I need to purchase goods and services anonymously online. It's easy enough if the purchases are under $250-ish, but how does one get an untraceable bank acct or reloadable credit card for the bigger stuff?

Are the offshore places like Oceanus Int'l Concierge any good? Or services like UnlinQ? Are the illegal gambling sites funded in some way I should use? Or is my only option to hire a hard-ass privacy lawyer and pay him to make the purchases while I hide behind client confidentiality?

And so I don't feel like an info-leech, I'll relate some things I've found while trying to solve this problem, because I see I'm not the only one to ask about anon pmts now and then. Hopefully it will help someone somehow.

- Maybe everyone knows this already, but gift cards leave a trail from the vendor you just paid all the way back to the surveillance footage of the cashier activating your card. From there you could end up with a biometric facial record in a govt database. This maybe isn't a huge deal if you wore cap and shades and beard that day, but it's something to think about.

- That said, I recently loaded my anon PayPal acct from a Green Dot MoneyPak card I bought cash-no-questions at one of their normal retailers. Get the green one with the PayPal logos on it, login to PayPal and go to Add Funds / Add Funds From MoneyPak. PayPal only lets you load $250/yr from MoneyPak, else they'll want to get all up close and personal with you. But $250 is better than zero.

- Register your gift cards with real addresses of vacant lots. Set up proxies or a VPN, then use Ixquick (not Google!) to search: " + realtor + 'residential lots for sale'". Browse the lot listings, picking lots that have full addresses. This happens when the original house burned down or a mobile home got moved off, but those parcels usually keep their addresses, which are still on file at the county records. (By contrast, virgin lots in new housing developments often aren't fully addressed.) If MapQuest/etc can find these addresses, they should be useable anywhere.

- A Vanilla Visa gift card CSR told me that their system lets vendors verify only the zipcode you supplied for the Vanilla card, and you're basically S.O.L. with any vendors who want to verify more than that. Since a lot of vendors also want to verify the house#, there you have it.

For annonymity try JonDo, they also have JonDoFox that will integrate into Firefox. It is also portable so it should not be a problem. If there is, you can disable it in the lower right corner of your browser. Again an easy piece of software to have and use. All of the above fits neatly onto a flash drive and has a setup that lets you choose what you want to open first. Enjoy and have fun surfin.g

Submitted Link #1: http://webmail.mozdev.org/...

I have never tried my flashdrive at a library. (But I guess I should since my system is ultimately designed to use host PCs without leaving traces on them.) I can't imagine that Tor would be blocked, since it's not an actual web destination as Anonymouse and other such proxies are.

One caveat: the Tor version of Portable Firefox runs in "private mode", so your browsing history is not saved. But you can still bookmark sites as you normally wood, so I recommend that.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.torproject.org....

I find Walmart the friendliest of all big box chain stores when making large purchases with CASH. Alternatively, BEST BUY will hassle you for your name, address, etc., along with trying to sell you an extended warranty. Avoid them if you can.

... As for BEST BUY, I agree: avoid them! If you buy a laptop for cash, and then decide to return it in less than 30 days, they refuse to pay you cash. You must give them a NAME to make the check out to, and an ADDRESS to where the check will be mailed.

All this really depends on who the census-taker talks with. My form also arrived addressed to "Resident," and I returned the form with the number of people who live here--nothing more. I expect a visit :)

Anyway, many apartment/condo managers will remove names from directories; some people quiver and quake when faced with these people.

The last census-taker was firmly told to leave. This year I will just not answer the door.

Best to you; it's a bumpy ride these days.

I doubt Dell is a government front company. Dell most likely used a Lexis Nexis product such as Accurint and your parents contact information appeared in the search. Lexis Nexis has some products that collections agencies and financial institutions use to find people.

If you try signing up for a bank account online, through Bank of America, and you have managed to stay under the radar, the bank representative will call you and explain to you that since "you" cannot be verified, your account cannot be open.

A friend of mine, who legally has a different name, due to a stalker, when she tried getting the account, was asked many "personal" questions, all of which is in contained in a national database.

Once the bank finds out what your previous identity was, you will be asked questions "verifying" your previous address, mother's name, relatives name, city and state, township, etc. It's all there.

I would avoid all U.S. Banks. Unfortunately, I have learned this too late. Nominee bank accounts are risky, to say the least. Welcome to the age of Big Brother--"Your papers, please"!

Even if you close your bank account(s), all of your information is housed in their computers forever.

You have a stalker. Immediately report this event to the administration of the hospital and demand that they purge all of your patient information from their files and ensure that this employee does not have access to it, and demand that the employee be disciplined or terminated. This may require a legal threat to accomplish. Do it IN WRITING, certified mail, return receipt and start keeping a file RIGHT NOW!

Make a police report so that you have it on record that the incident occurred. Insist that they make a report and give you a report number. Do NOT let them refuse to take an "incident report." You must have such a report on file for the next step.

Next, if she ever contacts you, make a record (and a recording if you can) of the call, tell her never to call back, and then inquire about a restraining order.

Her conduct was entirely unprofessional and she violated federal HIPPA laws by revealing personal patient information to your supervisor. She can be prosecuted.

Do NOT take this lightly. Take decisive action to protect your rights and your privacy.

Find another health care provider who will promise to keep your records confidential, and then give them as little information as possible, NOT including your DL, your home address (use a PO box) or your SSN. Pay cash if you have to.

I found just such a provider, and my medical records have "No Name" as my name, and only the billing office can connect my treatment record to my name, and I have a written contract with them not to reveal my information to ANYONE except my emergency contacts.

I told them I was an ex-cop (true) who moved to town to avoid bad guys I'd arrested who were now getting out of prison (sort of true...I arrested a lot of bad guys, but I don't know that any of them are actually looking for me)

An "I'm in a kind of witness protection program" works sometimes too.

WARNING!

There is a federal law against "structuring" bank withdrawals and deposits in order to deliberately evade the reporting requirements for transactions over $5000.

If you're moving to Canada, then just do it, and get a check for the entire balance and move it legally, lest you risk prosecution. You need to check on the currency export laws as well.

See the link:

Submitted Link #1: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/usc_sec_31_00...

Maybe it was because I have been a customer of theirs for so long--I don't know. Anyway, you might give it a go.

I understand that much. What I'm trying to ascertain from you or anyone else, is this:

If I am a plumber, for example, and I get liability insurance for my plumbing business, do I have to give my legal name to the insurance company? I'm not referring to the business name but the legal name of the owner of the business. Can I give a professional name? And, if I can give a professional name, are there any (privacy) advantages to this?

... I am not a lawyer. I suggest you direct your questions to a legal expert.