Meet the husband-and-wife private investigators with Vaudra International

Tracking down counterfeit goods, traveling the globe and reviewing hidden camera video. It’s all in a day’s work for the private investigators at Vaudra International. Though Randy and Tamara Rabenold aren’t trench-coat-wearing, hide-in-the-bushes kinds of characters, the posters on their office walls give a nod to favorite Hollywood-style PIs.

The Rabenolds are the husband-and-wife team behind the firm, which, as you might suspect, doesn’t advertise its location. In fact, there isn’t even a sign on the door.

Randy, who said he served a few years in the Secret Service before going into the private sector, helped launch the company in 2003.

The Huntersville-based firm specializes in corporate investigations that center around fake products, trademarks and cybercrime. They say their clients are known around the world (of course, I can’t tell you who they are for confidentiality reasons).

When I asked the pair about their work, they shared a few “How did I get myself into this?” moments.

Randy recounted an undercover trip to South Korea in which he ended up in a smoky hotel room with a bunch of guys suspected of selling counterfeit shoes. His cover was almost blown when one of them accused him of being FBI. He still managed to get the evidence he needed.

Tamara laughed about the time she found herself in a Las Vegas restaurant fending off an Israeli businessman who was trying to make the conversation more personal than business.

In case you were wondering (I certainly was!), from time to time they also get a call about a cheating spouse, and have to resort to good old following techniques.

“Our job isn’t to judge or determine right or wrong,” Randy said. “We are impartial fact finders and gather the evidence for our client’s case.”

Gathering evidence is easier these days, according to Tamara.

“People publish way too much about their lives, where they are and what they are doing on social media,” she said. “Thank you, from the private investigators of the world.”

It’s a job that is predictably unpredictable. What is more consistent, she said, is the response from people when they learn what she does for a living.

She said, “Usually, the other person says something like, “I’m always looking into people on Facebook — I’d be good at that.’”

Though new technologies continue to transform the industry, one thing is for certain.

“I wouldn’t say trust no one,” said Tamara, “but make people earn your trust and continue to earn it. Don’t give it blindly.”

Vaudra International: 1-855-BRAND-IP, info@vaudra.com

Photos: Allison Andrews

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Meet the husband-and-wife private investigators with Vaudra International."