Honey trapping

For other uses of the phrase honey trapping, see Honeypot.

Honey trapping is the private investigative practice of evaluating the fidelity of partners in marital and nonmarital romantic relationships. Investigators are employed by wives, husbands, and other partners usually when an illicit romantic affair is suspected of the "target", or subject of the investigation. Occasionally the term may be used for the practice of creating an affair for the purpose of taking incriminating photos for use in blackmail. A honey trap is primarily used to get evidence. In a typical honey trap a private investigator will approach the spouse of a client and attempt to flirt with them. This flirtation will only go as far as exchanging contact information, and then the investigator will leave and use the information to try to set up a date. The interaction is recorded by another private investigator and, if a second date is set up, footage of the spouse getting stood up will also be taken. This footage can be used to measure a spouse’s willingness to cheat on their spouse, and as evidence of the faithfulness of one’s partner. Many honey trapping services are now a growing phenomenon in western countries and are being used mostly by female clients with regards to their husbands. There is a phenomena that the practice of honey trapping began in Los Angeles in 1988 and migrated towards Southwest Florida.

Private investigators

Each assignment varies depending on what the agent and client decided on during their prior consultant. A common assignment consists of the agent initiating contact with the subject through face-to-face interaction. The agent will attempt to take the communication further into other outlets including: e-mail, text messaging, phone calls, etc. The step after this can be considered the most crucial moment of the assignment. Whether or not the subject agrees to further communication will determine whether the assignment will go deeper or come to an end. The agent will propose a second meeting to the subject. Hotels are often used as a meeting place, not for sexual intercourse, but to determine whether the subject intends for the relationship to escalate. Once the investigation comes to an end, the agent will turn over any record of communication they had with the subject. Other documents that are recorded include: photographs, videos, venue appointments, etc.

An integrity test can cost $588. Audio and video evidence is taken to determine the whether or not the suspect is indeed having an affair. The hourly rate to hire a private investigator ranges from $40-$100. If the agent is acquired from overseas, the hourly rate can be as high as $300. This estimated rate does not include mileage rate, which is usually $0.45 a mile.

Spy craft

In 2009 the British MI5 distributed a 14-page document to hundreds of British banks, businesses, and financial institutions, titled "The Threat from Chinese Espionage". It described a wide-ranging Chinese effort to blackmail Western business people over sexual relationships. The document explicitly warns that Chinese intelligence services are trying to cultivate "long-term relationships" and have been known to "exploit vulnerabilities such as sexual relationships … to pressurise individuals to co-operate with them."

See also

• Honeypots in espionage fiction
• Julian Assange - Defenders of wikileaks founder claim that the rape accusers are honeytraps
• Operation Midnight Climax - Covert CIA program to investigate the use of LSD on San Francisco men in fake brothels. Brothels were used because men would be less likely to report drugging in brothels to police.