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How to Get Lost
How to Get Lost ? And Stay That Way!
By James Petersen
This report is for entertainment and academic purposes only. Nothing in it
is intended to in any way encourage illegal
activities now or at any time in the future. Before attempting to employ any
of the techniques discussed in this report, consult
a local attorney familiar with laws in your area.
Laws change and the laws regarding the creation and use of alternative
identity documents have been changing quite rapidly of late. Please be
careful to review the laws regarding identity creation and use before you
consider using any of the techniques discussed in this report. Please don't
break the law.
I've always admired people who periodically reinvent themselves. Rather than
be content with living in a rut or rolling over and dying, they manage to
find just the right cause and reemerge once again as a butterfly of a
different color. For them the status quo just won't do. Elizabeth Taylor is
the finest example I've found of a truly resilient individual.
The information contained in this report was collected over a period of
three years from more than thirty individuals. These freedom lovers created
a new life for themselves by vanishing and then resurfacing in a new
location under an entirely new identity. At first my intention was to
provide a complete step-by-step checklist that anyone could use to drop out
of sight but after about a dozen interviews but I quickly discovered that
each person?s situation is entirely unique.
So what I?ve done instead is to provide you with a basic framework of
general strategies and then include other random insights which may or may
not be of use to you in your search for a new beginning. Before we go into
specific strategies, we?ll start off with the most important basic rules.
Rule Number One
And it really doesn?t matter who?s looking for you. It might be the mob, a
gang, a revenge-minded ex-spouse or a just plain crazy person. After you
shed your original identity, some sort of attempt will be made to find you.
After you go, everyone who knew you well will probably receive a phone call
from an investigator. At first they will just ask for information. They will
take any info they can get, but they?ll also be sizing up all your friends
and relatives for further calls. They?ll use tricks like calling your
parents and posing as an attorney who has a huge check for you from the
estate of someone you did a favor for some years ago. Or they may graduate
to offering generous cash rewards or even using illegal threats.
By telling no one of your plans, you won?t have to worry about which of your
friends and relatives might "cave-in" under the pressure investigators will
apply. Always remember that an individual can?t reveal what they don?t know.
It seems to be a deep human need to share our adventures and accomplishments
with others. Call it pride or call it ego. Whichever, it can quickly be your
undoing. You must keep your mouth shut from the very beginning. It doesn?t
matter whether you confide in a friend, a family member or a lover. After
you vanish, they will all come under some level of investigative pressure.
If they?re not particularly tough-minded, you?re at risk. So make up your
mind to keep this entire operation a complete and utter secret. No
exceptions!
Rule Number Two
Dump your wheels. It is completely impossible to change identities and keep
your present vehicle if it?s currently registered in your name. No matter
how you change the title, it will provide a 24-carat solid gold link
straight to the new you. Even an amateur investigator will check with the
DMV and uncover the link in a matter of minutes. (Update: though most states
no longer sell DMV info to private citizens, licensed investigators still
have access to this data in all fifty states)
Sell your current car privately for cash. No checks, just long green. Under
no circumstances should you trade it in on your new car. Again, this would
create an obvious link. Think of your old car as an item of identity in your
old name. After you?ve arrived in your new location you?ll buy another car
under your new name. I know this will come as a blow to those of you who are
attached to your cars, but given the free flow of information in our
society, it?s an absolute must.
You should know that over the past few years the federal government
(including the IRS) has begun to use vehicle registration data to help them
keep track of citizen movements. For some odd reason most people are
extremely truthful about revealing their address on the vehicle registration
form. We're now getting used to paying for and receiving our license tag
stickers and annual vehicle registration paperwork through the mail so we
are foced into giving them our home address. You should be aware that the
government is now taking full advantage of this tendency toward honesty.The
same goes for real estate. If you own any, you'll have to sell them off
before you vanish. If you have any rental income property, please don't
delude yourself into thinking you can somehow keep receiving income on it
after you've changed your identity. Again, it's an obvious paper trail that
links the two identities to each otherSell the property and clear the check
for the proceeds through your old bank account. After it clears withdraw the
cash slowly over as long a period as possible.
Rule Number Three
As you create the new you, it?s imperative that you constantly strive to
reduce any links between your old persona and your new self. Some links will
always exist. They?re unavoidable.
Fortunately for you, most non-law enforcement investigators do little more
than scan the latest edition of the various directories that are their
bibles. They search the DMV, auto registration, utility records, voters
registration, public records including court and property records and phone
records. If you plan your work and work your plan you?ll end up with a
relatively solid identity that will stand up to a moderate degree of
investigation. Most skip tracers will spend a few weeks "working" your case.
After that they?ll become exhausted and shelve your file. Any further effort
would not be profitable, so they'll usually put your file on the back
burner. If you?re still undiscovered six months later you can assume that
you're safe, unless you do something stupid in which case the whole house of
cards will come crashing down with a loud "thud".
And remember, one wrong move could resurface several years later to destroy
all you?ve worked for. Careful planning and execution will make the job of
finding you so difficult that almost any investigation will run out of gas
well before they find you. This report will provide you with some rather
inventive strategies that will effectively cover your tracks and make live
difficult for anyone on your trail.
If you?re leaving an ex-spouse or lover, refrain from taking anything from
them that isn?t truly yours. The last thing you need is an ex-lover/spouse
on your trail seeking revenge.
After you establish your new identity and relocate - carry only
identification in your new name. It?s best to burn all of your old ID
documents and credit cards. If you don?t - at least hide them in a very
secure place away from your new residence.
A brief story with a message. A man killed his wife and vanished. The police
worked the case for over three years to no avail. Finally the family of the
dead woman hired one of the best private investigators in the country. He
asked the police what the wanted fugitive did for a living and when he heard
he boasted in full voice that he could find the man within ten minutes. He
asked about the reward. The police replied it was a whopping $50,000. He
asked that the police chief put it in writing which they did. The
investigator then called the offices of a popular architecture trade
publication. Posing as an architect he told them that he was getting married
and wanted to invite an old college friend but didn?t have his current
address. The nice lady in subscriptions provided the address in less than
two minutes. He handed the data over to the police who immediately had the
man arrested and the clever investigator went home with a check for fifty
grand for only two minutes work! Even the smallest link can be a disaster.
Leave your magazine and any other mail subscriptions to lapse. Any attempt
to change an address will create an unacceptable link.
You?ll also have to abandon your favorite hobbies and social activities.
These are other avenues investigators will use to find you. One man was
found by his alimony-hungry ex-wife when an investigator made the rounds of
his new home town showing his picture to all the owners of the stores that
sell those little electric model racing cars than run on slotted tracks.
They only had to contact four stores before they discovered his new
hang-out. The next Saturday morning our man came strolling into the place
completely unaware that he was about to be arrested. For at least the first
six months or a year stay away from the places you would normally gravitate
to. Instead, plan to explore entirely new hobbies and activities.
You?ll also have to change or alter your occupation. An investigator will
easily find you if you?re in a licensed trade or profession. An experienced
investigator will know to call all the probable employers in your new town.
One fellow I knew was a cab driver. When an investigator started to make
calls to all the cab companies in a town he stumbled on his target on only
the second call! Don?t make it easy for them.
If you take the tools of your trade with you, they'll give your pursuers an
excellent idea of your intentions and where they may find you. It might be
best to make a show of leaving them behind even though you plan to continue
on working in that same field.
The motto is - don?t leave links behind that can lead an investigator to
you. Make yourself untraceable. It?s amazing to me that so many
identity-changers overlook little details like magazine subscriptions and
credit cards. (Don't even think of using your old credit cards at your new
location - tracking your movements by your credit cards records is a very
simple process these days.)
Rule Number Four
This is a biggie. Maybe it should be number one. Do not leave debts behind!
Far too many identity-changers find it impossible to resist the greedy urge
to run up their credit cards before shedding their old lives. This is some
of the best advice I can give you. Your new life will be much more secure
with no one on your trail. If you?re the subject of an FBI manhunt, you?ll
be lucky to last ten days, even if you?re very, very clever. If only the
local police are looking for you, you might last a few years or longer. If
no one is actively looking for you ? living under your new identity will be
a breeze.
Leaving behind even a small debt can cause big problems later on down the
road. One lady worked for a full year to create a new life for herself which
was completely exposed by a persistent collection agent who tracked her down
over a lousy $85 phone bill she left behind! And to make things worse, she
had intended to pay the bill but didn't as it arrived a few days after her
departure. Be sure you cover all the bases and get those bills paid in full.
Skip tracers and bill collectors manage to locate about 75% of their
targets. Be sure you?re in the 25% they don?t find. Smart identity-changers
are usually successful while criminals are usually caught after a few weeks
or months. It?s all a matter of whose looking for you, how motivated they
are and how carefully you?ve constructed your new life.
If no one is on your trail, what have you got to worry about? Nothing! This
is the only way to establish a really sound new identity. With no one
working from the other end to expose you, you can go about your business
without much worry. But if you leave debts of any kind behind, you can count
on having an experienced, determined bank investigator on your trail and
they won?t easily give up. Some things just aren?t worth the risk. And if
the bank investigator thinks he detects credit card fraud, you can bet he?ll
have considerable resources placed at his disposal. This is not the way to
start a secure new life.
Rule Number Five
Burn your bridges. Your old and new selves must be completely divorced. No
phone calls back to old lovers. No contact with family members. When
ex-mobsters testify against their former Mafia bosses, the government puts
them in a witness protection program. They are given completely new
identities and moved to new locations. Many of these guys have been brutally
murdered just because they phoned family members directly or mentioned
something in a letter that could be used to locate them.
If you search around the web you'll find some very interesting information
on the federal witness protection program. It includes a checklist that you
should read. Many people find it very difficult to abandon their old
clergymen, doctors, neighbors, friends and family members. Once the subjects
have been briefed and are ready to travel to their new location, they are
flown there through a minimum of three intermediate locations. They fly
under assumed names and in each city they are housed in a government "safe
house". Since hotel records are easily checked, this ensures that they'll
leave behind no traceable records. After a few days in each spot, they move
onto the next. It must be a real pain having to travel around the country on
the sly but through hard experience the feds have learned that this is the
only really effective way to move someone from one place to another without
leaving behind a paper trail.
You might want to explore getting a divorce or filing for bankruptcy (or
both!) before your departure. If either one is tempting, consult with an
experienced attorney for expert advice. (Ariza Research publishes a unique
bankruptcy guide entitled "Bankruptcy Secrets". For more info visit our web
site at: www.ariza-research.com/bankruptcy.)
If you ask, the post office will tell you that their official policy is to
never open mail (except when a letter ends up in the dead letter office -
where it?s opened in an attempt to obtain a delivery address). What they
don?t tell you is that every day of the week postal officials turn over tons
of mail to various government agencies that DO open your mail. Don?t trust
the mails! If you must communicate by letter, use mail drops and use code
words or phrases. If you want to report whether or not something took place
- make up a code that anyone reading the letter would never be able to
figure out. If you mention your Aunt Jane - that means the task was
completed as planned, while a mention of your Uncle Arthur means something
went wrong. It?s sad fact that we live in a country where the government
snoops on it?s own citizens. (And don't be deluded into thinking that the
government has to bother with obtaining search warrants or court orders to
read your mail or listen in on your phone conversations. The so-called
national security administration ( NSA ) listens in to millions of domestic
phone calls every day under it's "Echelon" program!)
If you?re attempting to escape an ex-lover or spouse, resist the temptation
to call and taunt them. As much as you might enjoy it, "caller ID" is
everywhere these days and phone company records are an open book to an
attorney, an investigator or a cop. After your first call, your target can
now call the phone company and report they've been receiving obscene phone
calls. The phone company will then monitor your target's line and report
your number to the police for investigation. When the detectives on TV or in
the movies are looking for a connection between the victim and a suspect,
they always turn to the phone records. ("Usage Details") If you must phone
home at least use a pay phone in a town as far as possible from your real
location, keep the call short, use one of those pre-paid long distant cards
(which you, of course, purchased for cash) and don?t make a second call.
Here's a little piece of information you just might find interesting. Those
nice folks down at Radio Shack and others sell a device called a "Caller ID
Blocker". You plug this small plastic device between your phone and the
connector on the wall. When you make an outgoing call, this little wonder
blocks caller ID so that no one can determine your phone number. Just be
sure to pay in cash and decline to give the sales clerk any information when
he asks. When he asks for your last name, just say "cash". That will usually
take care of it.
Now that we?ve covered the basics, let?s move on to some actual planning.
Pre-move Planning
Successful identity changing demands careful planning and flawless
execution. Anyone who attempts to change identities with a casual attitude
or goes at it too quickly is doomed to failure. This all takes time, effort
and courage to break away from whatever pleasure and support you might
presently be enjoying.
The first priorities are to obtain new identity documents and accumulate as
large a cash grubstake as possible. Once you have your new drivers license,
find one of those "secured credit card" banks. You put up some cash, usually
a minimum of $200 or so which goes into an interest-bearing savings account.
They then issue you a genuine Visa or Mastercard credit card with a credit
limit secured by the savings account. Some banks do a credit check while
others don't bother but either way they'll accept almost anyone.
You don?t get much credit but it does provide you with a genuine bank credit
card in your new name in less than a month. When you go looking for living
quarters, it will make you look much more trustworthy and reliable. And it?s
an excellent form of ID. Without a major credit card, you?re really lost out
there. During a recent job interview one lady was asked if she had bank
credit cards, when she showed the interviewer two - she was quickly hired.
Here?s a list of banks that issue secured credit cards:
Bank/FirmPhone NumberMinimum Deposit
Chevy Chase 1-800-937-5000 Ext. 99 $300
Best Bank 1-800-470-6111 $250
Community Bank 1-800-779-8472 $300
Bank of America 1-800-243-7762$500
Orchard Bank 1-800-688-6830 $200
First National Bank 1-800-658-3660 $250
Bank One of Arizona 1-800-945-2000$500
Chase Manhattan 1-800-482-4273 $300
Federal Savings 1-800-290-9060 $250
Cross Country Bank 1-800-262-3610$200
First Consumers1-800-876-3262$100
Call several banks and ask a lot of questions. Do they require a credit
check? (if your lucky you may find one that doesn't bother) Do they have a
minimum residency requirement (usually one year)? Do they have a minimum
salary requirement? Do they require that you have an address and phone
number in your name? Some banks are much more liberal than others. Tell them
that you?ve recently returned from living overseas and have no credit record
and need to establish one - that's why you want the card in the first place.
After your move should someone send you a check, you?ll have a very tough
time cashing it without the credit card. By the way, try not to deal with
those storefront "we cash any kind of check" places. The clerks in those
place are extremely suspicious people. They see a steady flow of scam
artists, criminals and other low-lifes. How can they cash all kinds of
checks? It's simple, they make extensive use of on-line database
verifications. When you cash a check there - they spread your personal
information all over the place. Not a good thing to do when you?re trying to
live a low profile life. The police make a lot of arrests in these places.
Should one of the clerk's computers indicate that there may be a problem
with your or your check, they will immediately call the police and let them
arrest you and then sort it all out. Stay away from these joints at all
cost!
When you use your new secured credit card, you?ll be steadily building a new
credit history in your new name. These secured credit card banks report your
payment history back to the credit agencies each and every month. So to make
the most of one of these cards be sure to immediately charge up to around
80% of your credit limit. Then make the payments immediately when you get
the bill each month. There are only two iron-clad rules here: do not go over
the credit limit AND do not miss even a single payment. Pay the minimum
which ensures that you will pay the maximum interest, which the bank will
just love you for. After one year of perfect payments you?ll start to get
offers for unsecured cards from all sorts of banks. In some cases the same
bank that issued you the secured card will offer you an unsecured card at a
much lower interest rate. At that point your credit will be solid enough to
qualify for unsecured cards. Apply for two and when you get your first
unsecured card, mail the secured card back to the issuing bank and get your
deposit money back, plus the interest!
There is another way to get a genuine bank credit card in as little as a
week. You call around to the all the banks in your area asking if they offer
either a Mastercard or Visa "debit card". If they do, ask them if a credit
report is required. Due to all the credit card fraud going on, most banks
still require a credit check. But many aggressive banks, who are
particularly eager to get cards out there or are new to the game aren?t
quite so careful. When you locate the right bank, run down there and open a
checking account. Put as much cash as you can into the new account and ask
for the debit card. In less than two weeks you should have the card. It
looks like a genuine card and operates just like one except for two
differences. Debit card transactions are immediately deducted from your
checking account instead of being billed. And, more importantly, the bank
does not report your payment history to the credit agencies so debit cards
are of no use whatever in establishing credit.
Accumulate cash in preparation for the big move. Not a balance in your
checking account, I?m talking about a good old fashioned folding money. Find
a good hiding place and start piling it up. Slowly if you can afford to take
the time. Tens and twenties are best. The last thing you?ll do when you
leave town is sell your car which will provide the cash you?ll need to buy
another set of wheels in your target location.
If you have more than $2,000 in cash you may want to rent a bank safe
deposit box and deposit the cash there. You can return at any time and pick
up whatever you need. This way you can move wherever you want without fear
of loss. Be aware that banks are required to notify the government on all
cash transactions over $500 but don?t usually bother with sums under a
couple of grand. (Update: banks are now required to file IRS forms on all
transfers of $3,000 or more. To be safe, keep any transactions well below
this threshold.) But don?t take chances you don?t have to. The government
has also stopped printing the larger denomination bills. The largest bill
now being printed is the new $100. This makes carrying around large sums of
money more difficult. It also makes it more difficult for drug dealers to
export money back to their overseas sources. If you can, try and stockpile
only the new bills. Uncle Sam is slowly but steadily moving toward a dual
money system with one currency being used at home and another entirely
different color and style of cash being used overseas.
Sell off personal items as quickly and as quietly as possible. The more cash
you have the better. Remember, it will take a full year to establish credit
in your new name. During that time you can only buy what you can afford to
pay for in cash. Your entire living standard for the next year will be
dictated by how much cash you can accumulate now.
Your new location should either be a city or a large town. Put some distance
between your old and new worlds. Move at least 800 or more miles from your
old stomping grounds. And it?s mandatory that you move across state lines.
Do not return to a city you lived in during the past, no matter how long ago
it was. Stay away from remote rural areas and busy tourist zones. You?ll be
too obvious there.
If you plan to visit your new site just to check it out, do not let anyone
there (such as a future landlord/roommate) see your license plate. Remember,
it would immediately disclose both your home state and, in most areas, your
home county. It might be best to fly and rent a car at the airport if you
can afford to. (remember, don't use credit cards in your "old" name anywhere
in your future hometown even on a pre-move evaluation visit!)
One lady I know rented a car in her hometown using a current credit card.
She then drove it 600 miles to her future hometown and back. This worked
fine as she didn't let anyone see her tags. (when she went to look for
apartments she parked her car several blocks away.) The car rental firms
have no idea where you drive their cars so it's a good way to go (provided
you don't get any traffic tickets during your scouting trip.)
If you?re leaving behind a bad situation, avoid relocating to Florida. Have
you ever watched one of those "America's Most Wanted" TV shows? It seems
that when most criminals skip bail, they head straight to Florida. Florida
would be a bad choice, unless you have somewhere discreet where you can
stay. Avoid any other place where tourism is popular, unless you?ll be happy
cooped up in an apartment. If you walk the streets, there?s a good chance
that eventually a tourist from back home will recognize you and report their
sighting to others. This may sound unlikely but in the real world it's not
at all unusual.
There are several interesting alternatives to simply re-locating to another
city. One fellow I know decided he?d had enough of his mentally unstable
wife, put together some cash and bought a late-model used recreational
vehicle with all the creature comforts. He bought it from one of those rural
dealerships in a backwater little town in Tennessee. He paid cash and used a
fake drivers license that he bought on the internet for identification. The
story he told the dealer made sense and meshed well with his fake ID so in a
few sort hours he was on his way with an entirely untraceable vehicle.
He wandered around the country staying at public campgrounds for over a
year, finally landing in Kansas. He found a new woman and some friends his
own age there and settled down. This strategy worked well for him because he
needed to "get away" for a year where no one could find him. By creating a
new identity and then buying an RV in his new name, he had the perfect "hide
away". And it gave him a chance to travel around the countryside which he
had always dreamed of doing. You can join one of several campground
associations which have campgrounds all over the country. KOA is one of the
largest. Trying to find one of these roving RVers is all but impossible.
Hello Sailor!
Then there?s the "tramp steamer" approach. For a very reasonable fee you can
book a long cruise on various cargo vessels. They wander all over the globe.
The accommodations are not all that fancy but you will be well fed and at
the same time - well lost. No one will be able to find you for a number of
months. And if you can afford to, you may want to stop somewhere and spend a
few months. If you have the bread, the south of France is a favorite
destination for exiled kings and fallen dictators. For a century or more the
locals have learned not to ask too many questions. Instead they tend to
focus on the color of your money.
When you?ve settled on your new home city, remember what I told you about
keeping your mouth shut. Back during the cold war the Russians were fond of
spreading "mis-information". It was one of their favorite tactics and for
good reason. It?s a good tactic that you should use too. While keeping
absolutely quiet about your real destination, start broadcasting your
interest in living in some remote location (the Indians call this "leaving a
false trail"). Spread the word to friends, co-workers and anyone that might
later be approached by an investigator.
For example, if you?ve settled on moving to Phoenix, start telling your
friends about how much you?ve heard about South Carolina. Of course you
"have friends in South Carolina" who you?d would like to visit. Let them
know that, come your next vacation or long holiday weekend, you?re going to
fly out to good old South Carolina. If you?re a good actor you might even
drop a comment like "if I like it there, who knows - I might just stay!"
The really smart identity-changers will bolster their future safety by
actually flying out to the city they told their friends they were interested
in (buying the ticket with a current credit card) and performing several ATM
and credit card transactions while there. You might send a postcard home or
better yet, a letter to your closest friend or relative. This all beefs up
the "cover story" and creates an obvious paper trail that will later send an
investigator off on a wild goose chase in the wrong direction. Let the poor
bastard beat his brains out trying to find you in South Carolina while you
bask in the Arizona sun!
Fly - Don't Ride
Do not drive to your new location as this would risk a traffic ticket that
would blow the whole thing as such a run-in with the law would create a
document that could be easily found in the public records. Instead fly out
to your new location or take the bus as they'll let you travel under an
assumed name. Flying under a false name is a more common practice than you
might think. Well-heeled couples committing adultery do it all the time when
they fly off for a passionate rendezvous in some luxury resort location.
It?s a joke as every time a jumbo jet goes down, there are usually a half a
dozen names on the passenger list that can?t be accounted for. No family can
be found. If the bodies cannot be recovered it may be years before their
identity is firmly established.
(Update: new federal laws require that you present a picture ID before you
purchase a ticket. The ticket agent at the airport counter will, of course,
accept a drivers license. You have several options here but the best overall
strategy here is to use a fake driver license purchased on the internet.
When you buy your fake drivers license, be sure to choose a distant, low
population state such as Wyoming, Idaho, Vermont, Maine, New Mexico or
Montana. The ticket agent seldom sees drivers licenses from these
sparsely-populated states so will be much less liable to detect a fake.
You'll also find that if you purchase your ticket using a Mastercard/Visa
credit or debit card in your new name, they may not even ask for your
picture ID - but be warned that if you attempt to check in baggage, the
curbside baggage handlers are required by law to check your picture ID so
the rule of thumb here is to travel light and cram everything you need into
a single "carry-on" bag if you can.)
While you?re traveling, stay away from those cheap hotels. The police now
regularly "sweep" those places and usually come away with a bus full of
criminals with outstanding warrants. Getting caught in one of these raids
could prove disastrous at this early stage of the game. A few extra bucks
will get you a more comfortable room in a better neighborhood where you can
rest safely and securely.
The trip will be a complete waste of time if you don?t already have at least
an interim new identity established. You?ll need at least a drivers license
in your new name. When you get to Phoenix, look around for a stable working
class neighborhood. Unless you?re very well funded, this is where you?ll be
living at least for the first year. Rent one of those commercial mail boxes
in your new name somewhere as near as possible to the area you?re interested
in. Under no circumstances whatever are you to use your old name at this
point. Most commercial post office box firms offer a phone message service
which will give you an instant phone number. They may also offer a
computerized "voicemail" service which will give you your own dedicated
phone number complete with a recorded greeting in your voice which sounds
just like a standard answering machine.
When you fill out the form for your new mailbox, add a second person's name
in the proper form on the box. They may let this slide (which will give you
a second name for mailing purposes) or may demand that your friend come in
and furnish them with a picture ID. Tell them that your friend is in the
military overseas or is working in Saudi Arabia and so cannot "drop by".
When you say this have the cash in your hand in full sight. Most of the
people who operate these places will put profit over rules every day. They
also know that most of their customers are, in reality, buying
confidentiality along with the box. (A lot of their customers are involved
in adulterous affairs and need the mail drop to receive mail from their new
lady.)
Buy a newspaper and study it from front to back. Look in the classified ads
for people looking to share apartments or homes and then scan the used car
section. Moving in with a roommate is, for a number of reasons, your best
bet at this stage of the game. This way you can get living quarters without
having to go through the usual credit/landlord/reference checks. Do not have
a friend pose as a reference. He would then know your whole plan and would
be able to expose you or even blackmail you later. Again, your story is -
you?ve just returned from working overseas and have lost contact with old
friends. Oh sure you have plenty of good friends but they just happen to
live overseas (where they can't be easily contacted for a verification).
Dress up in good taste and answer several of the ads requesting roommates.
Go around and look at the places, get an idea of costs. If your future
roommate likes your looks, after a friendly chat, you may be able to move in
without any paperwork at all. If they hand you forms asking for all kinds of
background information, take the forms, promise to fill them out and mail
them back. After you've left, throw the forms away and move on to the next
place. What you?re looking for is a friendly person who will take you in
with as few questions as possible. For your sake I hope you have a pleasant
personality and smile. You're looking for a trusting person who is content
with choosing someone based on "gut instinct".
I did this once in Washington DC. The owner of the house interviewed me and
was so taken with me that she offered to rent me an entire house for the
price of a small apartment. I lived there alone for a full year. I found out
later that at the time I showed up she was looking for someone she could
trust and decided to go with her instincts. She liked my looks and offered
me the place right on the spot.
Open a Checking Account
Be sure to use a different bank than you used back home. Major banks which
used to limit their territory to the inner city and suburbs of a single
city, now have branches all over a state or even beyond. Small banks are the
best bet as they are less likely to spread your personal information around.
Stay away from the major regional banks. Take as much cash as you can afford
with you to deposit. A grand or more would be best. It will impress the
clerk and smooth the application process. Banks like to take in money. Do
not deposit any checks that would in any way link this new account to your
old bank account, name or city. Dress and act appropriately as all this cash
would look very suspicious in the hands of someone who looked like they just
might be a drug dealer.
If they ask for the name of your last bank and your old account number just
tell them that you had an account in the "Saudi National Bank" in Jidda,
Saudia Arabia. That should kill any idea they have of running a verification
check. Banks in the Arab world go by the European rules which means they
only release account information after an official search warrant has been
issued by a recognized court.
Getting an Apartment
You might be able to locate an individual apartment with a little bit of
luck. Most decent apartment complexes are managed by large firms who are
very suspicious of applicants who are new to their town. They will insist on
running a rather deep background credit check and will want to verify your
employment. They will also ask to talk with your current landlord. If you
tell them that you?ve been living with your parents for several years
following a bad divorce, they may let you lease an apartment, though they
may demand several months extra deposit due to your lack of verifiable
rental history. If your credit is shot, you will either be refused or they
may insist on a really punishing security deposit of up to two grand.
It all depends on the rental market. If they need your business they?ll bend
over backwards to get you into one of their units, providing you look
reputable. If their occupancy rate is approaching 100%, you?ll probably have
a very tough time. Check it out for yourself. Again, the better working
class neighborhoods are best. Avoid the really poor areas as slumlords there
tend to be the most demanding when it comes to background checks.
Another advantage of the shared home approach is that you don?t have to deal
with the utility companies whose records are open books. Getting electricity
and a phone connected will set you back quite a bit in deposits since you
have no established credit or verifiable utility history. This lack of
history will raise a giant red flat with any utility company. They're afraid
that you won't stick around to pay your bills. When you ask about the rent
in a sharing situation, they usually say something like "$400 a month plus
half the utilities and all your long distance phone calls".
And because investigators use utility records to locate people, the shared
approach allows you to live invisibly, with your name not appearing on any
utility records. Talk about being low-profile! Living as a roommate is
zero-profile.
Are You a Doll?
A note here about attractive women. If you are a woman under age 45 or so,
with average or above average looks, you have a special advantage here. Did
you know that there is only one type of fugitive that bounty hunters won?t
bother looking for. They won't lift a finger to search for attractive young
women. Why? Because an attractive woman can breeze into any good sized town,
crawl into a singles bar and quickly locate a guy to "shack up" with. A
shacked up woman is, in effect, invisible from a public records standpoint.
The lease and all of the utilities are in the guy?s name. She continues to
drive on her out of state drivers license, so unless she?s stupid enough to
go and get a new drivers license, the local DMV has no idea where she is.
It?s as if she dropped off the face of the earth! Unless she makes a
mistake, she?ll never be found. Also an attractive woman who needs to change
her name quickly can simply get married which makes her much more difficult
to find. It?s a bit more difficult for men.
Your Personal Story
Get your new "life story" squared away. Take a pad and pen and write it all
down. Read it aloud until it sounds good. Embellish it but not too much.
Don?t get carried away. Don't try to claim you were a surgeon unless you can
talk the talk like a real doctor. Try to anticipate any obvious questions.
With some effort the pieces will all fall into place. If you?re moderately
bright you should be able to ad-lib any other answers. Then get it all
straight in your head. Repeat it all until you?re comfortable with it.
Should someone ask about your divorce or some other area of your past you
would rather not have to explain, you can always indicate that the subject
is still painful by saying "I?d rather not talk about it". Most people will
back off and not bring it up again anytime soon. Over time a strange thing
will start to happen. You?ll actually start to believe your new life story.
After a year or so it will fit you like a glove and you?ll have to strain to
remember the actual life you left behind. It may sound strange but if you've
never actually done it, but by living a new life you can become an entirely
new person. Every read about brutal nazi murderers who slaughtered
thousands of innocent people and then came to the US after the war and lived
perfect lives thereafter. You wouldn't think it possible but it's happened
many times.
The "Funeral Trap"
This one is tough. If you want to protect your new identity, you'll be
unable to attend the funeral of a loved one that dies. Law enforcement types
make it a point to visit funerals in search of fujitives. Many ex-spouses
have been nabbed when they came to pay their last respects to a deceased
parent.
And you'll need to give some thought to who you want to handle the funeral
arrangements. You simply cannot become involved. To do so would require
you're returning to your old home town and attempting to pay for funeral
expenses with cash which would be very unusual. Many wanted fugitives
overcome with grief will throw caution to the winds, put on a nice dark suit
and dutifully show up at the funeral only to be spirited away as soon as
they step out of their car. You simply can't assume that such a sad and
somber occasion is safe.
Even sending flowers can be dangerous (if you bought them with your credit
card which is a common practice these days).
Please take the time to fill out the registration card
I once knew a nice lady who was, how can I say this, not all that smart.
When a co-worker offered to sell her a brand new color TV for half it's
retail price she quickly snapped it up. The seller told her with a wink "it
fell off the back of a truck!". She just giggled.
After the set arrived, she was sitting there reading the owner's manual when
a bright yellow postcard fell out onto the floor. It was a registration form
that promised that if she registered her purchase with the manufacturer, she
might win a new car. She filled in the card and mailed it off the next
morning when she got to work.
Six weeks later two cops appeared at her door. Not only did they confiscate
the stolen TV, but they also took her down to the police station where they
interrogated her until she broke down and told them who sold her the hot
set. He got five to seven years.
Do not take any appliances with you that are registered with the
manufacturer. If you buy new ones, promptly throw away any registration
cards. These databases are now available to various types of investigators.
When you take an appliance to a repair depot, they routinely run the serial
number through their database (many states now require this serial number
tracking by law - IBM pushed for this legislation years ago when they
discovered they could locate stolen IBM typewriters by monitoring those
brought into their authorized service centers).
It would really be a shame to have your VCR blow your cover!
Getting Rid of Your Car
There are several ways to shed your old wheels. By far the simplest is to
sell it privately for cash. Run a small ad in the paper or in one of those
tabloid style rags that are dedicated entirely to cars. If you can afford to
take your time, you can go for the highest price possible. Don?t be shocked
if some teenager offers you much more than you know it?s worth. These things
happen. Take advantage of the situation. Be aware that teenage boys usually
have a lot of problems coming up with the cash. Plan to allow enough time so
that you can take your time. If anyone asks why you?re selling the car -
tell them that you?re going to work overseas (in Saudi Arabia) where your
new employer (ARAMCO Oil) will be providing a vehicle.
If you want to avoid leaving the impression that you?re planning to skip
town you might want to consider some other alternative ways of ridding
yourself of your auto. One guy I know drove his car into a sleazy inner-city
area at night (with a friend following close behind). He parked the old
buggy on a dark side street. He then abandoned the car leaving the doors
unlocked and the keys in the ignition. They drove past it one hour later and
the car was already gone. It didn?t take long. It was probably stripped for
parts in a local chop-shop particularly if it was a 3-5 year old Ford or
General Motors product. (these are the models most often stolen in the inner
city as there is a huge demand for their parts there)
In the cities along the great lakes and Mississippi river, it?s long been a
popular ploy to drive down to a pier along the water, get out, drop a brick
on the gas pedal, reach in and drop it into gear. Off it goes into the
watery depths, never to be found again. The insurance company pays and never
manages to solve the case.
If you?re in a big rush you can usually sell your car to a dealer but don?t
expect top dollar. You?ll probably get about two-thirds of what it?s worth
but at least you?ll get a quick check which you can then take to the
dealer?s bank and cash for - you guessed it - cash.
How to Buy a Car
Go to one of those shifty "we sell to anyone" - "bad credit no problem" car
lots. They don?t do a lot of in-depth checking of references as they plan to
re-possess the car the first time you?re a day late with a payment. They?ll
also charge you the legal limit on the interest. That?s their racket. But if
you keep up your payments, you build good credit AND have a set of wheels.
Be careful though, as these sleazy dealers tend to sell junky unreliable
cars at extremely high prices. Be as choosy as you can. You want reliable
transportation and at the same time you want a car that is not too similar
to your old buggy.
If you buy a used car privately, be sure to ask the seller if it?s OK for
you to borrow his tags for a day or two so you can go and get the title
switched and get your new tags. Unless the seller is a jerk this should be
no problem.
Car insurance can get tricky here. If you buy from a large new car dealer
you won?t have a problem. They will be so eager for the sale they won?t care
about checking on your insurance. They?ll ask which company you?re with and
then write down your answer. But, if you happen to live in a state that
requires insurance in order to qualify for the issuance of auto tags, tell
the dealer that you just returned from working overseas (Saudi Arabia) and
drove company vehicles over there so you haven?t had insurance in the U.S.
for many years. An insurance man would see right through you but the car
salesman only wants to get the deal signed and sealed. He?ll arrange for an
insurance salesman to come to the dealership and sell you some nearly
worthless insurance that will satisfy the law but will probably never pay
you if you file a claim. And, as you?re in a jam here, you?ll be required to
pay premium prices for it in advance. If you have to, pay up as it?s the
only way.
Or if you?re in one of those states where they allow insurance companies to
sell cheap worthless auto policies (Florida has this ridiculous system),
you?re in luck. You can wander in and pick up an entirely worthless policy
for under a hundred bucks which will legally qualify you for the tags. Ask
your salesman, he?ll work it out I?m sure. Remember, all he has on his mind
is his sales commission.
No matter how long it?s taken to prepare your new life, the moment you sell
your old car and climb into the new one is the moment you will become that
new person. The car is the key to a new you!
Killing Off Your Old Identity
The "Flying Saucer" Strategy
The goal here is to leave behind a complete dead end. Slowly but steadily
drain your checking account until the balance goes below $100. Then just
abandon the money. Throw away your ATM card. Bring all your bills current.
Destroy your credit cards. This is going to hurt but a single credit card
purchase in your new location will quickly bring investigators right to your
doorstep. Leave your subscriptions to lapse. File a change of address
postcard which forwards all your mail to some hotel in another region of the
country. Alaska is a favorite as it has many tourist hotels to choose from.
Sniff around the web and you'll find dozens of Alaskan hotels that would be
perfect for your purposes. This way no mail will be returned to your
creditors AND any investigation of your movements would send the skip-tracer
off on a dead-end search of the frozen Klondike.
A few notes on how skip-tracers and other investigators work. If you owe
money, your creditor will be dunning you with a constant stream of
collection letters and phone calls. Most skip-trace investigations are
triggered by one or both of the following events. The creditor firm gets a
collection letter returned by the post office labeled as "undeliverable -
addressee has moved - No forwarding address on file" (which means you moved
without leaving a forwarding address) or your phone is disconnected when
they call. This is usually the result of not paying the phone bill or your
having had the service terminated. Either way, your creditor will know that
the hunt is on and will promptly release the hounds!
But if you overpay your phone bill and include a note stating that due to an
illness in the family you?ll be out of town for several months and want your
phone service to continue uninterrupted, those nice people down at the phone
company will keep your phone going until the funds run out which could be
many, many months. And with your mail forwarded, they?ll never get any mail
returned. (They will however get a notification of the address change if
they request it)
I call this the "Flying Saucer strategy" because the result is just as
though a flying saucer dropped down from the sky, beamed you up and spirited
you away. Nothing remains. Your former life is there for all to see, but
where are you?
This is by far the best way to go but can only really be used if you have
the funds to pull it off and don?t have anyone on your trail. An
investigator will review your case, make a few calls and conclude that you
had "no reason for flight." The balance remaining in your bank account will
convince any investigator that you probably didn't intend to cut and run.
The "African Safari" Strategy
You suddenly develop an intense interest in the dark continent. You let all
your friends know. As the story goes, you recently met someone who went on a
safari in Nairobi, Kenya. It was just great being out there with all those
beautiful giraffes, rhinoceroses and exotic birds. It?s always been your
dream to go there. If you have vacation time on the books, announce that
you?re going to take the plunge and make the trip of a lifetime to beautiful
Africa.
Call a travel agency and buy the cheapest ticket to Nairobi, Kenya you can
find. Be sure to pay with your credit card. Buy a return trip ticket (if you
can afford to) Again, let all your friends know how excited you are about
your upcoming trip. Maybe you can go out and buy a camera for the trip or
even a fancy hat just like the ones the big game hunters wear. Apply for a
visa from the Kenyan embassy in Washington if you want to go all the way.
Show your friends the visa.
You?ll probably have to wait six or eight weeks for your departure (sooner
departures tend to be rather expensive). But when the big day comes you
drive out to the airport with your camera bag and hat. You stand in line to
get your boarding pass, check one bag. (which contains some old clothes you
no longer need) You ask which way to the gate and off you go in that general
direction. When you get to that side of the concourse you duck into the bar,
pocket the boarding pass and wait for your plane to depart.
You then tuck the hat into a bag and return to the parking lot where you
climb into your car and head off to your new life. Or you can just fly out
of that same airport to some other destination on a ticket purchased in an
assumed name with cash.
Don?t even think about trying to cash in the ticket to Africa. If you do the
whole effect will be spoiled. It?s important that you leave your apartment
looking as though you were only gone for a few weeks vacation. If the
television and VCR are gone, investigators may conclude that you have taken
flight and will start looking for you in earnest. (If you're really attached
to your TV, you might purchase an older used unit and leave it behind)
This strategy is not cheap, but it is effective. Anyone, and I include here
both experienced investigators and the law, will draw a blank on this one if
it?s done carefully. Sure it costs quite a bit more than simply walking
away, but for the money you leave behind a stone cold dead-end trail that
ends somewhere in the jungles of Africa! What does the investigator do when
he confirms that you picked up your boarding pass, checked a bag and that
the ticket was one way? Where does he go from there? If he goes to the
considerable trouble of actually talking to the clerk who handled your
departure, she'll report that you were there and obtained your bording pass.
From there it?s a total dead end.
Even if he suspects that the whole thing is a ruse, he?ll attempt to verify
your arrival in Kenya. After some months of correspondence he?ll probably
discover that you didn?t arrive. But since the plane stopped in London
and/or Athens enroute you might have deplaned there and since England and
Greece don?t require visas, he?ll have no where left to look. Those long
distant overseas phone calls can be expensive and an investigator can?t
expect the same level of cooperation from foreign officials that he can here
in the US.
As a last touch, leave behind a nice color picture book of Africa in your
top desk drawer where someone is sure to find it. Place another on your
apartment coffee table. This plan will work perfectly, provided you don?t do
anything stupid thereafter.
The "Wild Goose-chase Through the Ghetto" Strategy
On the eve of your departure, take your wallet, complete with old drivers
license, credit cards and a little cash and just drop it in the middle of
the street at midnight in front of a sleazy nightclub in the shabbiest part
of town you can find. Trust me - someone will find it and use the credit
cards or sell them to someone who will. Anyone trying to find you will then
be sent on a real "wild goose chase". He?ll see lots of scattered credit
card activity but it won?t lead him to you - that?s for sure. While he?s
trying to make sense of it all, you?ll be off to a new life in a distant
city.
Or you can shed both your old identity and your old car at the same time.
Park your car along a ghetto street at night, leave the driverside door
unlocked, the keys in the ignition AND leave your wallet on the front seat.
You?ll be killing two birds with one stone. There's always on thing you can
depend on in this life, the greed of your fellow man.
The "Kill Yourself Off " Strategy
Now we move on to the really illegal stuff. This tactic is against the law
so - don't do it! I can almost guarantee you that you?ll end up in jail
should you try this particular ploy.
One lady called her local paper, posed as her own sister and placed an obit
on herself! When they asked for the funeral home that would be handling the
"showing" she said that, as requested in her will, she was cremated and that
no funeral would occur. Since she died "after a long illness", she included
a note in the obit that contributions should be made to the U.S. Cancer
Society. She then walked into a large hospital and asked where she could get
a death certificate. When she got to the right person she just asked for one
on the pretext that her mother had died in a rural area and the police
needed a copy for their records. Although it?s a minor crime to provide the
blank form, the clerk handed one over without question (I?ve known several
people who?ve successfully obtained blank death certificates this way
despite the legal restrictions). She then filed a fake death certificate on
herself (another illegal act) and then used the death certificate to file
for a claim for her death benefit with the Social Security Administration (a
federal felony) which got her entered into the publicly available social
security death database. On paper she was then completely dead. Her husband
collected a cool $100,000 from their life insurance (yet another illegal act
which took over two years as they had no dead body). The insurance company
was suspicious, but since the public image of the insurance industry is of
prime importance, they eventually paid in full.
She left behind a ton of debt which evaporated when her creditors discovered
that her estate was penniless. She and her husband met several times a year
in the Caribbean and during one of those visits, they were both arrested.
This approach constitutes a series of federal felonies which almost always
results in a long jail sentence.
Here?s one obvious strategy that is guaranteed to fail. Insurance
investigators always have a good laugh when someone fakes jumping off a
bridge. They leave behind their car, a wallet and a suicide note. Problem
is, less than a quarter of alleged jumpers actually die and leave a dead
body behind. Don?t expect anyone to believe such a story. And be assured
that your life insurance will never pay off on such a claim.
The "Canadian Crossing" Strategy
You charge an airline ticket to Canada on your credit card in your old name
and fly on up to Toronto or Montreal. Check into a hotel and take a look
around (it?s a lovely country!) and then rent or buy a car in your new name
which you then drive back across the border somewhere out west where the
border is very poorly manned. You should be able to just drive across at one
of the unprotected crossings on the smaller back roads. The Montana/Canada
border is a good area for this. You might have to stop and show your drivers
license to a Canadian Mounty. Either way nothing gets entered in a computer
so you were never there as far as an investigator is concerned. Take your
birth certificate with you just in case but don't offer it unless asked.
Most of the time they won't bother to ask if you sound like an American and
are dressed well.
You only have about 2,500 miles of border to choose from. This strategy
works best during the legal hunting season when hundreds of eager hunters
cross back and forth into and out of Canada from the adjoining US states.
This way you go on the record as having gone to Canada but no record exists
of your return. You come back "laundered" and ready for a new life. Anyone
attempting to track your movements will be left wondering when you'll come
back from Canada!
I?ve also heard of some who have hitch-hiked across with no problems. One
guy posing as a nature photographer caught a lift from a friendly hunter who
didn?t relish driving back to Detroit alone.
Just remember to dress the part. You want to look straight and clean cut. If
you're young, have long hair or drive a wreck of a car be prepared to be
stopped and even searched. If you?re crossing during hunting season, dress
like a hunter. During other seasons you?ll want to dress in a suit and tie
and be sure the car is spotless inside and out. The make and model of your
car can get you stopped. Large US made cars are suspect because their trunks
are large and are popular with drug smugglers. (have you ever seen the trunk
on a Ford LTD - it?s really huge!) A late model foreign car will do nicely,
or better yet a rental car is perfect though they can be very expensive when
you drive them one way because the rental firms charge a very hefty "drop
off charge" for rentals that aren't returned to the original site.
If you?re black or Hispanic your odds of being searched skyrocket especially
if you're younger. You can reduce the odds somewhat by having a wife and
small child with you.
Here is a common ploy used by Americans that work overseas. According to US
tax regulations, overseas workers pay no US federal taxes on the first
$70,000 they earn overseas provided they do not spend more than 100 days per
year visiting the United States. So they fly from their overseas worksite to
Toronto on their passport and then cross the border into the US using only
their drivers license as proof of citizenship. When they desire to return
overseas they reverse the process and fly out of Toronto using their
passport. Anyone inspecting their passport will discover that they spent
several months in Toronto and nothing more. They spend as long as they like
in the US and protect their income from taxes at the same time! I don?t
expect this situation to change anytime soon as the Canadian border (unlike
the Mexican border) is of little interest to either government.
The "Overseas Worker" Ploy
You?ll find ads in the larger city newspapers offering to find you work
overseas. They mostly offer professional caliber positions for engineers and
doctors. But some are on the lookout for English instructors for contract
positions in the Far East and particularly Japan. If you?re adventuresome
this might be just the ticket. It gets you out of the country for two years
or longer.
You?ll be required to sign a contract and may be required to submit to a
complete physical exam with their physician. Be sure that you intend to stay
overseas for the full period of the contract as an early return may be very
expensive. Most of these contracts include painful penalties for breaking
the contract by returning early.
One note though. Don?t pay an up-front fee to any of these so-called
employment agencies. Many are notorious rip-off artists. Find the ads that
just offer listings of the jobs available. And if the position requires a
degree, call them anyway. They may be shorthanded - you never know.
Saudi Arabia hires a wide range of instructors. If you have experience
working in a sheet metal shop, doing auto body work, have done any kind of
aviation mechanical work or know how to install phones you may be able to
find a lucrative position teaching our Saudi friends. Saudi Arabia is a nice
enough place to live and work. The pay is great but don?t bother going there
if you love booze or movies. Both are against the law there. (That doesn't
mean you can't get them, it only means it's more difficult and more
expensive) There?s some booze around but not all that much as booze is
technically illegal in Saudi Arabia. Don?t even think about trying to
smuggle booze or drugs into Saudi Arabia. While the Saudis tend to be a bit
more liberal when it comes to enforcing their strict laws in the areas where
Americans live, they tend to be really strict about drugs and the penalties
they hand out are really frightening (how would you like to have your hand
cut off!?)
Most of these overseas job locator services will have a number of listing
for teachers to teach foreigners the English language. Some will require a
college degree in English but many won't. If you're well spoken you should
be able to find a job somewhere out there.
The "Cult Membership" Strategy
Browse around the internet and you?ll find many religious cults who have web
pages designed to convert people to their way of looking at things. If you
live in the east, find one out west. If you live out west, find one back
east. Get as much info as you can about the cult. You want a real cult. One
that is secretive and strange but not actually dangerous. Send away for
information.
You can tell your friends and co-workers that you?re going to join up. Or if
you can handle the experience, you might want to actually join up, get a
membership card and the whole works. Then tell all your friends that you?ve
found "the meaning of life". They?ll think you?re nuts but who cares? Tell
everyone about how you?re going to visit your new cult friends for a brief
visit. Go ahead and tell them where the cult is located.
You go and you don?t come back. In fact, you spend a day or two with your
new fellow cult members and then split for parts unknown under your new
identity. Anyone looking for you will easily track you to the cult but that
will be the end of the line as no further information will be available.
Cults are notorious for not revealing anything - unless ordered to by a
court and even then they will have their lawyers legally challenge the court
order. No one short of a cop with a search warrant will be able to find out
if you are actually there or not. And even then they?ll probably have to
fight the cult in court before they get access.
Also, some cults are famous for regularly moving all over the country in an
effort to evade investigation and/or media attention. Every cop knows that
some cults will move the target member before the cops return. It maybe
illegal but it?s a common ploy with these outfits.
I know two people who actually joined the Scientology cult in an effort to
vanish. One warning, the Scientology people can be quite dangerous so this
particular cult should not be played with. But you can visit them, join and
then split though they?ll try very hard to get you back. But if you travel
under you new name after you leave they?ll never find you. If you let the
Scientologists know your new name, they will pursue you forever. For that
reason you should join them under your old name and never reveal your
intention to split to anyone in the cult. You can be sure they will be
watching you carefully and monitoring your attitude so you'll have to very
clever. Just convince them that everything is fine and then pick your moment
and vanish.
Investigators and skip tracers know that there?s little use in contacting a
real cult. Their inquires will be ignored and they know that if they become
insistent or threatening, the cult?s attorney will step in. And cults can
often afford the best legal talent available so legal threats are of little
use. Besides most genuine cults have stripped their members of any and all
wealth they may have had when they signed up. So if you're not sure you can
withstand their psychological brain-washing - stay away.
Run Off and Join the Circus
Perhaps when you were younger you had a dream about running off with the
circus. Well now might be just the time to re-visit that childhood dream. An
old friend recently reminded me that anyone seeking to vanish ought to take
a look at the "amusements" industry.
Every year at the same time (usually sometime in the summer) you?ll notice
various "amusement" companies that breeze into town, set up a smallish fair
which they run for a week or so and then move onto the next town.
These outfits almost always need laborers and electricians to help with the
setup and tear-down. They usually run a small classified ad in a local
paper. The best tactic is to show up during the last day of their operation,
ask to see the boss and ask if they need help with their "teardown". If they
hire you, work hard and don?t complain. When they pay you off, ask if they
might need another hand out on the road. You can tell them that due to the
recent death of your spouse you?re free to travel.
The job they may offer might be that of a "ride monkey". You help with the
setup and teardown and also man one of the many rides.
A warning: this is not an easy life. Some of these companies will pay to put
you up in a local motel complete with a private bath and air conditioning.
But others will require that you sleep in an un-air-conditioned trailer with
only a shared mobile shower/restroom. It?s kinda like camping out all
summer. If you?re really attached to a luxurious lifestyle, the "carny" life
may not be for you!
But one thing I can guarantee. You will be properly and completely lost for
the summer. No one will be able to find you no matter how hard they look.
Many of these companies don?t ask questions of their employees. Many pay
their people in cash so you can be sure you?ll be rubbing shoulders with
other freedom-loving souls. Most will ask your name and then write it down
without any reference to identity papers. The pay may not all that great
either as they know that you need this kind of work and so are less than
generous.
Magazine Subscriptions
If you scout around any major newspaper's want ads you may find some jobs
listed under "Magazine Subscription Sales". These companies hire supervisors
who travel the country in a stretch van with a small crew of teenagers who
sell magazine subscriptions door to door.
Be warned however that some of these outfits are out and out scams. They use
these wholesome looking kids to sell subscriptions (or some other useless
product) under the guise that the youth is selling magazines so they can go
to college, for some innocent sounding religious organization or for a
famous charity (usually one that benefits poor or sick children).
The hours are long, there are plenty of hassles (this whole approach is
becoming less and less viable given some recent media attention) but the
income can be very good and you will be roaming the entire country so
finding you will present quite a challenge. Once again, these employers know
that the kind of people this industry attracts aren't the cream of the crop.
Many pay their staff people in cash and won't even bother to ask for
identity documents.
This might be just the job you need if you can find an honest company and
can put up with the inevitable problems that go along with managing a group
of teenagers.
Your Appearance
The easiest methods of changing your appearance involve:
Gain or lose weight (very effective)
Changing your hair color (effective)
Changing your eye color with contact lenses (subtle)
Changing your hair length (effective)
Covering up baldness with a "rug" (very effective)
Adding or removing tattoos (very effective if visible when fully
clothed)
Plastic surgery (if you can afford it - extremely effective)
Establishing Yourself in Your New Community
There are those who feel that upon arrival in a new community an
identity-changer should immediately get in contact with an underground group
of some sort. Over the last few years the papers have carried stories of
fugitives being arrested after showing up at one of these supposedly
clandestine meetings. The sad truth is that most of these groups have been
penetrated by either the local police or, if the government feels they
warrant the attention, the FBI itself. You don?t know these people. Why
should you trust them with your future? There?s a better way. One that keeps
your story private.
By far the quickest way to establish yourself in a new community is to join
a church. The best bet would be to join one of those hellfire-and-brimstone
"born again" Baptist congregations. Find a medium to small church with a lot
of younger families. If you?re like me you can?t stand these idiots, but you
only need to attend for a few Sundays, chum up to several of the
parishioners and you?ll quickly have several impressive personal
"references" for immediate use.
The game here is to pretend to believe exactly as they do. Listen carefully
during their services. Every church has it's very own interpretation of just
what "real" religion is supposed to be. What do they concentrate on? Try to
identify the unique features of their doctrine. Pretend to swallow their
"line" completely.
If they have an "alter call" - join in the procession. Get down on your
knees. After some solemn prayer they?ll ask you to stay to receive some
literature and have a chat. Tell them that your Grandmother was a Baptist.
Ask them where you can buy a bible (they?ll probably give you one free!). If
they mention a Christian bookstore, be sure to visit it and spend some
money. Tell the clerk that you are new in town and a "new Christian". Buy
any book(s) they might recommend. Study them and learn the lingo.
The next week return to the same church and ask to become a member after the
service. If they don?t offer a church membership card, ask for one. No
matter how ridiculous their beliefs sound to you, agree with them and listen
to their explanations with rapt attention. Ask the obvious questions without
challenging them in any way. Bond with them as best as you can without being
too obvious. After a few encounters they will fall in love with you and
think you?re a wonderful person. Chances are some fellow church member will
invite you over to their house for "fellowship." When they ask about your
family tell them that your parents are "lost in the darkness". If you have a
hard luck story (maybe you were on drugs or were forced to join a satanic
gang) that ends with you being saved by Jesus - they will eat it up!
Remember, most rational people reject this narrow-minded theology, but
you?re different. You understand them and agree completely with their
beliefs.
Here?s the secret about this tactic: From then on your fellow church members
will tell others that you?re "nice" because you believe as they do, not
because they really think that you?re all that nice.
Attend church social activities. Find someone particularly friendly and ask
them to refer you to an apartment where you plan to live until you can
afford to buy a place of your own. Tell them that you don?t want one of
those sinful apartment complexes. We all know about all the sinful activity
going on there and you, being a good Christian, want none of that. You want
a nice clean "Christian" place. If they don?t know any "born again"
apartment owners, they?ll call around until they find something for you.
With a little luck this church gambit may just land you a nice apartment
with a landlord who will be so happy to get a clean-living religious tenant
that he?ll ask very few questions.
Be generous with the tithing and other contributions if you can afford to.
The preacher will always have something nice to say about anyone that forks
over cash for the church "building fund". Most of these guys are as profit
oriented as your average used car dealer!
Some Final Random Thoughts
During the San Francisco earthquake a local newstation was filming a burning
building. When they swung the camera around to show the crowd, about a dozen
men broke from the crowd and ran. They were all probably wanted by the
police (or their ex-wives!) Stay away from cameras.
Don?t do any unnecessary driving as it exposes you to the possibility of a
traffic stop by the police. Be aware that for the first six months or so
your new identity will be rather fragile and might not stand up to close
scrutiny. As time passes your persona will "firm up" as you build a real
history in your new name. After a year - you are the new you. During a
recent interview the director of the FBI revealed that most fugitives get
caught during the first 90 days but those who manage to live under a new
identity for a full year are seldom found.
This all may sound like a very demanding and difficult project. And in some
ways it is. But hidden in the midst of all this planning and worry is a
golden opportunity to start all over. There are a thousand ways to screw up
a life so I can only imagine what happened to your original identity. But
now you have what others dream of - a real chance to live out your
fantasies. Seize the chance as it may be the greatest turning point of your
life. It strange how some identity-changers go on to live happy and
successful lives while others never get it right and spend their nights
tossing and turning in the fear that "Big Brother" will soon appear. The
most valuable thing I can think of to say at this point is that IT CAN BE
DONE! Don?t let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you presently have an established career, relocating under a new name can
be a daunting prospect. One identity-changer was a Registered Nurse. To
escape her abusive and unrelenting ex she changed her identity and relocated
to a distant city. Problem was she was in a licensed profession. Her answer
was to go back to school at age 42. She breezed through the courses and
challenged many others. Instead of taking three years, she did the whole
thing in half that time and was licensed under her new name. Now she enjoys
a good salary and a solid career, the one she loves.
One recent identity-changer asked that we pass along this little tip. He and
his wife were planning on starting anew in the US after leaving their east
European home. They obtained US tourist visas but were shocked to learn that
they were only allowed to take about $500 each with them in cash. Hardly
enough to start a new life. To get around this little problem, they slowly
liquidated their possessions until they had a nestegg of around $80,000.
Through friends they were able to locate a diamond merchant who sold them a
nice 14 carat Russian diamond of very high quality for cash. They then
smuggled the gem into the US in the wife?s vagina. After arrival, the bauble
was sold for $60,000 in cold hard US cash which allowed them to successfully
launch their new lives. (The diamond merchant back home wasn?t all that
honest it would appear!) A diamond will allow you to concentrate an enormous
amount of wealth into a very small space and is also highly liquid anywhere
in the world. Others have done the same thing with small but valuable
antiques (those little wooden Russian dolls have been used by Russians) that
can be easily hidden in your underwear.
It?s often hard to keep employment as the social security withholdings are
reported on a quarterly basis. Many wanted criminals find that they are
forced to change jobs every three or four months to stay ahead of the
dreaded letter from the social security people advising their employer that
one of their employees has two jobs, one in Oregon and the other in Florida!
One common strategy is to work for a temp service. You use someone else?s
SSN and an assumed identity. These outfits have so many people going through
their revolving door that they seldom do much investigating. You can work
for at least several months. Move around from office to office so no one
gets too inquisitive. But I would ask you not to use this ploy because it
gets the actual holder of the social security number in trouble with the
social security people. It can take a year or more to get such a mess
straightened out!
Popeye the Sailor Man?
A freshly divorced friend wanted to get completely and utterly lost. Let?s
just say that he did not want to communicate with his ex. On a whim he spent
his last few bucks on a one way ticket to sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
There we took to wandering the many yacht marinas that dot the coast. After
a week he managed to find a position doing some renovation work on a boat
owned by a rich dentist who lived up north.
It was an ideal job for someone in need of anonymity. In one fell swoop it
provided him with a steady source of income and a nice comfortable (and
completely untraceable) place to live. And even better, when the dentist
would come down for his thrice yearly sailing outing, my friend would "crew"
for him and spend two weeks sailing the Caribbean. When the owner wasn't
around he would tell women that the boat was his. They were very impressed
and responded accordingly. Not a bad gig!
Also, my friend would take the boat out for day-long cruises which he
advertised in the local paper. He posed as the owner of the boat and charged
his day passengers hefty fees which they were only too happy to pay.
Then one night he hit the mother load. When my friend had a few extra bucks
in his pocket, he was known to spend a few idle hours in a local topless
dancing establishment. There he met a foxy lady named Tiffany. He happened
to be chatting to Tiffany the night before one of his unauthorized cruises.
When he revealed his little scheme Tiffany suddenly became quite interested.
He told her that he wasn?t much looking forward to spending the next day in
the company of several old businessmen. Tiffany said that she would just
love to take that cruise as she was sure a good looking hooker like herself
could do some serious business with his passengers (presumably while
cruising out beyond the three mile limit where law enforcement doesn't
exist). They put together a deal. Tiffany and a dancer friend would go along
for the cruise. They agreed to kick back one third of the illicit money they
made to my friend.
The next morning six paunchy businessmen came aboard. Then the two girls
showed up clad only in lovely (though scant) bikinis. The girls were turning
tricks before they even cleared the port! In all, the two girls earned three
hundred each, which put two hundred in my friends hot little hand. The girls
were happy, my friend was happy and the passengers were also happy. (in fact
they were extremely happy!) And to make things even better the passengers
provided my friend with a generous tip!
Today my friend owns his own 50 foot boat. His "Erotic Night Cruises" are a
big hit - and his wife? She?s still looking for him! This entire story is
true. Just thought you might find it interesting.
How to Export Your Money Privately
There are many different ways to take your money with you when you leave the
good old USA. You could just go and get yourself a bank draft or a cashier?s
check. This approach is OK provided each one is for less than $3,000
(bankers now report all transactions over $3,000 to the government)
Many have used checks drawn on a money market account. This leaves a trail
behind but that trail dries up when the money market account is closed.
Using a personal or company check would be very foolish as it leaves behind
a very traceable paper trail. Secured credit cards are good. You can obtain
one in the US, deposit a sizeable sum into the secured account and then
wander the globe spending as you please. You can make purchases freely or
get cash from ATM machine worldwide.
It?s best if you can manage to get one in another name by using a bogus
drivers? license. Or better yet get one from a Caribbean bank supported by
an "offshore" account which will provide you with the ultimate in
privacy/security.
Traveler?s Checks can be used for smaller sums (less than $3,000 per
purchase). Purchase too many at a time and you can look forward to increased
scrutiny.
One rather resourceful fella I know discovered a very clever way around the
currency export limitation. He bought a full-fare first class return airline
ticket to his overseas destination. He then flew there using the first half
of the ticket. He then changed his plans, cancelled the return portion of
the ticket and requested a cash refund which the airline was only too happy
to provide (they tend to take very good care of their first class
customers!). This enabled him to quietly export several thousand dollars in
cold hard cash.
Travel Warning Update:
Several weeks ago I was returning to the US after two weeks in eastern
Europe. When I cleared passport control I overheard an ominous conversation.
It seems that an individual who had arrived on the same flight was being
detained. His sin was a simple one. He had failed to file a tax return for
the two previous years. He had been living overseas and didn?t feel the need
to file. But today it seems that the reach of the IRS now includes the
entire planet! (We?re the only country that still taxes it expatriate
citizens)
I had been hearing rumors that the IRS was beginning to put out lists of
those who fail to file. My sources tell me that the IRS creates a master
list of names taken from school records. They then remove those who have
death certificates on file. Next they remove those who filed returns last
year. What?s left is a list of people who are presumably still alive and for
whatever reason are not filing returns. I knew the government was doing this
but until now I wasn?t sure how the information was being used. Be careful!
Be sure you?ve filed if you expect to enter this country through a main
entry point.
Another Warning Concerning Travel:
An old high school friend of mine is well, rather a paranoid type. He has
never trusted our federal government and today is completely convinced that
Washington is bent on devouring our personal freedoms. So when he planned to
take a trip to Europe, he decided that he would defy the US department of
state by traveling on a fake passport he purchased on the internet.
He submitted an order with the firm that seemed to offer the best quality
product. Later that night the local cops kicked in his front door! They even
brought a dog and a DEA cop with them! Of course they found nothing (except
for a single copy of the "Anarchists? Handbook" which they confiscated in
violation of his constituional rights). What ever happened to our fourth
amendment rights? It would appear that in our "New World Order" the cops no
longer need to bother with those troublesome old search warrants.
A word to the wise: some of the online fake passport companies are, in
reality, nothing more than sting operations set up by law enforcement. And
it would be a real tragedy if an innocent person such as yourself should
fall into their trap, wouldn?t it?
Also, others are peddling stolen passports which are even more dangerous. If
you really want to get a genuine passport which can be used to travel the
world unmolested, take a look around Central America where several
governments (including Belize, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda) will
provide one for a fee. But be warned, the fee can be steep (anywhere from
$15,000 to $75,000 or more isn?t at all unusual).
If you?re only concerned about handing your US passport over to a terrorist
should you be on a hijacked plane, you might want to contact the nice folks
at Scope International. They will provide you with a very authentic looking
"camouflage" passport that appears to be issued by an ex-country like
Rhodesia, Zanzibar or British Honduras. Since these countries no longer
exist, their passports cannot be used for general travel but are only useful
in terrorist situations. (But you should be aware that these phony passports
will only be of value with terrorists who are ignorant on the subject of
geography.) Scope International is located in England and be contacted at:
Scope International
P.O. Box 2286, Forestide House
Rowlands Castle, Hants, England P09 6EE
Phone: (01705) 631-751
Some Oddball Travel Options:
Travel is always an interesting option (if you can afford the fare). Here
are some rather strange travel ideas. One might be just the ticket you need:
You could do a Kayak tour of Canada
Ecosummer Expeditions
(604) 669-7741
How about dog sledding in far away Greenland?
Borton Overseas
(800) 843-0602
Some other Greenland tours
Arctic Adventure Aps
(45) (1) 37 12 33
(Denmark)
Go sailing on a real Russian icebreaker
MIR Corporation
(800) 424-7289
Visit nomadic and tribal people
Turtle Tours
(602) 488-3688
Travel to Brazil and Venezuela
Wildlife Adventures
(800) 255-8735
Ride across Alaska on a motorcycle
Alaska Motorcycle Tours
(800) 642-6877
Drive across the Sahara Desert
Explo-Tours
(49) (89) 160-789
Germany
Do a 15 week tour of Africa?
Himalayan Travel
(800) 225-2380
Spend five months touring all of South America
Forum Travel International
(510) 671-2900
Spend 37 days exploring Australia
Trans Continental Safaris
(61) (88) 423-469
Australia
Go on a real safari in Africa?
Abercrombie & Kent
(800) 323-7308
Touring Tanzania sounds kinda nice?
Borton Overseas
(800) 843-0602
Float on down the Yangtze River in China
Steve Curry Expeditions
(801) 224-6797
And now one final tactic. Once you?re established in your new location -
burn this report! If discovered by the wrong person later on, it could make
the finder wonder just what you?ve been up to and you don?t need to face any
unnecessary questions now do you?
I hope all this has helped you to move on to a happier new life. A lot of
time and effort has gone into getting this information into your hands. I
can only hope you will take full advantage of it. Best of luck!
Mail Drops/Remailers
These outfits offer various types of services. Most will forward mail on to
whatever address you say. Most will receive a reasonable number of phone
messages and place them in your box and most will receive fax message for
you. Mail drops are all over the world. To find one in your new city go to
the library and look under "Mail" in the yellow pages for that town. If you
feel you have to stay in touch with anyone back home do it through two mail
drops. One is in the city your friends think you live in which forwards any
mail received on to you in your real new home city. This makes tracing you
more difficult (but not impossible). Unfortunately, companies are popping up
that sell lists of known mail drops to banks and credit card companies. Be
careful as these drops are probably not all that private anymore. The best
mail drop is one that you arrange privately. Maybe you know some kindly old
lady down the street who has little to do and would just love to make a
little extra bingo money.
Here?s a short list of available mail drop locations:
Mail Box Rentals Mail & Parcel Services Mail-Rite
595 Piedmont Ave 4032 S. Lamar Blvd. 3500 Parkdale Ave
Atlanta, GA 30308 Austin, TX 78704 Baltimore, MD 21211
(404)872-2026 (512)442-1188 (410)383-0007
The Mail Center Mail and More Mail Boxes & Services
1400 E. Morehead St. 6427 W. Irving Park Rd. 1601 W. 5th Ave
Charlotte, NC 28204 Chicago, IL 60634 Columbus, OH 43212
(704)358-3585 (312)282-6060 (614)488-1863
Mail Room The Mail Depot Mail & More
2950 Holbrook St. 17366 Harper Ave 601 N. Cotton St.
Denver, CO 80228 Detroit, MI 48212 El Paso, TX 79902
(303)986-3941 (313)871-2240 (915)533-6245
The Mail RoomMail and More The Mail Bag
5230 W. 16th St. 1836 W. 3rd St.1283 La Brea Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46224 Jacksonville, FL 32209 Los Angeles, CA 90019
(317)244-0117 (904)247-8614 (213)938-0101
Mail Mart The Mail RoomMail Alternatives Plus
6506 W. Capitol Dr. 1024 17th Ave South 461 W. 49th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53216 Nashville, TN 37212 New York, NY 10019
(414)463-6245 (615)329-9520 (212)399-0575