Invisible Privacy | Online Privacy

Sometimes--especially if you are being stalked--the best solution is to just get out of the country. FAST! One of my readers recently suggested Thailand but that's a long and expensive trip. My own preference would be Mexico.

1. Take a bus or (preferably) fly to Guadalajara, Jalisco.

2. Catch a taxi or a bus up the the Lake Chapala area.

3. Stay for a few days at a bed-and-breakfast in Chapala or Ajijic, then look for a condo. You can rent a two-bedroom condo in a gated community for about $35 a day or $750 for a month.

Why Lake Chapala?

One reason is the climate--one of the world's best. Another is that violent crime is low in that area. English is spoken in many business places.

Also, you'll not stand out because you'll be among thousands of Americans and Canadians who live all along the north shore of Lake Chapala.

Labels: how to disappear, how to flee from a stalker, how to hide, how to hide in Mexico, where to hide in Mexico

Used correctly, the following system will provide unusual privacy for all concerned.

1. Purchase a New Mexico limited liability company.

2. Prepare an operating agreement that includes information about how each member will be reimbursed for his work.

3. Obtain an EIN from the IRS.

4. At monthly intervals, pay each member for services rendered, with no deductions.

5. At the end of the tax year, file a tax return for the LLC. Send each member a K-2 statement of earnings.

Note: Members must be well paid because they will have to pay both the employer and employee taxes
.
DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney. The above information is for educational use only. Before proceeding, review your specific situations with your own attorney and CPA because each case is unique and each state has it's own payroll tax issues separate from the IRS.

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Labels: members in a limited liability company, New Mexico LLC, NM LLC, NM LLC members, payroll taxes

The first step is to stop junk mail before it starts. If I order something by mail, it includes this notice in large letters:

Do not rent, sell, lend, or give my name and address to anyone else. Do not put me on your own mailing list. If this is not acceptable, then DO NOT ACCEPT THIS ORDER. Instead, return my payment.

Once in awhile I will receive junk mail without being sure where the sender got my address. Sometimes, if a self-addressed envelope is enclosed, I return the section that shows my name and address, with this message:

MOVED. NO FORWARDING ADDRESS. DELETE
THIS NAME AND ADDRESS FROM YOUR FILES.

If no envelope is enclosed, I may cut out both the return address and my address (including code numbers). The return address is taped on to a new envelope and my address is included inside, with the above message. This can be handwritten or you can use a printed sticker or a rubber stamp. And yes, I add 44 cents postage—it’s worth it to stop junk mail.

More often, however, I just return the unopened mail to sender. For this, you need some blank address stickers and a black marker that makes a thick line. You put the sticker below the first line, to cover just the address. Then you black out the postal code that looks like a bar code because otherwise, the letter will come back to you. On the blank sticker, you use a rubber stamp (or print by hand):

MOVED. NO FORWARDING ADDRESS.
RETURN TO SENDER

Last but not least:

When I mention “my name and address,” I refer to some name other than my own, and to my ghost address. No mail ever arrives at my true home address and never will. (No mailbox!)

Labels: junk mail, return to sender, stopping junk mail

One of my good friends in Everett, Washington kindly wrote up the following experience for me. I wouldn't have believed anyone could be so foolish but judge for yourself. Here are the sad details:

"On Sunday, July 4th, my wife and I visited a Safeway store in South Everett, WA around 10 a.m. to pick up last minute items for our BBQ. Upon arriving we noticed the shopping cart next to our car had a man's black designer wallet in the top basket.

"I opened the wallet to inspect the contents (and look for personally identifiable information) so it could be returned to the owner. Not only we were able to find the owner with the contents, but we were shocked to see how un-privacy-conscious this person is.

"The wallet contained:
- Family photos (wife, two young girls)
- Drivers License with local HOME ADDRESS
- Boating insurance card (with boat identification)
- Washington State Fishing License / Catch Record
- AAA Plus RV card with account # / current
- Four major bank credit cards
- Paypal banking card
- Bank receipts /w hand written math on the back
- Business cards for their local business
- Business cards for other people
- Various receipts from shopping
- Paperwork/estimates related to their business
- No cash!

"Having worked a lot with JJ Luna we knew that this was a big no-no and I jokingly told the wife later that we could have had this person buy our groceries since their cards had nice example signatures on the back. Filling up our tank would have been a no-brainer since we had their billing zip code.

"As tempting it was to snoop at the balances or really piece this persons life together, I tried calling 411 first to get the persons phone number by name (there goes a $1.50). Unfortunately a listing didn't come up,but they did offer a listing under a woman's name which I didn't call. Instead, I used the business cards which matched the name on the driver's license to call the person on his cell number. He didn't immediately answer but a call to the other number (wife?) listed on the business who answered - which the 411 listing had the same name for.

"They at this point didn't even know the wallet was missing. Being good samaritans we offered to drive the wallet down to their address which was nearby, but they said to just leave it with customer service at the store. We dropped the wallet off with customer service and the counter agent immediately recognized the person by their picture and said she would keep it for them.

"It made us think about what we could piece together about this person from their wallet contents. We knew where they lived, how many children they have, what major items they owned (nice 23 foot boat, RV), what accounts they had with balanced, and banks they banked at. Due to Paypal we knew they shopped online, or at least had a Paypal account.

"The email address of this account is likely the one used on the business card. We knew the husband and wife's name, phone numbers, dates of birth, and almost anything that an automated system would need these days to verify identity. I didn't think about it until now but WA state requires a social security number to get fishing license. Fortunately these numbers aren't printed on the license themselves but a crafty social engineer could probably get this information via pretexting with the state's DOL."

==========================

Why didn't the owner of the wallet want my friend to bring it by? I suspect that he was an industrial-strength cheapskate who did not wish to be obligated to offer a small reward. And--since he carried no cash, he was not in a position to say to my friend, "I insist you take out $50 for your trouble, before you leave the wallet with customer service."

Here's what I normally carry in my own wallet:

- Between $300 and $500 cash. Period.

Explanation: If I know beforehand that I will visit a certain place, I will carry a library card, a senior discount card for a buffet, or a Costco card. My driver's license remains hidden in my SUV, along with $100 of hidden cash (in case I forget my wallet sometime).

If I travel, I then carry (in an inside pocket of my sport coat) my passport, DL, an ATM card and a credit card. Plus a lot of cash.

Go thou and do likewise. :-)

Labels: hidden cash, identity theft, lost purse, lost wallet, what not to carry

The only sure way to hide your home address is, of course, to move. But what if you are unable to do so, at least for the next few years?

The solution that follows is not perfect. It will not work if you live in a small town where most people know you. In a large city, however, you may be able to convince most of the people most of the time that you no longer live at your present home address. To accomplish this, you will need two things: a ghost address and a nominee.

The ghost address:

Decide where you wish to have others think you moved to. This can be a local ghost address on the other side of your city, an address in Alaska, or even an address overseas.

The nominee:

Although obtaining a nominee for a bank account is both difficult and risky, obtaining a nominee for all other services may be much easier. Let’s say your nominee’s name is Joe Johnson. Your goal is to appear that you still own your home but that you have leased it to Joe Johnson and moved away.

Have Joe sign a contract to lease your home for x number of years. He will then have all utilities, cable TV, Internet connections and telephone transferred to his name.

You, for your part, will have mail forwarded to a ghost address. You will also give your “new” address to your banker, accountant, dentist, doctor, and so on.

Post a sign on the your home saying “The Joe Johnson Family.” If someone comes to your door that you are not expecting, do not open it.


Note:

One of my friends is single, likes to travel, and will be free to do so by the end of September. He has expressed interest in acting as a nominee (bank accounts excepted), but only if there is a steady demand for such a service. If you might consider using his services later this year, please contact Rosie for details. [senorita at canary islands press dot com]

Labels: Alaska address, foreign address, hide your home address, lease contract with nominee, secret home address

At least that’s what one of my readers, Jim, suggests. Some time back, a biker gang attacked Jim in a bar where he worked. He spent most of the next week lying in a motel room with one eye swelled shut and a pistol in his hand.

Then,” he says, “I decided to use my misfortune as a reason to fulfill my dream of seeing the world.”

He fled to Thailand. When his visa ran out, he stayed on. “I’ve not been asked for my passport once since my visa expired. I make sure never to take it with me and prepare an excuse why I don't have it.”

Jim works online so he controls about when and where he travels. “When I want to go somewhere in the daytime, I wear my helmet, avoid the common roadblock points, or take a Thai friend and have them drive. The thing about not carrying a passport is that as long as police don't detain you, then you are fine.

"If you show up at the airport and report yourself to immigration, you pay the $600 fine and you are free to leave the country. I'm planning to do that this month and am relocating to a small island a few countries away for four months of surfing and living the island life as I plan my next destination.

"I'm also working towards getting an emergency fund saved up so I don't have to overstay a visa again, and I'm making the move to elevate my privacy level a couple notches by re-reading How to Be Invisible.”

Also, “with enough money in my pocket, I know a well-connected Thai man who could give my passport to the right people and get all my visa issues sorted out without ever having to face the authorities. I'm sure others could make similar connections because I'm not involved with anything illegal here--it's just the way Thai society functions."

The above is primarily for entertainment purposes. If you do something similar and get detained, you will spend some time in jail and be deported—possibly to the same place you were fleeing from.

Labels: fleeing the USA, hiding out, how to be invisible, invisible in Thailand

Many of you readers use a PO Box for normal mail, and a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) for receiving shipments via FedEx and UPS. The problem is that all you need is ONE package sent to you, and both sender and receiver go into a national database where they remain forever. And FedEx shares their data with the U.S. government. Once your CMRA address is known, a PI may get your home address though subterfuge (“pretexting”). Also, various agencies can obtain your address with either a subpoena or the threat of one.

So if you wish to protect your privacy, what can you do?

Option One:

Obtain a true ghost address using the instructions in How to Be Invisible. (This is admittedly a challenge for many readers.)

Option Two:

Use the initial of your first or middle name plus your last name and have the delivery send to the local courier’s address. Mark the label marked “hold for pickup.” You may be asked for ID. If so, show your passport, not your driver’s license. (I always show up with an invoice from the sender. I dress well and speak with confidence. So far, I have not been asked for ID.)

Option Three:

Ask a friend to use his address. The package can be addressed solely to your friend, or you can use two names. For example, if your friend’s name is Hernandez and your name is Wilson, have the package send to “Hernandez and Wilson”.

WARNING:

If you have ever received a FedEx or UPS delivery to your home, then your address has already been entered in the courier’s national database. It will never be removed, but keep in mind the above options if and when you ever move.

Labels: FedEx privacy, ghost address, home delivery dangers, UPS privacy

If you are about to move—either to another state or to a different city in your own state—how would you like to just disappear from the USA?

One way to disappear is to leave a forwarding address for Spain and then have indications continually show up that you are indeed remaining there.

Rosie Enriquez already offers a mailing address in Spain’s Canary Islands but I am now planning another trip to the islands to meet with my good friend Andrew, a Brit who is a permanent resident on Gran Canaria. He will be able to answer “your” telephone, receive and send mail, make small purchases or ATM withdrawals from your accounts, and do whatever else is needed to “prove” that you are in the islands.

If this is of interest to you personally, and if you can meet with me in Las Vegas on June 14th or 15th, email me at JJL@XXXcanaryislandspress.com. [Remove the XXX]

Labels: foreign address, foreign mail drop, how to disappear, how to disappear when you move

In my blog of February 8th, I said you should prepare your safe house before you needed it. I mentioned that I had such a property for sale, one with four acres along a scenic river and that included a private island in the stream. I received many inquiries about this property, but none were from anyone who actually had $200,000 to spare.

Not to worry. Your safe house does not have to be a house. Here are some alternatives:

1. A houseboat on a lake.

2. A small cabin cruiser kept in a slip at a marina.

3. A travel trailer, perhaps in a space rented on a farm.

4. A motorhome. Keep it in storage or in a rented parking area away from where you live. With the present recession, even $15,000 can buy you a older model in decent condition.

All of the above can be titled in the name of a New Mexico LLC with a faraway ghost address. And all can do double duty--for use on vacations, or when you suddenly need a safe house that is not a house.

Labels: motorhome, New Mexico LLC, safe house, secret location, travel trailer

BEST PLACE TO REGISTER A CARGO TRAILER

Michigan. They have a "permanent" license plate that you never have to renew!

BEST STATE TO REGISTER A VEHICLE

Washington state. If you are not a resident, the DMV allows you to register your vehicle in the name of an LLC with a foreign ghost address without listing any address whosoever in the United States

BEST SOURCE TO OBTAIN A FOREIGN GHOST ADDRESS

From Rosie Enriquez. Big sale on this month—five names for the price of one.

BEST TOWN IN WHICH TO HIDE FROM A BILL COLLECTOR

Unalaska, Alaska. The city covers part of the island and all of neighboring Amaknak Island where the Port of Dutch Harbor is located. (Home of the TV program “DEADLIEST CATCH.") This is the second-most costly and difficult place to travel to, while still remaining in the United States. (The first is Saint Paul, AK, but you do not want to go there.)

BEST DAILY NEWS LETTER ABOUT PRIVACY, INVESTING, AND INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Simon Black. “In the last 3 months I’ve traveled to over 20 countries, met with a President and several diplomats … hitchhiked in Bogota … [and] lectured on entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe. I’m a student of the world, and I believe that travel is the greatest teacher.”

BEST ROAD TRIP TO TAKE BEFORE YOU DIE

From Vancouver, British Columbia to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. On the way north, choose the Casssier Highway 37 option. "The Cassiar Highway knives through mountain-river-lake-glacier country.Time should be allowed for a visit to the neighboring towns of Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska, reached by a 65 km/40mile highway which opens up some of the North's most spectacular glacier and mountain scenery."

BEST INFORMATION ABOUT SELF DEFENSE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

The e-book “Dirty Tricks for Savvy Chicks.” Don’t be misled by the title. The information about canes and Kubotans applies equally well to old geezers like me. I carry both at all times!

BEST CONSULTANT FOR PERSONAL PRIVACY

[Shameless self-promotion] Me. I have an opening in Las Vegas if you can meet me on the afternoon of June 14th.

Labels: best state for an LLC, cane weapons, cargo trailer, foreign ghost address, ghost address, Kubotan, Michigan DMV, New Mexico LLC, self defense for seniors, Simon Black, Sovereign Man

This is a method Rosie Enríquez tells her clients to use, when they prefer to send a name privately for the receipt of an LLC, or for some detail regarding a ghost address in Alaska or Spain’s Canary Islands.

1. Go to https://www.thismessagewillselfdestruct.com/

2. Enter a message in the box on the left.

3. Enter a password. (This is an option, but is recommended. It can be something simple, such as the first name of the recipient or the number of a PO Box, or the day of the week. Send a clue about this password to the recipient in advance.)
4. Check the box where you accept the Terms of Service.

5. Click on the button “SAVE THIS MESSAGE.”

6. A URL will then show up. Click on the small icon at the end of the URL. It will say “COPY.”

7. Address an e-mail to yourself first, to test this out. In the body, hit Control + C to paste the URL in the message. Send it.

8. When the e-mail arrives, click on the URL.

9. Enter the password.

10. Read your test message. Remember, once you leave the page, the message is GONE.

Labels: anonymous e-mail, private communication, secret e-mail, secret information

As readers of HOW TO BE INVISIBLE well know, I recommend nominees as the only sure method of setting up a secret bank account. However, here is a change from pages 165 and 166:

Instead of having your nominee (let’s call her Suzy) spending hour after hour signing checks, and then having to sign more in future years, she can just sign one order of checks, say, for 200. She can then go with you Office Depot, where she will sign with a special pen and then a signature stamp can be ordered.

Or, with a sharp clear copy of her signature in black ink, you can order a stamp by mail. In either case, I recommend you specify Xstamper. It will cost about $40 or $50 but is good for at least 8,000 impressions.

In my own case, one of my nominees, Suzy, was out of the country when I discovered I was getting very low on checks. I sent a rush order to http://checkworks.com for 400 more duplicate checks and then took a sample check (from the few signed checks I had left) to Office Depot. The young woman who took order for my stamp said she would clean up the signature with Photoshop before she mailed the order in, and recommended I order an Xstamper.

That was a year ago. The signature with the Xstamper was great. It has never been questioned.

Did I check with Suzy’s bank before starting to stamp her signature? Definitely not! But what I did do was to send three small checks out as a test, to make sure they went through. When they did, I then used stamped checks for any payments below $250, which covers about 98 percent of all the checks I write on that account. For the occasional big check, I use one of the original checks with Suzy’s actual signature.

Even if you never use a nominee, I suggest getting a signature stamp for both you and/or your spouse. Why?

Well, about a year ago, one of my clients (I’ll call him John, and his new wife Jane) followed my advice to get a signature stamp for Jane, who had a secret bank account in her maiden name. Early this year, Jane had a serious illness and was hospitalized for several weeks. During this time she had worries far more serious than trying to sign checks with what would have been an unrecognizable signature. John, however, got out the stamp and continued to pay the bills in his wife’s absence.

With the Xstamper, don’t just push the top down because that might make the signature stronger on one side. Instead, position it where you want it, and then give it a firm tap in the center with your knuckles. With it few practice tries, it will work perfectly—for your secret bank account, or for any other.

Labels: anonymous bank account, hidden bank account, rubber stamp signature, secret bank account, signature stamp

Here’s what one of the readers of How to Be Invisible does when she does not recognize the name on her Caller ID:

“First of all,” she says, “I never answer by saying ‘This is Sandy Banks.’ Today I got a call that went like this:

Caller: "Hello, who is this?"

Me: "Who were you calling?"

Caller: “What number did I call?"

Me: "I have no idea, you were the one dialing."

Sandy says the woman then hung up. Note that every question was answered with a question. I use the same system when a caller is unknown to me.

Caller: “Hello there, this is John from the so-and-so company, and—”

Me: “What are you selling?”

Caller: “I am not selling anything but I just wanted to make you aware of —”

Me: “Then what is the purpose of your call?”

And so on. This business of answering a question with a question works well in any number of fields, especially when you are asked for your telephone number or for your date of birth.

No one ever answered questions with questions better than did a young man from Galilee, some two thousand years ago. So then, here is your homework for today:

Read the 20th chapter of Luke. At least twice.

Labels: asking questions, Luke 20, using questions

I wonder how many victims of Eyjafjallajökull are planning to carry extra money on their next trip?

I learned about the consequences of not carrying extra cash back in 1964. We flew from Minneapolis to Lisbon, where we had reservations on a small ship to take us back to the Canary Islands.

To our dismay, we discovered that our reservations had been switched to the following week—another family had taken our place on the current sailing!

“You failed to check in with us 24 hours ahead of time,” was the excuse we were given, so there we were. A family of five, stuck in Lisbon for an entire week, and with very little cash.

We survived by staying in a flea-trap pension, scrimping on meals, and walking everywhere rather than taking a bus. (We had a small account in a bank in the Canaries but there was no way to cash a personal check in Portugal.)

Next fall, we will travel to Lisbon again and stay for a week before flying down to the Cape Verde Islands. This time we’ll be staying a few steps up from a pension, travel around the city in taxis, and I will have extra 500-euro bills in a money belt. If Eyjafjallajökull blows up again, and the wind carries the ash farther south, and ATMs are unavailable for any reason, we will still be able to bribe our way onto a ship heading west or south.

Credit cards and traveler’s checks are good, but cash is king.

Labels: cash is king, Eyjafjallajökull, Icelandic volcano, travel with cash