PrivacyGirl.com

Creating an Internet Alternate Identity

To the best of my knowledge... alternate identities are legal in the US as long as there is no intent to defraud. Hollywood movie stars do it all the time. Remember, you're not trying to defraud anyone... you're just keeping your life private. If at all possible, pay for any service in advance and in full with a money order (you can buy them at Walmart) and... don't cheat anyone.

Your alternate identity should be believable, but have no factual connection to your true identity. Choose a common name and an age that approximates your own. Don't use your true birth date. Choose a city and state that is at least 500 miles away and across multiple state lines. Be sure to use a real address, just not your own. If a phone number is required, give an anonymous number that goes directly to voicemail. Be prepared for "Mother's maiden name" or "Father's middle name" type questions.

Setup several alternate identities ahead of time and keep a good record of them. Put all alternate identity information (including what the identity was used for) on an encrypted USB flash drive for safe storage.

Listed below are some techniques and resources for creating an alternate identity. Some of these techniques require you to sign-up on-line. Some sign-ups may be done from any location while others should be done from a remote or dial-up connection. If it bothers you to sign-up for anything from your own computer and/or current location, then use a far away friend or public library computer. If you travel on business, many hotels and convention centers offer business services where you can use their computer and Internet connection. When using a computer that is not your own... be sure to clear the browser history and cache when your done. Using a public wifi connection is not a good idea and should be avoided.

Name

Here is a list of the most common first and last names in the US, according to the 1990 and 2000 census. Start by selecting a first and last name from the list.

Birth Date

Choose an age that is ±10% of your true age.

Now choose a birthday with a month and day other than your own. This should NOT be a date that is common to you, such as an anniversary or the birthday of someone close to you.

Address

Your alternate identity should contain an address that is at least 500 miles away and across multiple state lines. If the alternate identity is being used along with SSH port-forwarding, then choose an address in a neighboring city to the SSH server.

Many on-line services only require a zip code. A good resource for looking up zip codes is zipinfo.com. Here you can lookup zip code, area code and time zone by city and state.

If a street address is required and you know that mail will never be delivered... then you may want to use the street address (not the box number) of a Mail Boxes Etc store. Never use a made up address. A simple check at USPS will show that an address is fake.

If you need an address for deliveries and you don't want it tied to you, then you'll have to establish a ghost-address. As already mentioned, JJ Luna's book How To Be Invisible is a good resource for learning how to obtain a ghost-address.

Phone Number

If required to give a phone number and there's a chance that somebody might actually call you, give an anonymous number that goes directly to voicemail. There are several pay-sites like VoiceMailNumber.com and jConnect Premier that offer voicemail services in most major city area codes and accept money order payment. Note that jConnect Premier requires that you setup an account with a live sales person first before they will accept money orders and they're kind of a pain in the butt to work with. Vumber is an excellent service but they require credit card payment.

Email Address

There are anonymous email services inside and outside the United States that claim complete privacy. I don't like these for several reasons. For one thing, I don't know if I trust them. For all I know, they could be nothing more than a honeypot attempting to glean information from me. If located in a foreign country, then they wouldn't fall under the same business scrutiny as a US company would. And... the email account Domain Name may bring on suspicion due to some of their more nefarious clients.

Instead I use Yahoo, because of their popularity and acceptance. Another choice is Gmail, but I prefer Yahoo. Both have secure SSL login through webmail but you can access Yahoo without JavaScript enabled. Both support SSL-POP3/SMTP (ports 995/465) and both work with most email clients. But... I have yet to get Perl (POP3 port 995) to work with Gmail, which I need for the SSH port-forwarding server that is discussed later. You will however, need to upgrade to Yahoo! Mail Plus for $19.99US per year in order to get POP access. And last... I don't trust Google.

Getting a Yahoo! Mail Plus account anonymously is actually quite simple.

1. Sign-up for a free Yahoo account using your alternate identity. Only requirements are: name, gender, birth date and zip code. Use a login ID that doesn't directly connect to you. Avoid common name/number logins like bob1234. Spammers often target common names with numbers appended or prepended. Also... don't open or send any emails from this account just yet.

2. Go to a distant drug store (Walgreens works well) or other convenience store and purchase with cash, a $25 (plus $3.95 service fee) Visa Gift2Go gift card. Yahoo stopped accepting American Express gift cards so be sure it's a Visa Gift2Go gift card. If you can't find a $25 card, a $30 card will do.

3. Find an address of a Mail Boxes Etc store or similar business that's near the zip code you used to open the free Yahoo account. Write down the street address (not the box number) and office phone number. Now go to the Gift2Go website that's listed on the back of the card and register with the alternate information.

4. Login to your new Yahoo account and go to the Mail section. Click on "Options" and go to "Mail Plus". Click on "Order Now" and use your alternate information and Visa Gift2Go card.

5. Wait about 15 minutes for the Yahoo! Mail Plus to become active and then login to Yahoo and click on "Mail". You will need to enable JavaScript to make account changes. If you haven't done so already... hover the mouse over where it says "Hi Your Name" and click on "Profile". Now click on "Settings" and "Permissions" and finally "Hide My Profile". Again... click on "Mail" and go to "Options" then click on "Mail Options". In the "General" tab change the "From name" to "yourlogin@yahoo.com" and save your changes. Click on "Account Information" and "Change Password". Enter a strong password that's at least 10 characters and consist of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Next click on "Edit your marketing preferences". Un-check every special offer and save your changes.

6. Yahoo charges an extra $1.00 to use the card, so spend the remaining $4.01 on a latte at a distant Starbucks and destroy the card when your done.

You are now ready to receive email anonymously. Later, I'll talk about how to:

1. Securely setup a POP/SMTP email client.
2. Use SSH port-forwarding to obfuscate your actual location when sending mail.