Washington DC, 2000

It was November 2000; four months since I had completed a doctorate in Covert Operations, which was the culmination of several years spent researching undercover tactics and the people who undertake clandestine operations. At that stage, I had also spent a decade with the Australian Federal Police in a number of countries and various roles—many of which were covert.

I had just finished an undercover deployment in another country and had flown direct from there to Washington to assist with an undercover training course. Before I started the training, though, there was someone I wanted to meet. He was the first FBI undercover agent to successfully infiltrate the Mafia; his name then, was Joe D Pistone.

FBI undercover operation Sun-Apple had Joe living and working within the inner circle of the Miami and New York Mafia for six years. As a result of his gutsy and tenacious evidence gathering, 200 Mafia identities received hefty gaol terms for crimes ranging from extortion to murder. He had spent several years in witness protection and now continues to have a lifetime $500,000 Mafia contract on his head. He lives under a different name. Despite this, Hollywood still managed to make the movie Donnie Brasco about his exploits—Joe was played by Johnny Depp.

I wanted to meet Joe to learn from his experience and analyse why he, above all others, was so successful. The Mafia would like to meet Joe—but for a very different reason.

After I left the airport and made my way towards the meeting place, I conducted counter-surveillance drills to ensure I wasn’t followed as I didn’t want to bring any unwanted guests to our meeting. We met at an undisclosed location and I got right to the point …

I said, ‘So, XXXX (name withheld), what were your biggest psychological assets when you were undercover for so long?’

He said, ‘Well, Dave, you gotta know who you really are and what you stand for—and you gotta be able to get ’em to talk. If they don’t talk you don’t learn noth’n about ’em or what they do. You gotta be able to open them up.’

Having worked undercover, I knew how true that statement was. The angst and sacrifice of a covert operation was worth nothing if you came out with zip! I spent some time with XXXX, listening and learning from his well-tested undercover modus operandi.

Now after 22 years as a sworn federal law enforcement officer and 8 years as a covert operations consultant and trainer to government agencies and corporate entities. I would like to share some of the most successful interpersonal techniques I learned during that time. In Unlocking Secrets, I have translated the highly advanced methods used by spies and covert operatives to learn secret information, and show you how you can use these skills in everyday professional and personal situations. These skills will provide you with a distinct psychological edge in business, professional and personal relationships—beyond what has been openly taught before.

Unlocking Secrets is the second in my Psychological Edge series of books and builds on the first book in the series, Lie Catcher; Become a Human Lie Detector in Under 60 Minutes.1 These books complement each other; the first book assists to identify when a person lies and hides information from you, and Unlocking Secrets allows you to access that very information. But it isn’t necessary to have read the first book to learn and apply the techniques in this book.

When you have read this book, and practised the techniques, you will be able to better understand and influence people, and others will ‘open up’ to you and tell you information they would not usually divulge—and do it willingly.

Read on and reap the benefits these unique skills can provide. Good luck!