered.”
A number of security firms are now warning their clients of the threat posed by cyber-criminals, who are increasingly targeting wealthy families. One such firm, K2 Intelligence, claims it is now working with its super-rich clients to devise social media policies for the entire family. Described as a code of conduct, the strict guidelines seek to put an end to the lavish Instagram posts of those pesky rich rids.
