Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity? • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by VLM » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 9:55 PM UTC

Why do you need "a" identity as in singular, why can't you have multiple identities, and it seems easier to adjust your lifestyle to require minimal identification rather than to get "a" new identity.

You can go to immense efforts to subscribe to 2600 magazine without the bank or the mailman or the FBI knowing who you really are. That's all very impressive in a way. But for the overall system, it turns out to be a heck of a lot easier, cheaper, safer, and just plain ole better to walk to the nearest B+N and buy an issue with cash.

This seems to come up over and over WRT identity. Changing how you use it is simpler than changing the identity itself.

I've heard some apartment rental companies are a pain, running all manner of checks and requiring all kinds of paperwork. Then again your average illegal unzoned HOA denied landlord simply wants cash for a "good tenant". And the guy who sleeps over at his friends apartment couch for cash as a roommate has no documentation at all.

Gearing up to use a grocery store loyalty card with a fake id for your fake checking account at the fake address with the fake loyalty card to save 15 cents on an apple takes a lot of work and risk and money, or ... you could just pay cash at the full price at the farmers market, probably cheaper than the supermarket anyway.

The outside the box thinking will help a lot more than a magical set of documents ever will. And I don't even have any use for this stuff, imagine what I could do if I put my mind to it.

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

#62

Post by MWil » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

sciurus wrote: post #54

gknoy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that lying to a federal investigator, even when you don't even realize it or realize that it has any bearing on anything, is a crime (in the US). It's inadvisable to lie to the police, FBI, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_to_an_investigator

Solomon L. Wisenberg sounds like an alias, lol.

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

#63

Post by ParahSailin » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

EGreg wrote: post #45

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

The SCOTUS just ruled that that doesn't work anymore.

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

#64

Post by sneak » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:04 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #53

On the flip side of these fine folks, you can obtain a real new identity with relative ease, and totally legally. Of course, this will not prevent someone truly dedicated to locating you, but it will make it much more difficult. 0) Pay off all of your debt 1) Go to a small town 2) Legally change your name 3) Regenerate all of your essential documents, with your new name 4) Move to a big city 5) Change your lifestyle…

This doesn't really work, as your SSN will be the same, and your credit reports will show your name change and full address history.

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

#65

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:09 PM UTC

clarkm wrote: post #21

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…

I agree with you, but I don't think you should consider the act of using multiple identities itself to be lying. Or at least, calling it that seems harsh. Do actors lie when they use stage names? Are authors lying when they publish under pen names? Sure, some may use nicknames or professional names because they're more marketable. But others use pseudonyms for privacy protection. They want to compartmentalize their o…

[deleted]

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

#66

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:16 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #53

On the flip side of these fine folks, you can obtain a real new identity with relative ease, and totally legally. Of course, this will not prevent someone truly dedicated to locating you, but it will make it much more difficult. 0) Pay off all of your debt 1) Go to a small town 2) Legally change your name 3) Regenerate all of your essential documents, with your new name 4) Move to a big city 5) Change your lifestyle…

[deleted]

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

#67

Post by jpdoctor » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:17 PM UTC

onetimeonly wrote: post #58

6d0debc071 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone gets caught in the end. How would you know if they didn't?

I have a large sample size of the people I worked with over 8 years. Seriously, everyone went down eventually.

Would be an interesting book (for your copious free time.)

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

#68

Post by nisse72 » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:19 PM UTC

e3pi wrote: post #19

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

There is something special about Islamic culture: From review of linked book: ".....Suppose you wish to send $25,000 from Vancouver, British Columbia, to a friend in Helsinki, Finland. You would hand $25,000 cash to a Vancouver money changer (Hawaladar) in Vancouver, and receive code words (or an agreed signal such as a secret handshake) and a contact address in Helsinki. No actual cash moves out of Canada. Instead,…

I suppose the system only works as long as the net sum of all transactions arriving (+) and departing (-) any given location is zero in the long term. But I can imagine there are locations that are net payers and others that are net receivers of money. What happens then, to settle the difference?

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

#69

Post by stefanix » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:19 PM UTC

Ovid wrote: post #23

Source: a long time ago I read several books on this topic because I collected odd books and I found three of them in an estate sale. The instructions below are how this was done in the early 90's and earlier, but today, with increased security and faster records access, the information is probably well out of date. Traditionally, the best way to do this has always been to establish a solid "breeder document". This i…

For anybody who wants to read about this process in the form of a fascinating self-biography should read "Ghost in the Wire" by Kevin Mitnick.

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

#70

Post by stinky613 » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 10:23 PM UTC

Indirectly related to your question: you can find some interesting food for thought from the Delhi episode of Scam City[1]. By the end of the episode the host has a paper trail of (phony) medical problems and, eventually, his own death certificate.

http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/scam-city