A private investigator in California received an unusual request from a mysterious client named Harry Potter. The investigator, Nolan, was asked to search for information about his twin brother, Zach, who lived in Ohio.

Nolan explained that he had been hired by Zach's roommate, John Seron, to run a license plate check on Zach's RV. The investigation involved using a website called IntelHawk, which claimed to have a database of over 9 billion vehicle sightings in the US.

The investigator paid $25 for the initial search and found some interesting results, including photos of Zach's RV parked in multiple locations. He also discovered that someone had been taking pictures from the dash of cop cars.

Nolan expressed his concerns about the idea of giving IntelHawk access to more information, but he ultimately spent $75 more to run a license plate image search. The investigation revealed even more intriguing findings, including photos of Zach's RV and information about its location.

The investigator found that it was possible for someone to find Harry Potter's personal information using only his credit card number and license plate. He noted that this was not an isolated incident and that there were many other smart devices in our homes collecting and sending private information.

Nolan concluded that protecting one's privacy is essential, especially in today's digital age. He mentioned that he had been approached by a private investigator who wanted to test out his skills and had requested his help with a case involving Harry Potter's phone number, which was listed as the Taco Bell in Caskell, California.

The investigation raises questions about the ease with which personal information can be accessed and shared, highlighting the importance of being mindful of our online presence and taking steps to protect our privacy.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat music)- A few weeks ago, I postedthis Datsun on my Instagram.Pretty cool, right.But almost immediately,the comments were floodedwith responses like this.People worried that Iaccidentally doxed the ownerby posting the car withoutthe license plate blurred.So that got me wondering, arethese people just paranoid,or can you actually getpersonal informationfrom a license plate.Oh my God!Should I be paranoid.(dramatic music)There are a bunch of reasonsto look up someone else's license plate.Maybe you were in a hit and run,and caught the driver's license plate.Maybe you want to run a check on this one,and get Batman's address.And obviously, if you'reinterested in buying a vehicle,you'd like to be able to make sureit wasn't previously ownedby one of those guys who hasrelations with their car.Cause you want to be first.(whispering)When the police run a license platethey can get a bunch of information.Current and previous owners.Registered address,insurance information, etc.They can look up license plates all day.But it's illegal to justgive this informationout to anyone who asks.Which means to get this access,you'd have to become a cop.Which honestly seemslike a lot of work, so.What information can I,a non-police officer,get from a license plate.It's time for some donut mediainvestigative journalism.(jazz music)This is Zach Jobe, he's handsome.He knows how to work on cars.He's also the mostmysterious employee at Donut.He always shows up on timeand never cuts out early.What kind of freak is this guy!There are a bunch of license platelookup websites out there.They pull old DMV records,but also search public court records.They promise they can get more infothan a simple DMV Freedom ofInformation Vehicle Request.Including owner criminal history,and sometimes even mug shots,and it'll show you everything.If you pay $5.This is where a lot ofpeople might lose interest.You might not want to giveyour credit card numberto a website that literally sellspeople's personal information.But I gotta know about Zach.Here's the license plate on his Miata.Let's find out what goodies we can get.So we actually used oneof these free websites.(upbeat music)I wouldn't be surprised ifthis turns up anything useful.All right, so it's a 1994 Mazda MX-5.Oh, it's telling me that the Miata,is a convertible 2 door,very good information.The picture at least shows a red Miata,with different wheels.I think this is just a stock photo,I don't think that itactually has the real plate.All right, so we can'tverify the information,for violations and citations on the Miata,because I don't know if Zach'sbeen a bad boy with his Miata.I don't know if this is accurate.But I do know that I'vebeen a bad boy with my car,so I'm gonna search my plateand see if any citationsand violations come up,to see if this is like a legit website.And find my plate says, noviolation or citations foundfor my plate number whichI have for sure, gotten.So I don't think this isa very useful website.It doesn't tell meanything about Zach Jobe,and that's what I want.We got the make and model of his car,which I guess we couldhave ascertained by lookingat the vehicle the licenseplate is attached to.But that's the cheap way,I wanted to make sure.I wanted to give them money.I'm hoping that we get some luck there,because I need to know whatthat Zach Jobe is up to.He's handsome, he's funny,and he can work on cars.Somethings wrong with him.- And he knows how to ride a horse.- He knows how to ride a horse too?God Dammit, this guys everything.Warning, again this is,you can only do thisif you're following the law.Which I'm not.Ooh, it's got a progress bar,so you know it's actually working.Your database is updated as of today.So that's convenient.So initial stuff fromSearchQuarry is just basic stuff.Like it tells me it's a Mazda,it tells me how big the engine is.It tells me that it's afull report available,so tons of plans.A five day trial, is only $5 bucks.Again, it makes you say thatyou are following the law.Hmm, this seems like a goodoption, legitimate business.For you use by any legitimatebusiness or it's agents.Me, to verify the accuracyof personal informationsubmitted by the individual.View report, here wego, the report is ready.And now it says it'ssearching for the plate.I thought you said it was ready.Oh, my God, the picture they have for it,the render of a Miata, that'sslammed in like five spokes.Anyway, it's a Mazda, just likewe learned on the free site.There's premium VIN information,of course you want to pay again.No, we're not doing that.Dude, this is bull (beep)!It's just telling meinformation about the car,nothing about the owner.For $5 bucks, I am pissed.All right, for $5 we founda whole lot of nothing.Basically, everythingthat we could have found,with the free website,we got for $5 bucks.So I have been cheated,my day has been ruined.I feel like this was a dumb idea.Isn't there a way we can getthe police level licenseplate search all in one place?According to intelhawkpi.com, yes we can.At intelhawkpi.com.They advertise that they employlicensed privateinvestigators who have accessto non-public databases.A license plate search is a whopping $20.But Zach sometimes tucks his shirt in,so he probably has bodies in his trunk.Let's see what we can do.Buy now, select a state.California isn't listed on here, what?Colorado, well we can't use this one.Because California is not on here.In the states California, Hawaii,New Hampshire, Oregon,Pennsylvania, and Virginia,this intel hawk site isunable to do anything.I don't know what to dohere Alex, what do we do?(murmur from Alex)(beep)All right, so why couldn'tI do a search in California?Well according to the Cali DMV website,certain protections aregranted when it comesto the personal info linkedto your license plate.Major things like yourmedical information,social security number,phone number, license number,and fingerprints are totally safe.No one outside the DMV can getthat information without a warrant.But your address, that'sa little different.Non-government entitieslike car manufacturerscan get your info from the DMVto send you recall notices.Colleges can to, not for recalls,but to send you parking tickets.So that's how UCLA found me.And frankly, that's scary.And I don't like the idea of it at all.But it makes sense in the contextof law enforcement I guess.But police would already have accessto that sort of system,so what could a privateparty do with that?I don't know, because we're in California,and we couldn't do it.Lucky for me though, Zach is from Ohio.Zach's roommate, my twinJohn Seron sent me a pictureof Zach's RV license plate.And we're gonna run that search insteadand see what we uncover.There's less hurdles on this websiteto search a plate from Ohio,than one from California.So big brain time for me.We paid for it, we paid them $25.I hope there's no consequences.Okay, this is funny.I really hope they're cool with it.All right, we got theinfo from the intelhawk.I want to read it to Jobe, right now,and we're gonna see if it's accurate.Come here for a sec.- What do you got a clipboard for?- You didn't know this,but we ran a licenseplate check on your RV.- Yeah.- Yeah.And I just want to verify to see if this,this is legit, like we (beep) spent $25.- What did you do this for?- I got some information about you,I just want to check if this is real.Did you live at 3629(beep) St, in North Kansas.- Sure did, that's where I came from.- Does your social securitynumber start (beep).- You got all that, yeah it does.(laughing hilariously)What else do you know?- It doesn't have your Driver'sLicense number thankfully.- Okay, good.Just has my soc.(laughing hilariously)- Alex, remember where gonna bleep.(beep)Apparently you can also spend $75for a list of vehicle sightings.Supposedly intelhawk has accessto traffic cameras that collects timeand location data of license plates.Claiming to have a databaseof over 9 billion vehiclesightings in the US.Okay, even though I don'treally like the ideaof giving intel hawk more money.We did get some reallygood information last time.So we opted to spend $75 more dollarsand run a license plate image search.We got some pretty interesting results.Which I have right here.Uh, Zach.Zach.- Yes.- Oh.- What kind of dirt did youdig up on me today, Nolan?- Well, we got some photos of your RV.- Oh my God!- Just parked I assume.These are all, they all look like therekind of in the same location.It's creepy right.- It is pretty creepy,whose taking pictures?How did you find these?- I think these are all takenfrom the dash of cop cars.- Aha, I mean I guessyou can't do that muchwith this info, but Istill don't really like it.- For $100, we found all that information.- And you could be anybody,you could be crazy.- Yeah.- You could be a nut job.- Total nut job.- Coming after me.- So can I find your housewith your license plate.Yes, honestly, I was notexpecting this result.I think it's incrediblethat all someone needsto find your personalinformation is a credit cardand your license plate.Of course, our licenseplate's aren't the only thingin our life that can give away our info.Think about how much you use your phone.How much private info do yousend through it everyday.Think about all the smartdevices in our home, right now.That are no doubt collectingand sending stuff to databases all over.It's not a pleasant thought.But if it makes you feel better,go ahead and put a thumbover that license plate.At least it's one thing you can protectonce you park wrong at UCLA.They will find you, andthey'll charge you $75.The sign was not clear.Honestly I think protectingyour privacy is really important.I can't really cause I'm on the Internet,and I'm a narcissist,so I plug my name everywhere.Are you still gonna put your thumbover pictures on Craigslist.Let me know in the comments.Love to hear from you guyswhat you thought of this video.What are some other myths or legendsor things you want us to test out?I'm really into this investigative thing.It's fun to do stuff like this.First name, Harry.Last name, Potter.Primary contact number, Taco Bell.Sorry to cashier at Taco Bell.Please enter your, that's my...So now a private investigatoris gonna get a requestfrom Harry Potter, whosephone number is the Taco Bellin Cascadel, California.Be kind, see you next time.