Verify Digital’s Fred Ullrich, who served as sergeant of digital forensics at the Vancouver Police Department until his retirement this year, has extensive experience in search techniques. (photo from Verify Digital)
These days, especially, you can’t take any chances when you’re hiring someone to work for you, bringing them into your home as a service provider or taking them on as a tenant. What do they really think about Jews, about Israel and about the world? Are they a safe bet or a threat to your family and business? Most of us would do a Google search to check, or look at someone’s social media handles. What we don’t realize is that the information our searches reveal barely scratches the surface of what might be out there.
That’s why Vancouver-based Verify Digital was created by Fred Ullrich and Jewish community members Jamie Wosk and David Wosk: to conduct in-depth searches into individuals’ digital footprints and deliver a full perspective on their background and beliefs.
The new business partners go back a long way.
In the late 1980s, David Wosk – who established and ran Wosks Coffee Service for almost 60 years – became one of the original members of the Vancouver Police Department’s Community Crime Watch, which is where he met Ullrich, who was a Crime Watch volunteer before becoming a police officer.
The Vancouver Police Department awarded Wosk the 2024 Community Safety Leader Award for his decades of dedication to community service, crime prevention and public safety. He has received many other awards, such as the Attorney General’s Award, and commendations for his helpful role in various incidents.
Jamie Wosk – David’s son, who was general manager of Wosks Coffee while also serving as a Vancouver Lifeguard for more than 33 years – also has received recognition for his life-saving actions over the years.
In Verify Digital, Jamie Wosk oversees sales, while David Wosk acts as a business advisor. Ullrich, who served as sergeant of digital forensics at the VPD until his retirement this year, brings his extensive experience in search techniques to the company. He was tasked with doing some 1,500 pre-employment background files for the VPD.
“There were only a few where I was unable to find an online footprint, either because they were much older, or because they’d previously been involved in police services and knew they had to be covert online,” he told the Independent. “But, today, there’s not one young person without a social media footprint. And, if they’re not there, it’s because they’re using secret names or have deleted their profiles to prevent future employers from looking into their past.”
Verify Digital’s main clients are institutions who hire many new employees each year. But, out of care and concern for the safety of the Jewish community, Ullrich is offering basic and in-depth searches to individuals, too.
“As a patrol officer, I spent many nights guarding synagogues and I responded to calls at Vancouver Talmud Torah regarding suspicious people on the school grounds. I also saw the firebombing at Schara Tzedeck,” he said. “The reason we’re doing this is that there’s a need, and it will help the Jewish community know who they are dealing with.”
Ullrich conducts all the background searches using a proprietary software that searches across some 28 social media platforms. It yields results you’d never find on a Google search, he explained, because Google is a marketing tool that provides results based on what it thinks you’re looking for.
“There’s a huge science behind finding material,” he said. “And, there’s a consistent percentage of people who have social media content that is embarrassing, inappropriate, highly offensive or simply does not align with the views of their potential employer, especially if they are hired to be in a position of trust.”
Ullrich has had many of what he calls “OMG moments.” One individual who was applying for a position of trust had started a business in Richmond and was taking customer money while not providing a product. She was looking to extend her fraud through the new employer, and they were on the cusp of hiring her until they learned this information.
Another had a clean social media presence until Ullrich discovered he was using a secret username. That revealed six years of racist and misogynistic comments on social media that more accurately depicted his beliefs.
The cost of Verify Digital’s services depends on the kind of screening you need and ranges from $99 to $199 per person, with a two-to-three-day turnaround time.
Ullrich said the “old way” of reference checking just doesn’t cut it anymore. “Social media tells a more complete, telling picture of a person’s character and beliefs,” he said.
“I encourage my clients to do a search themselves, and compare what they find to what I find using proper systems, because there’s a big difference,” he added. “To find information, you really have to know where to look.”
For more on Verify Digital, visit verifydigital.com.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.
