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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with David Basham

Aired February 14, 2004 - 09:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Valentine's Day, as you know, and Cupid is a busy fellow this morning. The problem is, though, the mythical Roman god of erotic love often sends his arrow in the wrong direction. That's good news for private detectives, bad news for cheaters. In fact, some private eyes will tell you there is no better time to catch a cheat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Meet private detective David Basham, a specialist in infidelity.

DAVID BASHAM, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: Most times, with whoever they're cheating with, they're going to have to set up some special time with one another. And sometimes it will be right on Valentine's Day.

COLLINS: According to Basham, the Christmas holidays are the busiest time for private eyes looking for cheaters, not to mention Valentine's Day.

BASHAM: And Valentine's Day rolls around, and with all the connotations of Cupid and everything that goes along with it, they'll feel obligated to do something special for whoever that lover is.

COLLINS: So how do you know your lover is up to no good?

BASHAM: So it -- but it's a change of pattern of activity's the first clue.

COLLINS: Like a woman who suddenly had to go to work early.

BASHAM: We had one investigation where the wife was meeting her boss at a hotel at 6:30 in the morning. They would spend about a hour and a half there, then both of them would go in separate cars to work. And had we not been watching her earlier in the morning, we would have never have caught them doing this.

COLLINS: Tip two, unusual phone calls.

BASHAM: Once these other persons that they get involved with really get emotionally attached, they can't stand it, so they want to start calling them at all kinds of hours, at home and on their cell phone and things of that nature. And a lot of times, that's a giveaway.

COLLINS: More tips for year round. Number three, their cell phone number changes, and the bill never comes to the house.

Tip four, you find out your lover has a post office box.

And, number five, a computer password changes.

BASHAM: Now, a lot of times, they'll find that the husband has been on the computer, or the wife has been on the computer, and everything seemed to be out in the open. And then, all at once, it's password protected.

COLLINS: Tip six. You get calls about a credit card you knew nothing about.

And, finally, your cheating lover wants some time away.

BASHAM: Another big clue is separate vacations. Up until now, a husband and wife have always gone on vacations together. And then, suddenly, one or the other of them decides it would really be neat if they had separate vacations. And that -- usually that means something else is going on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Joining us now is more on infidelity and how to catch a cheater is private detective David Basham, the owner of Answers Private Detective Agency. You saw him in the story that we just did.

Thanks so much for being here, Mr. Basham.

BASHAM: Thank you for asking.

COLLINS: We appreciate your time. How long have you been doing this?

BASHAM: Been in the private detective industry about 10 years.

COLLINS: OK. Tell me, if you would, or if you can recall, what is the most unusual kind of crazy story that you have come across, or case, I should say?

BASHAM: We had a lady come to us and tell us that she felt her husband was having an affair, and she believed very strongly that it was a lady who was helping him coach the Little League team, the assistant coach.

And so we did surveillance and watched the couple at the games, after the games, before the games, and we never found a clue of any kind that anything was taking place between them.

So I went back to the lady and said, Hey, I'm not saying they've never had an affair, but they're not having one now. And she says, Well, I know he's having an affair with somebody. Is there anything else you can do?

And so I said, Well, let's look at some cell phone activity. And we looked at some cell phone activity, and we saw one phone number down in Columbus, Georgia, that had been called many times every day. So I asked her a few days later if she recognized that phone number, and she almost fainted.

It was her best friend.

COLLINS: Really.

BASHAM: In fact, they had been talking all through our investigation, and her friend was giving her ideas on how to catch...

COLLINS: On how to handle this.

BASHAM: How to handle the whole thing...

COLLINS: Oh, wow.

BASHAM: ... and she was just leading her right down the primrose path.

COLLINS: Well, it's tragic, I mean...

BASHAM: It is.

COLLINS: ... for a lot of people. And I know that you're working, and we make a little bit of fun of it only because it's Valentine's Days. It seems kind of odd to be talking about this on Valentine's Day. But obviously serious business.

And I want to ask you about the Internet. I mean, it seems like a -- you talked about cell phones too, but with the invention of the Internet, is it easier for people to cheat that way?

BASHAM: It gives them an alternative form of communication. A person can get up in the middle of the night and get on the Internet and send messages. They can receive e-mails over their Palm Pilots now, and send e-mails.

So, yes, the Internet has opened up a lot of avenues of communication, and it's given a lot of people a chance to get out and meet other people through chat rooms and so on and so forth. That seems to be a real trend right now in infidelity, is meeting one another in chat rooms and then meeting somewhere personally at a later date.

COLLINS: Right. Do you have more female or male clients?

BASHAM: Probably I have a few more female clients than male. And mainly, they're coming to look for help. Most guys, they, you know, they want to be like the guy on "Home Improvement," you know? I don't need no help.

COLLINS: You're not saying more men are cheating on their wives?

BASHAM: No.

COLLINS: In fact, I think I was reading that it is true, and we've been hearing for quite some time, that more women cheat on their husbands.

BASHAM: Probably so. But we end up with more female clients, and, you know, over a period of a year than we do male clients.

COLLINS: All right. Now, I imagine that even though you're not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, I mean, you have been doing this for 10 years.

BASHAM: Right.

COLLINS: You've probably come up with many ideas as to why this happens in the first place. Why do you think it does happen?

BASHAM: Well, it's -- a lot of times, the society that we live in is very unique. We're seeing things almost all the time on television and in movies and so on and so forth of people meeting one another and having good times with one another, things of that nature.

And I think it just -- if anything at all goes sour in a marriage, then I think that there is a tendency to start looking for greener pastures somewhere else.

COLLINS: A lot of that happens in the workplace.

BASHAM: Yes, it does, a great deal of it happens in the workplace.

COLLINS: How do people try to control that? Or what can they do to control it? I mean, it's, you know, your own decision.

BASHAM: Well, I don't think it can be controlled. If a person's made the decision, then -- to get involved with someone else, then there is no way of stopping them. They're going to do it anyway.

COLLINS: All right. We appreciate all of your time today. I see that you are married. How long have you been married?

BASHAM: This time, 17 years.

COLLINS: Seventeen years, all right. Well, a happy Valentine's Day to you.

BASHAM: Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks so much, David Basham, the owner of Answers Private Detective Agency. Thanks so much.

BASHAM: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 14, 2004 - 09:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Valentine's Day, as you know, and Cupid is a busy fellow this morning. The problem is, though, the mythical Roman god of erotic love often sends his arrow in the wrong direction. That's good news for private detectives, bad news for cheaters. In fact, some private eyes will tell you there is no better time to catch a cheat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Meet private detective David Basham, a specialist in infidelity.

DAVID BASHAM, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: Most times, with whoever they're cheating with, they're going to have to set up some special time with one another. And sometimes it will be right on Valentine's Day.

COLLINS: According to Basham, the Christmas holidays are the busiest time for private eyes looking for cheaters, not to mention Valentine's Day.

BASHAM: And Valentine's Day rolls around, and with all the connotations of Cupid and everything that goes along with it, they'll feel obligated to do something special for whoever that lover is.

COLLINS: So how do you know your lover is up to no good?

BASHAM: So it -- but it's a change of pattern of activity's the first clue.

COLLINS: Like a woman who suddenly had to go to work early.

BASHAM: We had one investigation where the wife was meeting her boss at a hotel at 6:30 in the morning. They would spend about a hour and a half there, then both of them would go in separate cars to work. And had we not been watching her earlier in the morning, we would have never have caught them doing this.

COLLINS: Tip two, unusual phone calls.

BASHAM: Once these other persons that they get involved with really get emotionally attached, they can't stand it, so they want to start calling them at all kinds of hours, at home and on their cell phone and things of that nature. And a lot of times, that's a giveaway.

COLLINS: More tips for year round. Number three, their cell phone number changes, and the bill never comes to the house.

Tip four, you find out your lover has a post office box.

And, number five, a computer password changes.

BASHAM: Now, a lot of times, they'll find that the husband has been on the computer, or the wife has been on the computer, and everything seemed to be out in the open. And then, all at once, it's password protected.

COLLINS: Tip six. You get calls about a credit card you knew nothing about.

And, finally, your cheating lover wants some time away.

BASHAM: Another big clue is separate vacations. Up until now, a husband and wife have always gone on vacations together. And then, suddenly, one or the other of them decides it would really be neat if they had separate vacations. And that -- usually that means something else is going on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Joining us now is more on infidelity and how to catch a cheater is private detective David Basham, the owner of Answers Private Detective Agency. You saw him in the story that we just did.

Thanks so much for being here, Mr. Basham.

BASHAM: Thank you for asking.

COLLINS: We appreciate your time. How long have you been doing this?

BASHAM: Been in the private detective industry about 10 years.

COLLINS: OK. Tell me, if you would, or if you can recall, what is the most unusual kind of crazy story that you have come across, or case, I should say?

BASHAM: We had a lady come to us and tell us that she felt her husband was having an affair, and she believed very strongly that it was a lady who was helping him coach the Little League team, the assistant coach.

And so we did surveillance and watched the couple at the games, after the games, before the games, and we never found a clue of any kind that anything was taking place between them.

So I went back to the lady and said, Hey, I'm not saying they've never had an affair, but they're not having one now. And she says, Well, I know he's having an affair with somebody. Is there anything else you can do?

And so I said, Well, let's look at some cell phone activity. And we looked at some cell phone activity, and we saw one phone number down in Columbus, Georgia, that had been called many times every day. So I asked her a few days later if she recognized that phone number, and she almost fainted.

It was her best friend.

COLLINS: Really.

BASHAM: In fact, they had been talking all through our investigation, and her friend was giving her ideas on how to catch...

COLLINS: On how to handle this.

BASHAM: How to handle the whole thing...

COLLINS: Oh, wow.

BASHAM: ... and she was just leading her right down the primrose path.

COLLINS: Well, it's tragic, I mean...

BASHAM: It is.

COLLINS: ... for a lot of people. And I know that you're working, and we make a little bit of fun of it only because it's Valentine's Days. It seems kind of odd to be talking about this on Valentine's Day. But obviously serious business.

And I want to ask you about the Internet. I mean, it seems like a -- you talked about cell phones too, but with the invention of the Internet, is it easier for people to cheat that way?

BASHAM: It gives them an alternative form of communication. A person can get up in the middle of the night and get on the Internet and send messages. They can receive e-mails over their Palm Pilots now, and send e-mails.

So, yes, the Internet has opened up a lot of avenues of communication, and it's given a lot of people a chance to get out and meet other people through chat rooms and so on and so forth. That seems to be a real trend right now in infidelity, is meeting one another in chat rooms and then meeting somewhere personally at a later date.

COLLINS: Right. Do you have more female or male clients?

BASHAM: Probably I have a few more female clients than male. And mainly, they're coming to look for help. Most guys, they, you know, they want to be like the guy on "Home Improvement," you know? I don't need no help.

COLLINS: You're not saying more men are cheating on their wives?

BASHAM: No.

COLLINS: In fact, I think I was reading that it is true, and we've been hearing for quite some time, that more women cheat on their husbands.

BASHAM: Probably so. But we end up with more female clients, and, you know, over a period of a year than we do male clients.

COLLINS: All right. Now, I imagine that even though you're not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, I mean, you have been doing this for 10 years.

BASHAM: Right.

COLLINS: You've probably come up with many ideas as to why this happens in the first place. Why do you think it does happen?

BASHAM: Well, it's -- a lot of times, the society that we live in is very unique. We're seeing things almost all the time on television and in movies and so on and so forth of people meeting one another and having good times with one another, things of that nature.

And I think it just -- if anything at all goes sour in a marriage, then I think that there is a tendency to start looking for greener pastures somewhere else.

COLLINS: A lot of that happens in the workplace.

BASHAM: Yes, it does, a great deal of it happens in the workplace.

COLLINS: How do people try to control that? Or what can they do to control it? I mean, it's, you know, your own decision.

BASHAM: Well, I don't think it can be controlled. If a person's made the decision, then -- to get involved with someone else, then there is no way of stopping them. They're going to do it anyway.

COLLINS: All right. We appreciate all of your time today. I see that you are married. How long have you been married?

BASHAM: This time, 17 years.

COLLINS: Seventeen years, all right. Well, a happy Valentine's Day to you.

BASHAM: Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks so much, David Basham, the owner of Answers Private Detective Agency. Thanks so much.

BASHAM: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com