Reminds me of THE AMERICANS. A quick wig change, a pair of glasses, life-style appropriate clothing...BINGO, a new and largely invisible person is born. Really enjoyed this article.
50
im betting Netflix has lready bought the rights to this
42
Seems like a cool and tough lady - but what a parasitic profession.
If you feel the need to hire someone to spy on your spouse, you should not be together.
Confront a person head-on, don't outsource.
Unless your spouse is some kind of violent criminal who you need anonymity from, this is a negative and fearful way to live your life.
21
I'd bet all those photographs show her with exaggerated add-ons or makeup; there isn't one that would fool me for a minute, they're all way over-the-top. Or maybe some people just aren't very observant.
20
@Sidewalk Sam Assuming those are disguises she actually used in practice ...
21
Great article. What an interesting life...
17
Most of us (but for a few curmudgeons) loved this story. I also loved reading the added depth provided by the commenters that have their own stories. Thank you, commenters!
47
It's a relief to read something in the NYT that doesn't bring you down!
I've been a private investigator for more than 40 years and for those with privacy concerns, I get it, but there is another side. I've investigated cruel financial frauds against seniors, the worst possible kind of homicide, when it's committed for insurance proceeds and hundreds and hundreds of cases over all these years and I couldn't be more proud of the work my team and I have done. There are situations that the authorities can't get involved in for one reason or another.
I'm retiring at the end of this year and I'm sure going to miss it.
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@TW -Please link up with Ms. Schembri and help investigate Trump's Russian oligarch deals, the missing tax returns, his Deutsch Bank loans, and what's behind his 500 LLCs. It would help with the more than 27 investigations and when he leaves the office in an orange jumpsuit -- make a great Netflix series.
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@TW Then don’t retire. Figure out a way to taper the hours of work and stay in the game.
35
The best thing I’ve read in months. She’s the coolest. Thanks for this.
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my father was a private investigator and my mother a legal process server, who owned their own company. needless to say i had an interesting childhood. most of their clientele were cheating spouses dealing with divorce and custody issues, and worker's comp frauds (client being the insurance company), where the person would claim back pain and go out on workers comp and then my dad would take video of them playing golf.
about a decade ago i helped my dad on a surveillance case, and staked out a suspected sweatshop in flushing queens for a number of hours, taking video discreetly from my car as people walked in and out of the building. that shop was later busted for being a sweatshop. another time my mother was having trouble serving papers to a particular doctor, so she had me serve them (this was prior to NYC changing its laws to the strictest in the country regarding legal service). nobody was expecting a 19 year old college kid to be serving them legal papers!
my parents taught me a lot of interesting and useful skills that few others get taught, like how to tail a car and not be seen, and how to spot a tail and get rid of them. where to sit in a restaurant so i have a clear line of sight to the entry and exit, etc.
it took me YEARS to realize how abnormal my childhood was!
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@Ashley
Thanks! Not only for that last line.
25
@Ashley, good for NY putting restrictions on legal process service. I have seen some absurd shenanigans around that. And some truly doubtful looking people did the dirty work! I even had one guy try it on me. Back in the 1990s my spouse was named in a lawsuit (final judgement was that they had no case against my spouse, and we were awarded a lot of money in the counter suit). One day, I saw a guy hanging around the front gate on my rural (acreage) property. I approached him to see what he wanted, and he tried to engage me in conversation, admiring my property and leaning over the (tall) gate as much as he could manage. He said he knew my husband and happened to be in the area and thought he would drop by, and was he home? He made motions toward opening the gate. I figured out what he was doing (he was laughably obvious) and told him that he was to stay off my property or I would set the dogs on him. I kept my distance from him. So that was an incomplete service. But the joke was on him because he had been standing on my property the entire time we spoke (he had no understanding of rural property lines and easements), and he could have walked up to the front door without trespassing. And my husband would have answered the door.
24
Wonderful! Cindy Sherman has nothing on Marie Schembri.
22
Terrifying.
It shows that it is nigh impossible to hide.
Good ?
Oh no. As a Frenchman, that is a person from a country that hunted Jews, that hunted its own Resistance, I am NOT happy to see that as time moves forward, freedom moves backwards.
35
Catfishing. Learn something every day.
3
Enjoyed this article so much. More about Ms. Disguise, please.
9
looks fun, but not actually too uninteresting
I agree with opposite ideas, just synthesize them
The NYT can be a family newspaper ... and I thus wish ideals weren’t so d impossible to achieve
Radical GOPs are/seem to be cheerleaders for mean regression too
Everything is almost incoherent until I try to make an embarrassing, banal, nauseous case
My fantasy dream job. I tell all of the young women in my life, spend the money and hire a detective before you fall too hard. They laugh.
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@Urban.Warrior That's terrible advice. Learn to survive by your own wits.
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@Ted What’s terrible about hiring a pro? Do you do your own plumbing, electrical, construction, etc.? Do you do your own car maintenance? Maybe some, to a degree. But no shame in using a pro.
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They call this type of online surveillance and tracking "security service stalking" or "gang stalking" nowadays...
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
4
Absolutely love this inside look at one fascinating life among the 8 million residents of NYC. More stories like this, please: it's real, covers many years in her life and is so current and relevant.
34
This was such fun to read. It brought a smile to my face which most articles don't these days. I hope she writes a book and it is made into a movie. I'll be first in line to see it.
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I loved this article. Ms Schembri is like a real life version of the detectives in the mysteries I enjoy reading.
Thanks for this, NYT!
29
This article is (other than the world shifting investigative journalism and political reporting) all the reasons why I love the New York Times. Topical, researched, intelligent writing about the world we live in (linked to worlds gone before)... with a SENSE OF HUMOR! Thank you. Delightful 🙏🏼
48
Detective. Investigator. Spy. Stalker. Busybody. Snoop. Peeping Tom. Point of view is all, I guess. And a rose by any other name is just as thorny when it comes to where privacy begins and ends.
14
"trust but verify"
In other words, trust, but get those hidden cameras up and running.
17
Here's a little story about the young woman who went looking for red flags while blindly waving hers around:
I was once told at a first meeting by a woman I met online that she agreed to meet because she had already done a background check on me using my phone number since she happened to work at her brother's debt collection agency where she regularly helped herself to their tools for personal use. She brushed off my concerns because I was "totally clean", but I still felt violated as she rattled off numerous details of my personal life. Sorry, only creepy, insecure people do things like this no matter the gender, and they tend to take a little too much delight in the power they've granted themselves. I walked out on her. I'm willing to bet she hasn't found love yet.
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Somewhat similar is Debra Wingers character in 1987 film Black Widow. Like most people it is easy to imagine a film or limited series from this. Nothing more attractive than a smart woman on the trail of badness.
21
Wait, am I missing something? How exactly is she viewing Venom charges off the internet?
8
Many people's venmo transactions are set to public view.
13
Fascinating article.
Ms. Schembri may be a sharp investigator, but she is no whiz at disguises. The getups shown are downright goofy, and they draw way too much attention. The best way to be invisible is to be plain. Ignorable. Forgettable. Preferably old. Ruth Reichl proved that when she dressed as just any soft figured and poorly dressed woman of a certain age, in order to do a fair review of snooty Manhattan restaurants.
25
@Amy, oh, please, I am well aware when they were taken. I can read. I am also old enough to remember the 1990s very well. Even by the fashion standards of the time, these costumes are comical. Truly awful.
13
@Passion for Peaches not in New York!
16
@Passion for Peaches Maybe you are making an unwarranted assumption? That those disguises are ones she would actually use, and not something created for the photo shoot?
13
How not-shocking that the negative comments are from men -- men who clearly haven't bothered to take in any of the plentiful info about how many women have been financially ruined by men who target them with honeyed words, or women who have been drawn in by men who hide their violent rage until after they have control of the relationship.
I mean, it's not like that stats on domestic violence, and on the percentage of women killed by men who profess to love them, are hard to find online.
Hey, men: How about you stop sneering at the targets for doing due diligence and instead direct your ire toward the toxic men who have used them, or worse? And, no, I'm not saying that all men are toxic -- betcha want to read that into my post!
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@Doro Wynant of course a woman has never ruined a man’s life. When women rule the world everything will be perfect, right?
14
Ms. Schembri is a real-life performance artist. Grand.
11
All kinds of qualities that made it easy for Ms. Schembri to 'hide in plain sight' and otherwise excel in her work were mentioned, except the most important. She's one darned smart lady.
50
What a great article. Someone write a screenplay, please!
16
Great article! I loved the photos too! Perhaps a series on unusual careers is in order?
28
So the key take away from this interesting article is that the cameras have now reached probably smaller than an eraser head. Let that sink in. So does anyone feel they have a private space anymore? Guess again. Everyone loves tech until it is used against them or on their surroundings. Where the minutiae of your daily life can be recorded for any number of nefarious purposes. A brave new world indeed.
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Such an interesting career! I don't think I would have been very good at it back in the pre-Internet era. I'd have had no patience for a stakeout.
But sometimes I'm floored by what's available online and in the public domain to anyone who cares to look. I have a friend from high school (early 70's) who experienced a profound tragedy a few years after graduation. As a result, this person became very reclusive, but otherwise successful in life. Some years ago I did a search, and within minutes I had the person's place of employment, home address and phone number, the church that person attended, and names and addresses of the nearest relatives. Had I any interest in stalking (beyond what I'd already done), it would have been very easy. I was simply curious to see how this person's life turned out, given the tragedy.
32
What an interesting follow-up! She must be pleased by this profile.
15
I really really want this job. Actually, I DO it already, I want to be licensed and get paid. Great article. Fascinating woman.
37
What a fascinating article and life. Thank you, NYT for introducing us to Ms. Schembri.
36
Good article, very interesting career! it's good to get a break from the current political environment!
28
That’s a great article, A variation on the theme of: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."
Reminds me of the evening I had dinner at the home of one of my co-workers and her husband. The after dinner conversation for a while drifted amiably ... at least up to the point where the husband casually mentioned that while he was in college he worked part time as a repo man. I don’t know the total of how many crazy, and sometimes dangerous, situations he actually got caught up in during his repo days but we egged him on telling one story after another for way more than an hour.
There’s a reason why all those crime and detective TV series run for season after season.
93
@George Roberts C. - I learned to quit asking people about work after the time I let a buddy's relative stay with me while she was applying for a job. Its not everyday you have a coroner sleeping on your couch.
"So how was your day?"
"Well, I found part of the guy in a bush by the side of the road, part of him in the guardrail, and the rest of him in between the semi-axles. It took a while to get all of his parts into the bag and onto the truck to take him back to the morgue. We never did find his head."
32
Thanks for the very interesting article. So many different career paths.
32
Great article, she’s a legend. The investigations group she first worked for on the Marcos case was Kroll.
More articles on her and other female investigators would be great - there are many!
67
I think you could make a good tv/streaming series out of this with some mix of episodes current/digital and some in the past to show disguises etc.
31
Sounds fascinating. Great article...this is another reason I subscribe. Thanks NY Times.
60
Sounds all powerful.
So where are those Trump tax returns, anyway?
214
The best thing I've read today. Maybe since 2016.
106
Truly, the best relationships are based on trust in a hired goon to invade your potential partner's privacy and pass judgement on their past. Bravo!
21
@Chuck Hmmm well, my sister who is quite well to do was using a matchmaker service which apparently checked people out first- both sides. Except, somehow they missed her "match"'s repeated domestic violence issues... including one where he shot a partner's pet cat he didn't like to death. So yes, hiring a goon to ensure that the person you're dating doesn't have 1) aliases 2) assault 3) fraud issues and is the person they hold themselves out to be is a very, very good idea indeed.
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@Chuck : If you had read any of the myriad accounts of women being financially ruined by scammers, or articles about women being targeted by violent men -- or if you had bothered to think at all about what it's like to move through this misogynistic world as a woman -- you would have reined in that sardonic impulse.
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@Chuck, actually, whether you are addressing the investigator or the reporter, the word you want is “brava.”
There are many valid reasons why someone might want to look into a potential partner’s history. For example, if a person — female or male or gender fluid — is a so-called High Worth Individual, she or he or they might want to protect their assets. Especially in a community property state. If a person has children in the home, an extra layer of scrutiny might be called for before they ask a lover to move in. If someone has been treated shabbily before, by partner or ex spouse, they might be skittish about letting a new person into their lives.
Don’t judge. People have their reasons.
81
Love it! Like Ms Schembri, I do everything online now and telecommute to an agency 1000 miles away. But when I was younger I found several ways of surveilling. In surburbia where people actually see you in a car and there is no place to hide - when they approach you, state you are there spying on your cheating husband down the street with his mistress. Go into the long litany of mistreatment and sacrifice, cry, keep talking and they will rush to get away from you. If I was surveilling a house, I would walk my very flashy dog by the house several times a day. Because my dog appealed to men, soon enough, the residents would initiate a conversation with me. Soon we would be interacting daily on a friendly basis. I could evade questions by saying I lived several blocks over and was afraid to say where cause of my abusive boyfriend. As I aged from a hottie to more mature, I hung out in some areas as a homeless woman - no one is more invisible. And the old standby line: "Yes ma'am - I have good news and bad news. The good news is you didn't waste your money hirng me. The bad news is your husband is a cheater."
138
Right out of a Sara Gran milieu minus the disguises. Make a great tv series.
22
This is so good! What a fascinating woman!
59
Boy, am I thrilled that anyone can spy on anyone else, and that it's both no longer either an old-boys'-club for professionals and open to any enterprising amateur for a few hundred bucks.
The ease of spying is such a boon to human relationships, obviously. "Trust, but verify?" How about, "We're all good little totalitarians now"?
I'd comment more, but I'm off to review the video I planted in my kid's room to see if she's doing anything I don't like. Yes, I'm kidding about me (don't have a daughter and I trust my cat, Grendel); but, yes, I know more than one parent who does this. Hire a PI to investigate my social network on line to find out who!
I'm so glad that love means never having to risk trusting anyone, which is so 20th-century, like "truth" and "facts."
22
@Doug Tarnopol - It is wonderful to live in such a brave, new world, is it not?
I was surprised to find out that a friend of a friend who was engaged to be married had a sudden breakup. I was even more surprised to find out the reason why. He had several of those tiny cameras placed throughout the house, as he believed his partner might have been cheating on him during the day while he was away at work. The relationship was going perfectly fine, until the partner found one of the cameras. She confronted him about it, and they were able to patch things up with the removal of the camera.
A month later when she found one in another room, shock and surprise, their trust-but-verify relationship fell apart! The lesson here is clear, hire a third party to spy on your partner, that way you can deny everything later.
36
@Chuck
She is so, so lucky to have gotten out of that relationship on time!
29
She had a narrow escape from a control freak.
30
Great disguises Marie! (from a former colleague)
37
@MayberryMachiavellian
lol, you may have my favorite username of all time.
10
Bravo
a woman who never had to deal with 73 cents of every dollar
bravo
63
Love the 'Johnny Ramone' look!
50
Great article. A profile of a regular but interesting person. That could become a regular feature. You could call it “humans of New York”!
93
Marvelous article. Thank you NYT!
48
Super interesting article! I often think about how technology impacts different businesses - but this never crossed my mind. It makes me wonder how face recognition software could play into this someday. For those trying to do things secretly, will there be a device or an app that can "scramble" your appearance someday? (Asking for a friend)
34
@James
I will swear in any court of law that any picture of me entered into evidence is not me. I am better looking.
20
@James There was a NY Times article from a few years back on using makeup and hairstyle to avoid facial recognition: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/14/opinion/sunday/20121215_ANTIFACE_OPART.html
9
I'd love to see a photo book of all the personas Ms. Schembri played! That would be fantastic!
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@Sarah really!
12
@Sarah - Right up there with the great Cindy Sherman!
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/cindy-sherman/exhibition/
2