A European law enforcement agency investigating organized crime faced a growing challenge: suspects no longer operated through a single digital identity. Instead, they left traces across multiple platforms and datasets. A single suspect could appear under different usernames, phone numbers, and aliases across social media, messaging services, and seized digital devices.
During an investigation into suspected online criminal activity, investigators had collected several different datasets, including:
– Social media returns
– Extracted mobile phone data
– Messaging platform records
– Images and videos linked to accounts
– Financial identifiers and contact lists
Each dataset contained pieces of relevant information. But the data was fragmented: A username discovered in a social media dataset might appear again inside a mobile device extraction. A phone number linked to a messaging account might also appear in another suspect’s contact list. Investigators needed to determine whether these pieces belonged to the same individual.
Manually searching across multiple files and spreadsheets made it difficult to see the bigger picture. Investigators spent significant time cross-referencing identifiers across different tools, and important connections could easily be missed. What they needed was a way to consolidate this fragmented data into a single investigative overview.
To manage the growing volume of digital evidence, the agency used Paliscope Explore™ to structure and analyze the datasets. Investigators first imported the different data exports into Explore™. The platform automatically indexed the information, allowing investigators to search across text, images, documents, and metadata within a single environment.
Instead of investigating each dataset separately, analysts could now explore the entire collection of data at once. Using Explore™, investigators began building profiles of persons of interest. Each profile consolidated identifiers connected to the same individual, including:
– Known names and aliases
– Usernames across social platforms
– Phone numbers and email addresses
– Images and media associated with accounts
– Locations and timestamps linked to activity
By viewing these identifiers in one place, investigators could better understand a suspect’s digital footprint and track how they appeared across different datasets. Investigators also configured alerts within Explore™. When new data was added or when specific keywords, identifiers, or accounts appeared, the system automatically flagged the information for review.
This allowed analysts to move beyond one-time searches and continuously monitor the investigation as new data arrived. With this approach, investigators could quickly surface connections that would otherwise have required hours of manual cross-referencing.
By consolidating their datasets in Explore™, the investigative team gained a clear overview of how individuals, identifiers, and activities were connected. Instead of working through separate files and tools, investigators could:
– Identify suspects appearing under multiple aliases
– Track how accounts, phone numbers, and devices were connected
– Discover links between individuals across different datasets
– Monitor incoming data through automated alerts
This significantly reduced the time spent manually reviewing data and allowed the team to focus on developing leads and understanding the relationships between suspects. As investigations continue to grow in complexity, the ability to structure large, multi-sourced datasets and track entities has become essential. With Paliscope Explore™, the agency transformed fragmented digital traces into intelligence, helping investigators uncover connections faster.
No need to worry about evidence documentation and report formatting. Paliscope Build automates all that - keeping your cases structured, secure and easy to hand over.
Find what you are looking for with Paliscope Explore - enabling analysts and investigators to triage large amounts of data and deep dive into the findings.
Process all your data in one place, collaborate across teams, search for anything, and more.