Honey trapping is an investigative practice utilizing romantic and/or sexual relationships for an interpersonal, political or monetary purpose to the detriment of one party involved in this romantic or sexual affair. Investigators are also often 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 collect evidence on the subject of the honey trap.
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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."