OPSEC. Operattional Security

RickNva-.

Here is what I do: I paid cash for a burner that is a flip phone and then I just buy prepaid minutes from "tracfone" which is the prepaid provider. I pay cash for everything. You can get minutes lots of places.

If you want to be extra secure, you may consider buying phone / minutes from a corner store or place that has les rigorous protocols on maintaining security camera / CCTV footage. Most big stores retain as a matter of policy for 90 days. The rationale for buying from a place w limited CCTV storage is even if the phone number is traced back to a purchase, you want that footage of you to eventually disappear (and sooner the better). If you are extremely cautious you can wear a hat / COVID mask when you purchase, and / or purchase from a place you can access on foot (and aren't getting into a car w license plates tied to you for and the parking lot). I will admit that just buying in cash from a smaller store is probably secure enough, as I can't find marine a universe where LEO would be trying to find the identity of an unknown suspect buying a burner phone, but the always think better safe than sorry.

Once you have the phone, I would turn it off and not ever turn it on at your home. You don't want it pinging to towers near your home on any regular frequency (LEO can get tower data easily).

As for smartphone vs flip phone, I would get a smart phone if you want to use apps or websites. Just make sure you have a secure encrypted email (proton mail, etc) that you associate w all such logins and don't use that email for anything else.

Just my thoughts and. 02. I am sure others have ideas too.

Best of luck, BSOT, and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays.

-Jack.

[QUOTE=RickNva;7140999]As I'm considering moving from MPs to providers, I want to get a burner phone.

Where are good places to buy one without the paperwork tying phone to me?

Are flip-phones better than smartphones?

Other tips or suggestions welcomed.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=RickNva;7140999]As I'm considering moving from MPs to providers, I want to get a burner phone.

Where are good places to buy one without the paperwork tying phone to me?

Are flip-phones better than smartphones?

Other tips or suggestions welcomed.[/QUOTE]You can get a prepaid phone using cash from any retailer like Walmart or Best Buy. I think even CVS sells them. Paperwork is only required if you're not doing prepaid.

Theoretically a flip phone could be more private because you don't have several different vendors trying to keep track of your internet usage. But the service provider would still have location texts and calls so I don't know that it's really much better. Any phone can be tracked since it has to connect to a cell tower. At least with a smart phone you can use encrypted messaging apps like Telegram or imessage when you have to text.

Can someone inbox me about the BEG bust? I keep seeing them referenced regularly. How did they get busted?

I have posted about this here, look up my past postings. Additionally, I would not use WiFi routinely. I do use the free wifi at fast food places periodically, to do software / app updates without burning the megabytes I have to pay for. I give them my fake email address that you sometimes must give to get access. I definitely do not use my home WIFI, or turn on the bluetooth on the phone. As others said, I do not have the phone on at my home. You can use a prepaid debit to buy minutes / megabytes on the TracFone website, that should be anonymous. You should use Google Voice or another texting app for an additional layer of security / flexibility. It also enables you to get onto a browser and see your texts. This is handy from home (provided your internet hygiene is as good).

[QUOTE=FarFarAway;7144048]I have posted about this here, look up my past postings. Additionally, I would not use WiFi routinely. I do use the free wifi at fast food places periodically, to do software / app updates without burning the megabytes I have to pay for. I give them my fake email address that you sometimes must give to get access. I definitely do not use my home WIFI, or turn on the bluetooth on the phone. As others said, I do not have the phone on at my home. You can use a prepaid debit to buy minutes / megabytes on the TracFone website, that should be anonymous. You should use Google Voice or another texting app for an additional layer of security / flexibility. It also enables you to get onto a browser and see your texts. This is handy from home (provided your internet hygiene is as good).[/QUOTE]The moment you use anything google, your opsec goes out of the window.

[QUOTE=CanaPunter;7144402]The moment you use anything google, your opsec goes out of the window.[/QUOTE]It is a question of what you are concerned about. Do you want to avoid getting busted for conspiracy to commit crimes, including the victimless crime of patronizing a prostitute? It is likely that if google has evidence of that and LE wants to use it, yes, you are in trouble. Elsewhere, there is a current large discussion about some guys in Seattle who did get convicted of promoting prostitution for their posts on this site. And that didn't have anything to do w Google.

However, if you are only concerned about keeping your real identity from some girl you are banging, to prevent her from extorting you, and keeping your SO from finding out, I am not too sure that there is a bigger risk using Android than Apple devices. There is that find my iPhone feature that puts the latter at risk. God forbid the SO knows about that. That is also why you leave OFF your wifi. If you are in the wilds, where you have no reason to be, and your phone is (automatically) trying to log into the WiFi at a no-tell hoe-tel, that record will be in Google's bowels somewhere. So you need to turn off wifi on BOTH your burner and your IRL phone.

[QUOTE=DownloadX;7055477]Local LE are super duper lazy, more than people realize. If you hand them everything they need, they'll do their job. Very few are going to spend more than a few minutes figuring it out unless their boss tells them. Several times I have had police knock on my door due to a neighbor's report. I ignored them. They left. They never returned.

This is why they do organized stings. It takes a crew of each person doing a simple job, getting the evidence they know they need, keeping it simple and repetitive. Half of those cases never even make it to court because the prosecutor's job is to pick strong cases and ignore the weaker ones.

A sting makes a strong case because the police are the witness. Not so when two consenting adults are in a room, then they need to do a lot more work to capture each element of proof. It's simply way more work.

This is taking local LE. Feds are the opposite, very thorough and meticulous. But they only handle trafficking cases since prostitution is not a federal crime. In the Boston 10 case the Feds handed over their evidence to local LE in Massachusetts and Virginia, holding a press conference saying they cannot pursue those cases themselves. Massachusetts took the evidence, Virginia however refused. It was too much work for them, that's how lazy they are. We are talking video surveillance the Feds did, plus text messages. Not "client lists". Client lists are not proof of a crime. They are worthless in a local prostitution case because you need more evidence, which means a lot more work to get that. They are not like the Feds.

So it goes both ways. We have a case where Feds have detailed evidence and security footage of clients entering the brothel and their name and ID, even text messages, but Virginia was like "that's still too much work" and didn't pursue. Whereas Massachusets did. Once again LE does not want client lists, that is not enough. If they were going by that, it would be thousands of clients over multiple locations. Not 28 people for years of business.[/QUOTE]What about photo I'd's. Don't agency have those.

The oddest thing has occurred w / my Google Voice number. I have used the same # for many years. A POT tried to call me the other day and the call got short-circuited. She ends up talking to some guy Steve, not me, and it flips her out. I start having several women I am messaging with report similar things.

I run GV on my burner phone. I have rarely used the actual burner #. So I used the burner to call my GV #. It goes to voicemail, I leave 'Steve' a message, somewhat explaining the issue. He phones me back later. Very odd to be getting a call on the burner number from my GV #. We speak briefly. He tells me he has a 'government' mobile phone with that number, he has had it for a couple of months. He 'kindly' offers to tell callers that they should contact me a different way. My attitude was that he has stolen my GV # and he has to stop using it. When I said this, he got pissed off and hang up on me.

I have gone through the help service on Google to try to get this sorted out. It amazes me that a number that Google has been supporting for many years could be given out to someone else. The weird thing. I am still getting texts to my number, he seems to be getting actual calls. If this changes, I am screwed. I have certainly contemplated just getting a new GV #. This is a pretty easy task that can be done online. However, I would then need to go back through my contacts and have everyone switch to the new #. A pain for them and for me. And I would lose all the old history of my contact w / a number. I have been on sugar dating sites a long time, sometimes contact gets broken for whatever reason. A year or two later, I come back on the site, I get in touch w / a profile, and once they give me their cell #, it turns out I messaged them a bunch before. I can see all that, it is helpful for me (I usually don't remind them of this).

I also sometimes get long-ago contacts wanting to get together again, it is great to see these texts in the inbox.

I got my flip phone burner, but going to switch it for a smart burner to get some apps, ad after reading some very helpful info in this thread I believe I got all I need to be safe. I saw that someone mentioned to find a photo of someone that looks like me as an extra form of security, so my question is would it work if I use AI app to alter my face shape, eyes, nose etc.

Thanks.

Anyone try a prepaid Ezzocard for anonymous online transactions such as seeking's monthly fee or to send money to a sugar baby via CashApp?

According to their website [URL]ezzocard.com[/URL] you can buy the prepaid cards anonymously using crypto. And you can register them using any name and US address. You can load as much as a g on them.

Having to buy Blackhawk Visa cards at Home Depot and load them with cash is annoying and inconvenient. Looking for a better solution.

[QUOTE=BroadwayJay;7164253]Anyone try a prepaid Ezzocard for anonymous online transactions such as seeking's monthly fee or to send money to a sugar baby via CashApp?

According to their website [URL]ezzocard.com[/URL] you can buy the prepaid cards anonymously using crypto. And you can register them using any name and US address. You can load as much as a g on them.

Having to buy Blackhawk Visa cards at Home Depot and load them with cash is annoying and inconvenient. Looking for a better solution.[/QUOTE]Crypto is way more inconvenient. There are lots of Home Depots around. How many Crypto ATMs?

[QUOTE=Sal9969;7158257]I got my flip phone burner, but going to switch it for a smart burner to get some apps, ad after reading some very helpful info in this thread I believe I got all I need to be safe. I saw that someone mentioned to find a photo of someone that looks like me as an extra form of security, so my question is would it work if I use AI app to alter my face shape, eyes, nose etc.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]Go make a fake female account on a dating site like Match, etc and then scroll through dudes' profiles somewhere out of state and try to find one that looks similar to you. I have used this method for a long time to create a couple of fake profiles on LinkedIn and other social media sites in order to create a backstop when using it to monger or for casual hookups.

[QUOTE=Serpico99;7164545]Go make a fake female account on a dating site like Match, etc and then scroll through dudes' profiles somewhere out of state and try to find one that looks similar to you. I have used this method for a long time to create a couple of fake profiles on LinkedIn and other social media sites in order to create a backstop when using it to monger or for casual hookups.[/QUOTE]Better, use a facial rec site w / your real photo. Once they find you, ask them to exclude you from search results. Then take some of the pix of the guys they found who are close to you and use them as doppelgängers.

[QUOTE=FarFarAway;7164697]Better, use a facial rec site w / your real photo. Once they find you, ask them to exclude you from search results. Then take some of the pix of the guys they found who are close to you and use them as doppelgngers.[/QUOTE]This but just be sure to reverse check the photo you select to make sure your real pics don't show up in the results.

[QUOTE=BroadwayJay;7164253]Having to buy Blackhawk Visa cards at Home Depot and load them with cash is annoying and inconvenient. Looking for a better solution.[/QUOTE]Other than maybe Monero, crypto's have a ledger recording every transaction on the block chains, so are not as anonymous as folks think.

Lou.