Investigators working for workers’ comp insurers rely on a handful of methods. Knowing them is most of the defense:

Online Surveillance

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn are scrutinized for content that might contradict your claimed injuries. A seemingly innocent post of you engaging in physical activity can be used to undermine your claim, particularly if it appears to contradict your reported limitations. Maintain a low profile online, and consider pausing social media activity while your claim is open.

• Review and tighten privacy settings on all social media accounts immediately.
• Consider temporarily deactivating or limiting access to your profiles.
• Do not accept new friend requests during your claim period.
• Ask family members to avoid tagging you in posts or photos.
• Document and screenshot any suspicious online interactions.

Video Surveillance

Investigators use video to document activities that suggest your injuries are less limiting than claimed, and they often work outside typical hours: a weekend family outing, an evening walk. Be consistently mindful that your activities align with the limitations your doctors have set. Your rights here are real:

• Investigators cannot film you inside your home or through your windows.
• Recording cannot occur in private spaces like bathrooms or medical facilities.
• Surveillance must be conducted from public property.
• You have the right to report harassment or trespassing.
• If you spot someone filming, document the time, date, and location.

Direct Contact

An investigator may engage you in conversation under the guise of a casual or friendly inquiry, seeking statements that can be used to challenge your claim. Limit discussions about your injury or claim to formal settings or to conversations with your attorney.

Interviewing Your Network

Family, friends, and co-workers may be approached for insights into your injury and daily activities, looking for inconsistencies. Let your close contacts know these approaches happen, and that discretion protects you.

The motive is usually suspicion: doubts about the severity of the injury, suspicion of a fraudulent claim, or indications of unauthorized work. Surveillance is legal within Missouri’s jurisdiction, but bounded. Investigators are prohibited from recording private conversations, trespassing on personal property, or engaging in harassment.

Surveillance also clusters around money moments: shortly before an IME, as MMI approaches, and during settlement negotiation, when a single clip can be used to argue that your restrictions overstate your pain.

In 2025 alone, our firm spent over $700,000 on expert witnesses. When an insurer leans on a surveillance clip, we answer with the full medical record: treating physicians, functional capacity evidence, and experts who explain what a ten-second video cannot.

Our firm handled roughly 1 in 4 of recent workers’ compensation trials at the St. Louis Division of Workers’ Compensation, out of hundreds of attorneys representing Missouri workers. Insurers know which firms will actually try a case, and it changes how they negotiate.

Investigators collect fragments. A trial firm builds the whole record, and hearings are decided on records.

A short, calm playbook:

• Do not confront anyone. Document the time, date, location, and vehicle if you can.
• Report harassment or trespassing; those are outside the legal boundaries.
• Keep injury conversations formal: with your doctors, in writing, or through your attorney.
• Brief family, friends, and co-workers that investigators may approach them.
• Keep social media quiet and locked down until your case resolves.
• Follow your medical restrictions everywhere, every day.

None of this is about performing an injury. It is about not letting honest life moments get recast as evidence against your claim.

Is workers’ comp surveillance legal in Missouri?

Yes, within boundaries. Investigators can observe and film you from public property, but they cannot record private conversations, film inside your home, trespass, or harass you.

Can the insurance company look at my social media?

Assume it will. Public posts, tags, and even old photos get reviewed for anything that seems to contradict your reported injuries. Lock down your privacy settings and pause posting while your claim is open.

What should I do if I catch someone filming me?

Do not confront them. Document the time, date, location, and vehicle if possible, then tell your attorney. If the conduct crosses into trespassing or harassment, it can be reported.

Can surveillance actually reduce my settlement?

It can be used to argue for a lighter rating or an earlier release, especially near MMI and settlement. That is why consistency matters, and why surveillance evidence should be answered rather than ignored. Every case is different; results depend on the facts.