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Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

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Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#41

Post by wisty »

swalsh wrote: post #36
onetimeonly wrote: post #28

Source: at 17 I was running a black-hat hacker collective and had, through a series of bad choices, got pretty deep into the 'real-world' side of that business: fraud. The day after my 19th birthday my house was raided by the US Secret Service and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency in a worldwide coordinated swoop that took in dozens of loosely affiliated people. I have since completely rebuilt my life, so I don't…

Since you clearly know the process, can you give some tips on protecting yourself?

Don't overuse any website that lists your name, DOB, first pet's name, mother's maiden name, your high school (and maybe even the teachers, including your favorite one), the street you live on, and so on.

You are now a harder target than most people.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#42

Post by olefoo »

On top of all the other steps, you'll want to get cosmetic surgery to alter your face to match the new identity.

In the US at least the FBI has a program in collaboration with every state DMV to perform facial recognition on drivers licenses applications. This has been used to catch people who tried to generate fake identities to escape sex-offender registration for instance. [1]

If your new identity is going to be vulnerable to someone posting your picture to facebook, it's not strong enough.

1. http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/29978205-75/snow-...

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#43

Post by EGreg »

swalsh wrote: post #36
onetimeonly wrote: post #28

Source: at 17 I was running a black-hat hacker collective and had, through a series of bad choices, got pretty deep into the 'real-world' side of that business: fraud. The day after my 19th birthday my house was raided by the US Secret Service and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency in a worldwide coordinated swoop that took in dozens of loosely affiliated people. I have since completely rebuilt my life, so I don't…

Since you clearly know the process, can you give some tips on protecting yourself?

http://xkcd.com/792/

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#44

Post by swamp40 »

swalsh wrote: post #36
onetimeonly wrote: post #28

Source: at 17 I was running a black-hat hacker collective and had, through a series of bad choices, got pretty deep into the 'real-world' side of that business: fraud. The day after my 19th birthday my house was raided by the US Secret Service and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency in a worldwide coordinated swoop that took in dozens of loosely affiliated people. I have since completely rebuilt my life, so I don't…

Since you clearly know the process, can you give some tips on protecting yourself?

> Everyone gets caught in the end.

I think that's the most important lesson learned from this tale.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#45

Post by EGreg »

MWil wrote: post #15

The first thing to do is realize that there are only a few limited situations in which you are ever legally obligated to tell the truth (or to say anything at all). Allow that to empower you and the truth will literally set you free. Truthfully, you are almost always free to lie. Find those boundaries and tiptoe without crossing them. I imagine that even if you are able to take advantage of some of the other advice i…

Not really that easy

The technically safest advice is "don't talk to the police": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#46

Post by 6d0debc071 »

onetimeonly wrote: post #28

Source: at 17 I was running a black-hat hacker collective and had, through a series of bad choices, got pretty deep into the 'real-world' side of that business: fraud. The day after my 19th birthday my house was raided by the US Secret Service and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency in a worldwide coordinated swoop that took in dozens of loosely affiliated people. I have since completely rebuilt my life, so I don't…

> Everyone gets caught in the end.

How would you know if they didn't?

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#47

Post by mikemoka »

cake wrote: post #6

I'm curious as to why you would ask such a question. It reminds me of this book that I haven't read but might answer some of your interrogations : http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/11678

Yes, who has legal reasons to ask, wouldn't ask about it here probably

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#48

Post by _delirium »

true_religion wrote: post #29
enko wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> find a dead child born a similar year as you. You then got their birth certificate. You're missing the crucial step of: how on earth would you get the birth certificate of some unrelated 30-years-dead kid?

You can apply for a birth certificate even without ID yourself.

A number of states now require at least some kind of substantiation of your identity to get a copy of the birth certificate, although what exactly you can use varies, and sometimes you can apply by mail with photocopies.

Here are Indiana's requirements: http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/Id_requirements.pdf

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#49

Post by charlus »

timbre wrote: post #24
gregw134 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come off it--he's just using quotation marks to emphasize sarcasm.

It is frustrating that quotation marks have come to have two, almost perfectly opposite meanings (the traditional "words someone actually said" and the new "words no one actually said"). I guess the battle against the new usage is lost though.

I think it's interesting - Proust talks about this, an intonation to show detachment.

As he spoke I noticed, what had often struck me before in his conversations with my grandmother’s sisters, that whenever he spoke of serious matters, whenever he used an expression which seemed to imply a definite opinion upon some important subject, he would take care to isolate, to sterilise it by using a special intonation, mechanical and ironic, as though he had put the phrase or word between inverted commas, and was anxious to disclaim any personal responsibility for it; as who should say “the ’hierarchy,’ don’t you know, as silly people call it.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#50

Post by saraid216 »

jmduke wrote: post #13
1337biz wrote: post #3

Let me be the first to welcome those fine representatives of three letter agencies to this discussion. I hope you enjoy your stay and enjoy watching the process of having turned almost a whole industry against you. Thanks to your "freedom enhancement techniques" even (most likely) innocent citizens are by now considering using methods previously reserved for high level criminals.

When you use fake-quotes like "freedom enhancement techniques" and someone discovers that no three-letter agency or government organization has ever actually said such a thing -- that such a quote isn't exactly grounded in reality (Google only turned up http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/01/31/832543/-President-P... , which was satire), they're inclined to believe "Hey, if they weren't entirely truthful with this asp…

It's just another form of propaganda. People still believe, for instance, that Sarah Palin actually said she could see Russia from her backyard.
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